Negotiating reinsurance for a risk

• US 7,565,302 B2
• Filed: 11/13/2007
• Issued: 07/21/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 12/21/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: eReinsure.com, Inc. (Tiptree Inc.)
• Original Assignee: eReinsure.com, Inc. (Tiptree Inc.)
• Inventors: Best-Devereux, Igor
• Primary Examiner(s): O'Connor; Gerald J.
• Assistant Examiner(s): RINES, ROBERT D
• Application Number:
  US11/939,411
• Publication Number:
  US 20080065556A1
• Time in Patent Office: 616 Days
• Field of Search: 705/4, 705/35, 705/37
• US Class Current: 705/4
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/04 Trading; Exchange, e.g. stocks, commodities, derivatives or currency exchange
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/08 Insurance
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/188 Electronic negotiation

Abstract

System, methods, and computer program products for facilitating negotiations for reinsurance of a risk. The negotiations for reinsurance of a risk are conducted between a cedent and one to many assumers. An interface is provided for allowing submissions of risk for reinsurance, responses from selected assumers, and replies to the responses as necessary to continue or conclude the negotiation. The interface also allows users to view information exchanged during various stages of the negotiation. Additional functionality including categorizing risk, categorizing reinsurance, required distribution, distribution preferences, and endorsement agreements are also provided.

Claims

1. A method for enabling a cedent associated computing system, comprising a cedent computing system or a cedent'"'"'s broker computing system, to negotiate a reinsurance of a risk with a plurality of assumers through a host computing system, which is connected to the cedent associated computing system through the Internet or another computing network, wherein the negotiation for reinsurance of the risk is conducted through various stages of negotiation between the cedent associated computing system and the plurality of assumers, the method comprising:

the cedent associated computing system creating a submission of risk for reinsurance with one or more interfaces provided by the host computing system, the submission of risk for reinsurance including a risk record describing an initial insurance of a risk for which reinsurance is being sought and information relating to a type of reinsurance being sought by a cedent;

the cedent associated computing system identifying, through the one or more interfaces provided by the host computing system, a plurality of assumers that are each intended to receive the submission of risk for reinsurance;

the cedent associated computing system providing input to the host computing system, through the one or more interfaces provided by the host computing system, which causes the submission of risk for reinsurance to be sent from the host computing system to each of the plurality of assumers, and such that each of the plurality of assumers receives the same submission of risk for reinsurance that was created by the cedent associated computing system with the one or more interfaces provided by the host computing system;

the cedent associated computing system receiving, through the one or more interfaces provided by the host computing system one or more responses to the submission of risk for reinsurance from one or more of the plurality of assurners to whom the submission of risk for reinsurance was conveyed, the received responses indicative of one or more of the plurality of assumers that are interested in negotiating for reinsurance of the risk, wherein each response comprises one of an offer, a counteroffer, a quote, a plurality of alternative quotes, a refusal to quote, or an acceptance of a request to bind;

the cedent associated computing system accessing at least one negotiation interface from the one or more interfaces provided by the host computing system and which includes interface response options for the cedent associated computing system to reply to a corresponding assumer of each received response, the interface response options comprising at least one of a counter offer option, a refuse offer option, or an accept offer option, wherein when the cedent associated computing system utilizes the counter offer option, the refuse offer option, or the accept option for replying to a received response from a corresponding assumer, the host system conveys a corresponding counter offer, refusal or acceptance to the corresponding assumer;

the cedent associated computing system utilizing the at least one negotiation interface to reply to at least one received response from at least one corresponding assumer of the plurality of assumers; and

the cedent associated computing system accessing the at least one negotiation interface to accesses any additional responses and for submitting additional replies necessary to continue or conclude the negotiation with any of the plurality of assumers.

2. The method recited in claim 1, wherein the cedent associated computing system comprises a computing system of the cedent.

3. The method recited in claim 2, wherein the risk record is constructed with information obtained by the cedent and that is based an association of the cedent with the risk.

4. The method recited in claim 1, wherein the cedent associated computing system comprises a broker computing system that is associated with a cedent.

5. The method recited in claim 1, wherein at least one of the plurality of assumers comprises a broker system associated with an assumer.

6. The method recited in claim 1, wherein the host system is interposed between the cedent associated system and the plurality of assumers.

7. The method recited in claim 1, wherein the distribution list includes a list of assumers that should receive the submission as well as a list of assumers that can optionally receive the submission.

8. The method recited in claim 1, wherein submitting information for reinsurance further comprises an act of classifying policy information of the risk to be reinsured and which further includes:

selecting a policy class;

selecting a policy type from a subset of policy types within the policy class;

selecting a template for inputting policy information, the template tailored to the policy type; and

inputting policy information into the selected template.

