Shared insurance industry system for non-disruptive enhancement and substitution of insurance transaction processing

• US 7,680,681 B2
• Filed: 04/26/2002
• Issued: 03/16/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 05/31/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: E-Agency Incorporated
• Original Assignee: eAgency, Inc.
• Inventors: Baughn, John W., Lotter, Robert A, Allard, Timothy S.
• Primary Examiner(s): O'Connor; Gerald J.
• Assistant Examiner(s): RANGREJ, SHEETAL
• Application Number:
  US10/133,112
• Publication Number:
  US 20020184163A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,881 Days
• Field of Search: 705 2- 3, 705/4
• US Class Current: 705/4
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3674 involving authentication
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/02 Banking, e.g. interest calculation or account maintenance credit or loans G06Q40/03
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/08 Insurance

Abstract

Apparatus and methods for implementing a new insurance industry business processing system, called a “Shared Industry Platform”, are described. A network-based computing platform is defined which includes a communications portal and industry shared databases which are controlled by enabling application and security software and which may be accessed through a global computer network by insurance company computers, managing general agency computers, selling agent computers, and consumer computers. This shared industry platform allows communication among the various components of the insurance industry in a flexible manner as specified by each insurance company, no matter what the company'"'"'s customary internal processing system might be. The present invention provides an evolutionary, non-disruptive means for interconnecting insurance company computers, managing general agency computers, agent computers, and consumer computers to allow interactive communication and secured business processing and data exchange over the Internet.

Claims

1. A system for sharing information among companies, agencies, and agents, the system comprising:

a memory configured to store the information and programs, wherein the information comprises insurance data, including customer, sales, agent, and commissions data, and wherein the memory is further configured to store business roles and business relationship rules for the companies, the agencies, the agents, and customers;

a processor, coupled to the memory, configured to access the memory for the information, the business roles, and the business relationship rules, and run the programs stored in the memory;

a communication port, coupled to the processor, configured to transfer the information, under control of the processor, between the memory and each of the companies, the agencies, the agents, and customers;

wherein the information further comprises business relationship data among the companies, the agencies, the agents, and the customers, with the companies offering insurance products for purchase by the customers directly, for purchase by the customers through the agents, or for purchase by the customers through the agents affiliated with the agencies; and

wherein the programs comprise;

a permissions program adapted to determine if a request from one of the companies, the agencies, the agents, or the customers is valid based on the business roles and the business relationship rules stored in the memory;

a membership program adapted to register new ones of the companies, the agencies, the agents, and the customers and their business roles within the system and store in the memory; and

a distribution program adapted to register the companies, the agencies, the agents, and the customers and their business relationship data among the companies, the agencies, the agents, and the customers and store in the memory, wherein the business relationship data registered is subject to the business relationship rules which govern vertical sales distribution hierarchies between the companies and the agencies, between the companies and the agents, and between the agencies and the agents, and wherein the programs permit the companies, the agencies, and the agents to enter information available only to the company, the agency, or the agent that entered the information and enter information about one or more companies, agencies, or agents which have not been registered by the membership program; and

wherein the information stored in the memory is shared among the companies, the agencies, and the agents based on the business relationship rules as determined by the permission program and the distribution program, with business relationships established horizontally and vertically in hierarchical relationships among the companies, the agencies, the agents, and the customers such that the companies, the agencies, the agents, and the customers are able to establish independent vertical hierarchical relationships and the agents are able to establish horizontal business relationships to form agencies within the vertical hierarchical relationships, and wherein the programs provide for the information to be displayed only to the company, the agency, or the agent that entered the information along with the information that is shared and provide for the company, the agency, and the agent to each participate independently within the system without requiring participation with the other registered companies, agencies, or agents within the system, with at least a portion of the information, available only to one or more of the agencies, the agents, or the customers that are lower vertically in the hierarchical relationship relative to the company, the agency, or the agent that entered the information, and not shared with one or more companies that are higher vertically in the hierarchical relationship.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein one of the companies, the agencies, the agents, and the customers may form a relationship with another one of the companies, the agencies, the agents, and the customers as determined by the permission program and the distribution program and form a private relationship with another company, agency, or agent which has not been registered by the membership program.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the business relationship rules permit the agent to determine whether to appoint to one or more of the companies, permit the agent to determine whether to appoint to one of the companies directly or through one of the agencies, permit the agent to determine whether to appoint to a given one of the companies only once either directly or through one of the agencies, permit the agent to determine whether to appoint to a number of the companies through the same agency, permit the agent to determine whether to appoint to a number of the companies through a plurality of the agencies, and permit the agency to determine whether to share in a commission paid to the agent if the agent is appointed to one of the companies through the agency.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the memory comprises a member database and a distribution database accessed by the membership program and the distribution program, respectively, and by the permissions program.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the programs further comprise:

a products program adapted to register products with product identifiers and associate the products with corresponding ones of the companies; and

an application program adapted to register applications with application identifiers and associate with the agent, the customer, and the company.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the memory comprises a product database and an application database accessed by the products program and the application program, respectively.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the programs further comprise:

a sales program adapted to record sales with sales identifiers and associate with the agent, the customer, and a product;

a payment program adapted to perform electronic funds transfer of commission payments to the agents; and

a commission program adapted to record commission payments to the agents.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the memory comprises a sales database and a commission database accessed by the sales program and the commission program, respectively.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the programs further comprise a report program adapted to generate sales and commission reports for the companies, the agencies, and the agents, and wherein the memory comprises a sales and commissions report database accessed by the report program.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the programs further comprise a data synchronizer program adapted to synchronize the information stored in the memory with data stored at one or more of the companies.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the memory comprises a synchronizer database accessed by the data synchronizer program.

