System for case-based insurance underwriting suitable for use by an automated system

• US 20030187696A1
• Filed: 06/14/2002
• Published: 10/02/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 12/31/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Pacific Life Insurance Company (Pacific Mutual Holding Company)
• Original Assignee: Genworth Financial Incorporated
• Inventors: Durham, William Michael, Bonissone, Piero Patrone, Yang, Dan, Subbu, Rajesh Venkat, Patterson, Angela Neff, Pavese, Marc, Messmer, Richard Paul, Varma, Anil, Mogro-Campero, Antonio, Russell, Diane Marie
• Granted Patent: US 7,630,910 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/4
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/08 Insurance

Abstract

A system for at least a partial underwriting of insurance policies is described. based on the similarity to previous insurance applications, a decision on the current request for underwriting may be made this decision-making process represents an analogical approach to the placement of an insurance application to an underwriting category, whereby a given insurance application request is compared to previous requests.

Claims

1. A system for underwriting a pending insurance application based on a comparison with at least one of a plurality of previous insurance application underwriting decisions, the system comprising:

means for receiving a request to underwrite the pending insurance application, where the request includes information about at least one application component;

means for retrieving a plurality of relevant insurance applications from the plurality of previous insurance application underwriting decisions based on a similarity between the at least one application component and at least one corresponding application component in the retrieved relevant insurance application;

means for ranking the plurality of retrieved insurance applications according to a level of similarity between the at least one application component and at least one corresponding application component in the retrieved insurance applications;

means for selecting at least one best insurance application from the plurality of retrieved insurance applications;

means for adapting a solution to the pending insurance application based on the at least one best insurance application; and

means for evaluating the solution using a confidence factor, where the confidence factor is based on the reliability of the solution.

2. The system according claim 1, further comprising means for storing the solution for the pending insurance application in a case memory, wherein the case memory also stores the plurality of previous insurance application underwriting decisions.

3. The system according to claim 1, further comprising means for transmitting the results of the underwriting decision.

4. The system according to claim 1, wherein the means for retrieving employs at least one fuzzy logic rule to retrieve plurality of previous insurance application underwriting decisions.

5. The system according to claim 4, wherein the at least one fuzzy logic rule is a membership function that interprets the degree to which a value is around a specified parameter.

6. The system according to claim 4, wherein the at least one fuzzy logic rule is a membership function that interprets the degree to which a value is within a core of a specified parameter.

7. The system according to claim 4, wherein the means for ranking the plurality of retrieved insurance applications includes deriving a distribution of the plurality of retrieved insurance applications based on predetermined criteria.

8. A system for rating an application, where the application includes at least one category, the system comprising:

means for determining a value for the at least one category of the application;

means for creating a query based on the value of the at least one category;

means for retrieving at least one case; and

means for assigning the application a rate classification based on the at least one retrieved case.

9. The system according to claim 8, where a plurality of cases are retrieved, and further comprising means for generating a distribution of the plurality of cases based on the class rate assigned each of the cases.

10. The system according to claim 8, where a plurality of cases are retrieved, and further comprising means for determining a minimum similarity value between the plurality of retrieved cases and the application.

11. The system according to claim 8, where a plurality of cases are retrieved, and further comprising means for generating a pseudo-histogram based on the class rate assigned each of the cases.

12. The system according to claim 8, where the retrieved cases are stored in a case database, and further comprising means for storing the application in the case database once the rate classification has been assigned.

13. The system according to claim 8, where the application is an application for an insurance application, and where the cases are insurance application cases.

14. A system for rating an insurance application, where the insurance application includes at least one category, the system comprising:

means for determining a value for the at least one category of the insurance application;

means for creating a query based on the value of the at least one category;

means for retrieving at least one insurance application case from an insurance application case database;

means for assigning the insurance application a rate classification based on the at least one retrieved insurance application case; and

means for storing the application in the insurance application case database once the rate classification has been assigned.

15. The system according to claim 14, where a plurality of insurance application cases are retrieved, and further comprising means for generating a distribution of the plurality of insurance application cases based on the class rate assigned each of the insurance application cases.