9. The method recited in claim 1, wherein the act of submitting information for reinsurance of a risk includes inputting underwriting information for the policy for which reinsurance is being sought as well as preferred terms of reinsurance being requested.

10. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the cedent associated computing system utilizes an API associated with the host system to create the submission of risk, identify of the plurality of assumers, cause the submission of risk to be sent to each of the plurality of assumers and to submit the at least one negotiation reply.

11. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the cedent associated computing system includes a computing system having a processor and stored computer executable instructions which when executed by the cedent associated system enable the cedent associated system to implement the method.

12. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the at least one negotiation reply comprises a counteroffer that is responsive to the assumer response, and wherein the method further includes the cedent associated computing system receiving at least one counteroffer from the one or more of the plurality of assumers and that is responsive to the cedent counteroffer.

13. A computer program product comprising one or more computer-readable storage media having stored computer-executable instructions for implementing the method comprising:

the cedent associated computing system creating a submission of risk for reinsurance with one or more interfaces provided by the host computing system, the submission of risk for reinsurance including a risk record describing an initial insurance of a risk for which reinsurance is being sought and information relating to a type of reinsurance being sought by a cedent;

the cedent associated computing system identifying, through the one or more interfaces provided by the host computing system, a plurality of assumers that are each intended to receive the submission of risk for reinsurance;

the cedent associated computing system providing input to the host computing system, through the one or more interfaces provided by the host computing system, which causes the submission of risk for reinsurance to be sent from the host computing system to each of the plurality of assumers, and such that each of the plurality of assumers receives the same submission of risk for reinsurance that was created by the cedent associated computing system with the one or more interfaces provided by the host computing system;

the cedent associated computing system receiving, through the one or more interfaces provided by the host computing system one or more responses to the submission of risk for reinsurance from one or more of the plurality of assumers to whom the submission of risk for reinsurance was conveyed, the received responses indicative of one or more of the plurality of assumers that are interested in negotiating for reinsurance of the risk, wherein each response comprises one of an offer, a counteroffer, a quote, a plurality of alternative quotes, a refusal to quote, or an acceptance of a request to bind;

the cedent associated computing system accessing at least one negotiation interface from the one or more interfaces provided by the host computing system and which includes interface response options for the cedent associated computing system to reply to a corresponding assumer of each received response, the interface response options comprising at least one of a counter offer option, a refuse offer option, or an accept offer option, wherein when the cedent associated computing system utilizes the counter offer option, the refuse offer option, or the accept option for replying to a received response from a corresponding assumer, the host system conveys a corresponding counter offer, refusal or acceptance to the corresponding assumer;

the cedent associated computing system utilizing the at least one negotiation interface to reply to at least one received response from at least one corresponding assumer of the plurality of assumers; and

the cedent associated computing system accessing the at least one negotiation interface to accesses any additional responses and for submitting additional replies necessary to continue or conclude the negotiation with any of the plurality of assumers.

14. The computer program product recited in claim 13, wherein the computer program product comprises a computing system and wherein the computer-readable storage media comprises system memory of the computing system.

15. A method for enabling an assumer associated computing system, comprising an assumer computing system or an assumer'"'"'s broker computing system, to negotiate a reinsurance of a risk with a cedent through a host computing system, which is connected to the assumer associated computing system through a network comprising the Internet or another computing network, wherein the negotiation for reinsurance of the risk is conducted through various stages of negotiation, the negotiation for reinsurance and method comprising:

the assumer associated computing system receiving a submission of risk for reinsurance from the host system, wherein the submission is received by the assumer associated computing system over the network, as well as by at least one other assumer computing system associated with a plurality of different assumers identified by the cedent when the cedent created the submission of risk for reinsurance through one or more interfaces provided by the host system, the submission of risk for reinsurance including a risk record describing an initial insurance of a risk for which reinsurance is being sought and information relating to a type of reinsurance being sought by the cedent;

the assumer associated computing system utilizing the one or more interfaces provided by the host system to create an assumer offer to the cedent in response to the submission of the risk for reinsurance, the assumer offer providing terms for which reinsurance will be provided to the cedent and corresponding to the submission of risk for reinsurance, wherein the assumer offer is sent to the cedent by the host system;

the assumer associated computing system receiving a cedent counteroffer from the host system corresponding to the submission of risk for reinsurance and which was submitted by the cedent through the one or more interfaces provided by the host system and which is responsive to the assumer offer;

the assumer associated computing system utilizing the one or more interfaces provided by the host system to create at least one assumer counteroffer which is transmitted to the cedent by the host system and which is responsive to the cedent counteroffer;

