SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ADMINISTERING AN ADVANCED INSURANCE COMPONENT-BASED PRODUCT

• US 20110153369A1
• Filed: 03/26/2010
• Published: 06/23/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 12/22/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hartford Fire Insurance Company (The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hartford Fire Insurance Company (The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc.)
• Inventors: Feldman, Julia M., Tarbell, James Allan, Virdhagriswaran, Sankar
• Granted Patent: US 8,452,678 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/4
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/08 Insurance

Abstract

According to some embodiments, a system may be provided including an insurance component selection platform that transmits data to and receives data from an insurance product component storage unit storing one or more self-descriptive components of an insurance coverage. Each of the stored components may have, for example, associated properties defining attributes of the component and one or more values associated with the properties. The components may be selected via a graphical interface generated by the component selection platform to be included in an insurance coverage product. The components may then be combined within constraints of the properties and values of the individual components. An insurance coverage policy may then be presented based on the combination of components.

Claims

1. An automated processing system, comprising:

a component storage unit storing one or more components of an insurance coverage, the one or more components having one or more associated properties defining attributes of the component and one or more values associated with the properties, wherein at least some of the components are not stand alone insurance coverages;

a processor coupled to the component storage unit; and

an instruction storage unit in communication with said processor and storing instructions adapted to be executed by said processor to;

facilitate selection of a plurality of the one or more components to include in an insurance coverage product;

combine the plurality of the one or more components within constraints of the properties and values of the individual components, wherein said selection or combination are performed in accordance with a component rule associated with the component; and

present an insurance coverage policy based on the combination of the plurality of the one or more components.

2. The automated processing system of claim 1, wherein each of said components are self-descriptive having one or more data elements providing a descriptive text of said component.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the component rule comprises a compositional rule defining how a first component may be selected if a second component has already been selected.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the component rule comprises an availability rule defining whether a component is available for use in said insurance coverage.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein said availability rule defines when a component may be selected for use.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the component rule comprises a rule defining how information is to be mapped to an insurance product template.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more components are pre-filed with and approved by a regulatory entity having regulatory jurisdiction regarding the insurance coverage policy.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein at least one of the one or more properties associated with each of the one or more components is used in a premium calculation process.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein said premium calculation process further comprises identifying a relevant individual rating process based on said properties associated with each of the one or more components and performing said relevant individual rating process to price a premium of an insurance product including each component, alone and in combination with other components.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein said premium calculation process further comprises identifying a relevant individual pricing process based on said properties associated with each of the one or more components and performing said relevant individual pricing processes to adjust a premium of an insurance product including each component, alone and in combination with other components.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein said instructions are further adapted to be executed by said processor to:

display to a user a first set of potential components via a graphical user interface;

receive from the user a manually selected component to be included in the insurance coverage policy;

automatically retrieve and execute a rule associated with the manually selected component;

based upon execution of the rule associated with the manually selected component, automatically adjust the first set of potential components to create a second set of potential components, wherein the adjusting includes adding or removing components from the set; and

display to the user the second set of potential components via the graphical user interface.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein a first component of the insurance coverage policy is associated with a first type of insurance and a second component of the insurance coverage policy is associated with a second type of insurance different than the first.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein execution of the instructions further results in a validation of the set of selected components.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein said validation includes execution of a first component rule, associated with a first component, and at least one associated property, attribute, or value associated with a second component.

15. The system of claim 1, wherein execution of the instructions further results in an automatic presentation of a recommended component determined at least in part based on the set of selected components.

16. The system of claim 1, wherein said processor is associated with a component selection platform that consumes a pricing data model.

17. The system of claim 1, wherein said presenting is associated with a transmission of data to or storage of data in a remote device via a communication network.

18. A system, comprising:

a product data model storage apparatus storing multiple inter-related insurance components;

a selection system coupled to the product data model storage apparatus, the selection system being adapted to facilitate selection of a set of components by a user;

a rating engine coupled to the selection system and to the product data model, the rating engine being adapted to generate an overall premium based on the set of components selected by the user; and

a policy issuance system coupled to the rating engine and to the product data model, the policy issuance system being adapted to publish an insurance policy based on the set of components selected by the user.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the selection system is adapted to exchange information with the user via a graphical user interface.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the user is associated with an insurance consumer.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein the components are not stand alone insurance policies.

22. The system of claim 20, further comprising a recommendation engine to recommend at least one component to the user based at least in part on execution of a first component rule, associated with a first component, and at least one associated property, attribute, or value associated with a second component.

23. The system of claim 20, wherein said policy issuance system is adapted to transmit data to or store data in a remote device via a communication network.

24. The system of claim 20, wherein a first component of the insurance coverage policy is associated with a first type of insurance and a second component of the insurance coverage policy is associated with a second type of insurance different than the first.

25. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

determining a plurality of insurance components combining to form the insurance product;

determining a rating property and value individually associated with each of the plurality of insurance components combining to form the insurance product;

determining customer characteristics impacting the insurance product; and

calculating a premium based on the combination of the one or more components and their associated rating property and value and the customer characteristics.

26. The method of claim 25, further comprising determining a final premium for an individualized insured coverage offering.

27. The method of claim 25, wherein said determining the plurality of insurance components includes receiving indications of selected components from an insurance agent associated with the customer.

28. The method of claim 25, further comprising:

automatically generating, by a billing system, a bill based on the calculated premium associated with the insurance product.

29. The method of claim 25, further comprising:

automatically processing, by a claims system, an insurance claim in accordance with the determined plurality of insurance components.

30. The method of claim 25, wherein at least one of said components is a life insurance component and at least one of said components is a property and casualty component.

31. A computer-readable medium storing instructions adapted to be executed by a processor to perform a method, said method comprising:

defining one or more components of an insurance coverage, the one or more components having one or more associated properties defining attributes of the component and one or more values associated with the properties, wherein at least some of the components are not stand alone insurance coverages;

facilitating selection of a plurality of the one or more components to include in an insurance coverage product;

combining the plurality of the one or more components within constraints of the properties and values of the individual components, wherein said selection or combination are performed in accordance with a component rule associated with the component; and

presenting an insurance coverage policy based on the combination of the plurality of the one or more components.

32. The computer-readable medium of claim 31, wherein each of said components are self-descriptive having one or more data elements providing a descriptive text of said component.

33. The computer-readable medium of claim 31, wherein the component rule comprises a rule defining how a first component may be selected if a second component has already been selected.