16. The system according to claim 14, where a plurality of insurance application cases are retrieved, and further comprising means for determining a minimum similarity value between the plurality of retrieved insurance application cases and the insurance application.

17. The system according to claim 14, where a plurality of insurance application cases are retrieved, and further comprising the step of generating a pseudo-histogram based on the class rate assigned each of the insurance application cases.

18. A system for underwriting a pending insurance application based on a comparison with at least one of a plurality of previous insurance application underwriting decisions, the system comprising:

a receiver for receiving a request to underwrite the pending insurance application, where the request includes information about at least one application component;

a retrieval module for retrieving a plurality of relevant insurance applications from the plurality of previous insurance application underwriting decisions based on a similarity between the at least one application component and at least one corresponding application component in the retrieved relevant insurance application;

a ranking module for ranking the plurality of retrieved insurance applications according to a level of similarity between the at least one application component and at least one corresponding application component in the retrieved insurance applications;

a selection module for selecting at least one best insurance application from the plurality of retrieved insurance applications;

an adaptation module for adapting a solution to the pending insurance application based on the at least one best insurance application; and

an evaluation module for evaluating the solution using a confidence factor, where the confidence factor is based on the reliability of the solution.

19. The system according claim 18, further comprising a storage module for storing the solution for the pending insurance application in a case memory, wherein the case memory also stores the plurality of previous insurance application underwriting decisions.

20. The system according to claim 18, further comprising a transmitter for transmitting the results of the underwriting decision.

21. The system according to claim 18, wherein the retrieval module employs at least one fuzzy logic rule to retrieve plurality of previous insurance application underwriting decisions.

22. The system according to claim 21, wherein the at least one fuzzy logic rule is a membership function that interprets the degree to which a value is around a specified parameter.

23. The system according to claim 21, wherein the at least one fuzzy logic rule is a membership function that interprets the degree to which a value is within a core of a specified parameter.

24. The system according to claim 21, wherein the ranking module for ranking the plurality of retrieved insurance applications includes deriving a distribution of the plurality of retrieved insurance applications based on predetermined criteria.

25. A system for rating an application, where the application includes at least one category, the system comprising:

a determination module for determining a value for the at least one category of the application;

a creation module for creating a query based on the value of the at least one category;

a retrieval module for retrieving at least one case; and

an assignment module for assigning the application a rate classification based on the at least one retrieved case.

26. The system according to claim 25, where a plurality of cases are retrieved, and further comprising a generator module for generating a distribution of the plurality of cases based on the class rate assigned each of the cases.

27. The system according to claim 25, where a plurality of cases are retrieved, and further comprising a determination module for determining a minimum similarity value between the plurality of retrieved cases and the application.

28. The system according to claim 25, where a plurality of cases are retrieved, and further comprising a generator module for generating a pseudo-histogram based on the class rate assigned each of the cases.

29. The system according to claim 25, where the retrieved cases are stored in a case database, and further comprising a storage module for storing the application in the case database once the rate classification has been assigned.

30. The system according to claim 25, where the application is an application for an insurance application, and where the cases are insurance application cases.

31. A system for rating an insurance application, where the insurance application includes at least one category, the system comprising:

a determination module for determining a value for the at least one category of the insurance application;

a query module for creating a query based on the value of the at least one category;

a retrieval module for retrieving at least one insurance application case from an insurance application case database;

an assignment module for assigning the insurance application a rate classification based on the at least one retrieved insurance application case; and

a storage module for storing the application in the insurance application case database once the rate classification has been assigned.

32. The system according to claim 31, where a plurality of insurance application cases are retrieved, and further comprising a generator module for generating a distribution of the plurality of insurance application cases based on the class rate assigned each of the insurance application cases.

33. The system according to claim 31, where a plurality of insurance application cases are retrieved, and further comprising a determination module for determining a minimum similarity value between the plurality of retrieved insurance application cases and the insurance application.

34. The system according to claim 31, where a plurality of insurance application cases are retrieved, and further comprising a generator module for generating a pseudo-histogram based on the class rate assigned each of the insurance application cases.