the assumer associated computing system receiving at least one cedent negotiation reply from the host system, which was submitted by the cedent through the one or more interfaces provided by the host system and which is responsive to the assumer counteroffer and which includes either a cedent acceptance of terms in the assumer counteroffer or, alternatively, a new cedent counteroffer that is indicative of a cedent interest in further negotiating with the assumer associated system for the reinsurance, wherein the one or more interfaces include at least one negotiation interface which includes interface options for the cedent to submit replies through the host system to the assumer associated computing system, the interface response options comprising a counter offer option, a refuse offer option, and an accept offer option, wherein when the cedent utilizes the counter offer option, the refuse offer option, or the accept option, the host system conveys corresponding information to the assumer associated computing system; and

the assumer associated computing system utilizing the one or more interfaces provided by the host system to create at least one additional assumer counteroffer which is transmitted to the cedent by the host system and which is responsive to the at least one cedent negotiation reply if the cedent negotiation reply comprises the new cedent counteroffer or, alternatively, utilizing the one or more interfaces provided by the host system to enter into an agreement to provide reinsurance to the cedent according to the terms defined by at least the assumer counteroffer if the negotiation reply comprises the cedent acceptance of the terms defined by at least the assumer counteroffer.

16. The method recited in claim 15, wherein the assumer associated computing system comprises a computing system of an assumer.

17. The method recited in claim 15, wherein the assumer associated computing system comprises a computing system of a broker that is associated with an assumer and that is interposed between the assumer and the host system.

18. The method recited in claim 15, wherein the method further includes the assumer associated computing system submitting an endorsement to the cedent to request an alteration of the tenns agreed upon by the parties during the negotiation.

19. The method recited in claim 15, wherein receiving the submission of the reply from the cedent comprises receiving a counteroffer from the cedent.

20. The method recited in claim 15, wherein the method further includes receiving a notification in the form of an email having an embedded URL to a website of the host system and that links to data concerning the negotiation.

21. The method recited in claim 15, wherein the method further includes keeping information regarding the negotiation for reinsurance between the cedent and the assumer away from the at least one other assumer who also received the same cedent submission for the risk of reinsurance that was received by the assumer and such that said at least one other assumer is unaware of details of at least the assumer offer and the cedent counteroffer to the assumer offer.

22. The method as recited in claim 21, wherein the assumer associated computing system is unaware of the at least one other assumer who also received the same cedent submission for risk of reinsurance.

23. A computer program product comprising one or more computer-readable storage media having stored computer-executable instructions for implementing the method comprising:

the assumer associated computing system receiving a submission of risk for reinsurance from the host system, wherein the submission is received by the assumer associated computing system over the network, as well as by at least one other assumer computing system associated with a plurality of different assumers identified by the cedent when the cedent created the submission of risk for reinsurance through one or more interfaces provided by the host system, the submission of risk for reinsurance including a risk record describing an initial insurance of a risk for which reinsurance is being sought and information relating to a type of reinsurance being sought by the cedent;

the assumer associated computing system utilizing the one or more interfaces provided by the host system to create an assumer offer to the cedent in response to the submission of the risk for reinsurance, the assumer offer providing terms for which reinsurance will be provided to the cedent and corresponding to the submission of risk for reinsurance, wherein the assumer offer is sent to the cedent by the host system;

the assumer associated computing system receiving a cedent counteroffer from the host system corresponding to the submission of risk for reinsurance and which was submitted by the cedent through the one or more interfaces provided by the host system and which is responsive to the assumer offer;

the assumer associated computing system utilizing the one or more interfaces provided by the host system to create at least one assumer counteroffer which is transmitted to the cedent by the host system and which is responsive to the cedent counteroffer;

the assumer associated computing system receiving at least one cedent negotiation reply from the host system, which was submitted by the cedent through the one or more interfaces provided by the host system and which is responsive to the assumer counteroffer and which includes either a cedent acceptance of terms in the assumer counteroffer or, alternatively, a new cedent counteroffer that is indicative of a cedent interest in further negotiating with the assumer associated system for the reinsurance. wherein the one or more interfaces include at least one negotiation interface which includes interface options for the cedent to submit replies through the host system to the assumer associated computing system, the interface response options comprising a counter offer option, a refuse offer option, and an accept offer option, wherein when the cedent utilizes the counter offer option, the refuse offer option, or the accept option. the host system conveys corresponding infonnation to the assumer associated computing system; and

the assumer associated computing system utilizing the one or more interfaces provided by the host system to create at least one additional assumer counteroffer which is transmitted to the cedent by the host system and which is responsive to the at least one cedent negotiation reply if the cedent negotiation reply comprises the new cedent counteroffer or, alternatively, utilizing the one or more interfaces provided by the host system to enter into an agreement to provide reinsurance to the cedent according to the terms defined by at least the assumer counteroffer if the negotiation reply comprises the cedent acceptance of the terms defined by at least the assumer counteroffer.

24. The computer program product recited in claim 23, wherein the computer program product comprises a computing system and wherein the computer-readable storage media comprises system memory of the computing system.