Method and system for generating insurance premium quotes by multiple insurance vendors in response to a single user request

• US 7,343,309 B2
• Filed: 02/28/2001
• Issued: 03/11/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 02/29/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Nakai, Yoshiyuki, Shimada, Hiroyuki, Ogawa, Masaki, Machida, Muneaki, Kono, Takeo
• Primary Examiner(s): Bleck; Carolyn
• Application Number:
  US09/795,824
• Publication Number:
  US 20010023404A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,568 Days
• Field of Search: 705/4, 705/26, 705/2, 705/35, 705/38, 709/219, 709/217
• US Class Current: 705/4
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/02 Banking, e.g. interest calculation or account maintenance credit or loans G06Q40/03
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/03 Credit; Loans; Processing thereof
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/08 Insurance

Abstract

A system and method for permitting a consumer to compare premium estimates form a plurality of insurance providers based on inputting conditions which affect the premium calculation a single time to a network such as the Internet. A user initiates a session by connecting his computer to an insurance comparison website provided by a service underwriter. The user inputs various conditions which might affect the premium for a desired insurance product. The user inputs condition data to condition input screen and sends the condition data to the service underwriter. The service underwriter converts the condition data into a form suitable for a standard interface and sends the formatted data to computers of one or more participating and user selected insurance companies or underwriters. A premium calculation engine at the computer for each insurance company calculates an estimated premium. This, and other pertinent insurance policy data, is displayed to the user.

Claims

1. In a computing environment, a method for providing a user with an estimate of an insurance premium for an insurance product from at least one insurance provider, comprising the steps of:

transmitting one or more condition input screens from a service computer of a service underwriter to a user'"'"'s computer of the user;

displaying the one or more condition input screens for prompting input from the user of conditions which may effect the insurance premium;

displaying an insurance provider selection screen for prompting the user to select one or more insurance providers to which to submit a request for the insurance premium estimate;

receiving the conditions input by the user at the service computer;

converting the conditions input by the user into a standard format suitable to a common interface, wherein the converting step is performed by the service computer;

embedding by the service computer an address of a web site of each selected insurance provider in data used for subsequently displaying the received insurance premium estimates on a display unit of the user'"'"'s computer;

receiving, by the user'"'"'s computer from the service computer, the converted conditions input having a standard format and the embedded address of a website of each selected insurance provider;

after the embedding step and after the step of receiving the converted conditions input and the embedded address of a website of each selected insurance provider, sending the conditions input in the standard format to the one or more insurance providers selected by the user, wherein the sending step comprises directly sending the conditions input in the standard format from the user'"'"'s computer to the selected insurance providers such that the conditions input in the standard format sent from the user'"'"'s computer does not pass through or interact with the service computer while being transmitted from the user'"'"'s computer to the selected insurance providers;

generating a display for displaying premium estimates results on the display unit in accordance with the conditions input by the user and the one or more insurance providers selected by the user;

receiving the insurance premium estimate from each of the selected insurance providers, said premium estimates having been calculated by the selected one or more insurance providers based on the conditions input, wherein the receiving step comprises directly receiving, by the user'"'"'s computer, the insurance premium estimates from the selected insurance providers such that the insurance premium estimates received by the user'"'"'s computer from the selected insurance providers does not pass through or interact with the service computer while being transmitted from the selected insurance providers to the user'"'"'s computer; and

displaying the received premium estimates on the display unit based on the embedded address of the website of each selected insurance provider.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the selected insurance providers comprise a plurality of insurance providers, and wherein the calculated premium estimates from the selected insurance providers are simultaneously displayed in separate frames on a single display screen.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the common interface is a common gateway interface (CGI).

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising printing the received premium estimates.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the sending step is performed by a browser at the user'"'"'s computer, the wherein the service computer is coupled to the user'"'"'s computer by a network, and wherein the selected insurance providers are coupled to the user'"'"'s computer by the network.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the network is the Internet.

7. The method of claim 5 further comprising generating conditions input data for said displaying one or more condition input screens, wherein said generating conditions input data is performed by the service computer.

8. The method of claim 5 further comprising generating insurance provider input data for said displaying the insurance provider selection screen, wherein said generating insurance provider input data is performed by the service computer.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the selected insurance providers comprise at least two insurance providers, and wherein the receiving step comprises receiving the insurance premium estimates from each selected insurance provider in accordance with a timing that is asynchronous with receiving the insurance premium estimates from each other selected insurance provider.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the selected insurance providers comprise at least two insurance providers, and wherein the receiving step comprises receiving the insurance premium estimates from each selected insurance provider in accordance with a timing that is synchronous with receiving the insurance premium estimates from each other selected insurance provider.

11. In a computing environment, a system for calculating estimates to a user for an insurance product from at least one insurance provider:

means for transmitting one or more condition input screens from a service computer of a service underwriter to a user'"'"'s computer of the user,

first means for prompting the user on said one or more condition input screens to input, via the user'"'"'s computer, conditions input of conditions relevant to calculation of

an insurance premium estimate for an insurance policy;

means for receiving the conditions input by the user;

second means for prompting the user to select, via the user'"'"'s computer, one or more insurance providers from which the insurance premium estimate is desired;

means for converting the conditions input by the service computer into a standard format suitable to a common interface;

means for sending the conditions input in the standard format from the user'"'"'s computer to the selected one or more insurance providers via a network, wherein said means for sending comprises means for directly sending the conditions data in the standard format from the user'"'"'s computer to the address of the web site of each selected insurance provider;

means for automatically receiving calculated insurance premium estimates from the selected insurance providers at the user'"'"'s computer for display on a display unit of the user'"'"'s computer;

means for embedding by the service computer, prior to sending the conditions input in the standard format from the user'"'"'s computer to the selected one or more insurance providers via the network, an address of a web site of each selected insurance provider in data used for displaying the received insurance premium estimates on the display unit;

means for receiving, by the user'"'"'s computer from the service computer, the converted conditions input having a standard format and the embedded address of a website of each selected insurance provider; and

means for displaying the received premium estimates on the display unit based on the embedded address of the website of each selected insurance provider.

12. The system of claim 11 wherein the selected insurance providers comprise a plurality of insurance providers, and wherein the calculated premium estimates from the selected insurance providers are simultaneously displayed in separate frames on a single display screen.

13. The system of claim 11 further comprising third means for prompting the user to select an insurance product for which an estimate is desired.

14. The system of claim 11 wherein the service computer generates data for said first and second prompting means and sends the data to the user'"'"'s computer via the network in response to a request from the user'"'"'s computer.

15. The system of claim 11 wherein the network is the Internet.

16. The system of claim 11, further comprising means for printing the received premium estimates.

17. The system of claim 11 wherein the common interface is a common gateway interface (CGI).

18. The system of claim 11 wherein the service computer is coupled to the user'"'"'s computer by the network, and wherein the selected insurance providers are coupled to the user'"'"'s computer by the network.

19. The system of claim 11 further comprising means for generating, by the service computer, conditions input data for use by said first means for prompting the user to input the conditions input.

20. The system of claim 11, further comprising means for generating insurance provider input data generating, by the service computer, for use by said second means for prompting the user to select the one or more insurance providers.