COMPUTER IMPLEMENTED RISK AND INSURANCE NEEDS ASSESSMENT SYSTEM AND METHODS

• US 20110307277A1
• Filed: 06/09/2010
• Published: 12/15/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 06/09/2010
• Status: Active Application

• Current Assignee: Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (MetLife Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (MetLife Incorporated)
• Inventors: Cruz, Debra, Kelley, Kevin M.
• Application Number:
  US12/797,235
• Publication Number:
  US 20110307277A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/4
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/08 Insurance

Abstract

Disclosed herein are systems and methods for assessing and recommending a life insurance package to a client. A life insurance package may comprise the amount of life insurance coverage and the monthly cost needed to obtain that amount of coverage. In an exemplary embodiment, two or more life insurance packages, including what each life insurance package covers, are presented to the user. In an exemplary embodiment, default assumptions are made for questions that are difficult for the user to answer but may be fairly accurately estimated by the system.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for assessing and recommending life insurance, the method comprising:

presenting a series of inquires selectively arranged to facilitate information collection regarding client needs in the form of one or more prompts related to life insurance;

receiving, in a computer, a series of responses to the inquires wherein said responses to said prompts provides a risk profile for said client based on one or more financial commitments of said client;

computing, with a computer processor, one or more needs assessment values based on the received responses; and

recommending one or more life insurance packages based on said one or more needs assessment values.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said prompts related to life insurance comprise questions relating to at least one of a client'"'"'s, present or future, expenses or earnings.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein said one or more life insurance packages comprises an amount of coverage and the projected monthly cost for obtaining said amount of coverage.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein said one or more needs assessment values are computed by category, said categories comprising one or more of the following:

cost to pay off debt, cost of children'"'"'s education, cost to pay off mortgage, cost to provide ongoing living expenses, and final expenses.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein said recommended one or more life insurance packages includes at least one full-protection package, and at least one package less expensive than said full-protection package.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising presenting what each said recommended one or more life insurance package covers.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising presenting an estimate of the amount each said covered item will cost to be covered.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein less than 35% of said prompts likely require a user to estimate a number.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein said prompts do not include prompts likely to require a user to estimate a number.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising a first page of said prompts that provides filtering questions, and at least a second page of said prompts that provides one or more questions based on received responses.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein one or more responses to said prompts are set to a default value, said default value changeable by the user.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising one or more default assumptions, said assumptions changeable by the user, and at least one of said assumptions being made based on one or more said received responses.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein said assumptions include one or more of the following:

cost of health insurance, cost to replace what the client does at home, marginal or effective tax rates, tax deductions, and yearly personal expenses.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein one or more of said prompts are dynamic, said dynamic prompts presented in response to one or more said received responses.

15. A computer system for providing an interactive client session to facilitate the selection of a customized risk abatement life insurance program, the system comprising:

a query unit programmed for presenting one or more prompts related to life insurance, each prompt being associated with a blank field or two or more response choices, and for receiving a response for each of the said one or more prompts;

an assessment unit operatively connected to and in communication with the query unit for calculating one or more needs assessment values, with a computer processor, based on the responses to said prompts; and

a recommendation unit for recommending one or more life insurance packages based on said needs assessment values.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein said prompts related to life insurance comprise questions relating to at least one of a client'"'"'s, present or future, expenses or earnings.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein said one or more life insurance packages comprises an amount of coverage and the projected monthly cost for obtaining said amount of coverage.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein said one or more needs assessment values are calculated by category, said categories comprising one or more of the following:

cost to pay off debt, cost of children'"'"'s education, cost to pay off mortgage, cost to provide ongoing living expenses, and final expenses.

19. The system of claim 15, wherein said recommendation unit recommends at least one full-protection package, and at least one package less expensive than said full-protection package.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein said recommendation unit presents to the user what each said recommended one or more life insurance package covers.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein said recommendation unit presents an estimate of the amount each said covered item will cost to be covered.

22. The system of claim 15, wherein less than 35% of said prompts likely require a user to estimate a number.

23. The system of claim 15, wherein said prompts do not include prompts likely to require a user to estimate a number.

24. The system of claim 15, wherein said query unit presents a first page of said prompts to provide filtering questions, and at least a second page of said prompts to provide questions based on received responses.

25. The system of claim 15, wherein one or more responses to said prompts are set to a default value, said default value changeable by the user.

26. The system of claim 15, further comprising one or more default assumptions, said assumptions changeable by the user, and at least one of said assumptions being made based on one or more said received responses.

27. The system of claim 26, wherein said assumptions include one or more of the following:

cost of health insurance, cost to replace what the client does at home, marginal or effective tax rates, tax deductions, and yearly personal expenses.

28. The system of claim 15, wherein one or more of said prompts are dynamic, said dynamic prompts presented in response to one or more said received responses.