12. A system comprising:

means for storing information to share among various entities based on their business role and business relationship rules stored in the storing means, wherein the entities comprise companies, agencies, agents, and customers, and wherein the information comprises insurance data, including customer, sales, agent, and commissions data, and further comprises business relationship data for the companies, the agencies, the agents, and the customers, with the companies offering insurance products for purchase by the customers directly, for purchase by the customers through the agents, or for purchase by the customers through the agents affiliated with the agencies;

means for communicating the information between the system and the entities via a network;

means for determining if a request from one of the entities is permitted based on their business role and the business relationship rules;

means for registering new ones of the entities and their business role within the system;

means for recording the business relationship data of the new ones of the entities relative to the existing ones of the entities subject to the business relationship rules which govern vertical sales distribution hierarchies between the companies and the agencies, between the companies and the agents, and between the agencies and the agents, wherein the business relationship rules permit the entities to form a private business relationship with an entity which has not been registered in the system by the registering means and which is not governed by the determining means and the business relationship rules; and

wherein the information in the storing means is shared among the companies, the agencies, and the agents based on the determining means and subject to the business relationship rules which govern horizontal and vertical hierarchical relationships such that the companies, the agencies, the agents, and the customers are able to establish independent vertical hierarchical relationships and the agents are able to establish horizontal business relationships to form agencies within the vertical hierarchical relationships, and wherein the storing means further stores information to be displayed only to the company, the agency, or the agent that entered the information along with the information that is shared and provide for the company, the agency, and the agent to each participate independently within the system without requiring participation with the other registered companies, agencies, or agents within the system, with at least a portion of the information, available only to one or more of the agencies, the agents, or the customers that are lower vertically in the hierarchical relationship relative to the company, the agency, or the agent that entered the information, and not shared with one or more companies that are higher vertically in the hierarchical relationship.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein one of the entities may form a business relationship with one or more of the entities as governed by the determining means and business relationship rules set forth by the one or more entities, and wherein the business relationship rules permit the agent to determine whether to appoint to one or more of the companies, permit the agent to determine whether to appoint to one of the companies directly or through one of the agencies, permit the agent to determine whether to appoint to a given one of the companies only once either directly or through one of the agencies, permit the agent to determine whether to appoint to a number of the companies through the same agency, permit the agent to determine whether to appoint to a number of the companies through a plurality of the agencies, and permit the agency to determine whether to share in a commission paid to the agent if the agent is appointed to one of the companies through the agency.

14. The system of claim 13, further comprising:

means for registering products with product identifiers and associating the products with corresponding ones of the companies; and

means for registering applications with application identifiers and associating the applications with the agent, the customer, and the company.

15. The system of claim 14, further comprising:

means for recording sales with sales identifiers and associating the sales with the agent, the customer, and a product;

means for performing electronic funds transfer of commission payments to the agents; and

means for recording commission payments to the agents.

16. The system of claim 15, further comprising:

means for generating sales and commission reports for the companies, the agencies, and the agents; and

means for synchronizing the information in the storing means with data stored at one or more of the companies.

17. A method comprising:

storing information within a memory of a computer system to share among various entities based on business roles and business relationship rules, wherein the entities comprise companies, agencies, agents, and customers, and wherein the information comprises insurance data, including customer, sales, agent, and commissions data, and further comprises business relationship data for the companies, the agencies, the agents, and the customers based on insurance products offered by the companies for purchase by the customers directly, for purchase by the customers through the agents, or for purchase by the customers through the agents affiliated with the agencies;

receiving a request via a communication port of the computer system from one of the entities;

determining if the request from one of the entities is permitted based on their business role and the business relationship rules;

registering new ones of the entities and their business role within the system;

recording the business relationship data of the new ones of the entities relative to the existing ones of the entities subject to the business relationship rules which govern vertical sales distribution hierarchies between the companies and the agencies, between the companies and the agents, and between the agencies and the agents, wherein the business relationship rules permit the entities to form a private business relationship with an entity which has not been registered in the system by the registering and which is not governed by the determining and the business relationship rules; and

sharing the stored information among the companies, the agencies, and the agents subject to the business relationship rules which govern horizontal and vertical hierarchical relationships such that the companies, the agencies, the agents, and the customers are able to establish independent vertical hierarchical relationships and the agents are able to establish horizontal business relationships to form agencies within the vertical hierarchical relationships, and wherein the storing further stores information to be displayed only to the company, the agency, or the agent that entered the information along with the information that is shared and provide for the company, the agency, and the agent to each participate independently within the system without requiring participation with the other registered companies, agencies, or agents within the system, with at least a portion of the information, available only to one or more of the agencies, the agents, or the customers that are lower vertically in the hierarchical relationship relative to the company, the agency, or the agent that entered the information, and not shared with one or more companies that are higher vertically in the hierarchical relationship, wherein the determining, the registering, the recording, and the sharing are controlled by a processor of the computer system executing instructions stored in the memory.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising forming by one of the entities a business relationship with one or more of the entities as governed by the business relationship rules set forth by the one or more entities, wherein the business relationship rules permit the agent to determine whether to appoint to one or more of the companies, permit the agent to determine whether to appoint to one of the companies directly or through one of the agencies, permit the agent to determine whether to appoint to a given one of the companies only once either directly or through one of the agencies, permit the agent to determine whether to appoint to a number of the companies through the same agency, permit the agent to determine whether to appoint to a number of the companies through a plurality of the agencies, and permit the agency to determine whether to share in a commission paid to the agent if the agent is appointed to one of the companies through the agency.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

registering products with product identifiers;

associating the products with corresponding ones of the companies;

registering applications with application identifiers; and

associating the applications with the agent, the customer, and the company.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

recording sales with sales identifiers;

associating the sales with the agent, the customer, and a product;

performing electronic funds transfer of commission payments to the agents; and

recording commission payments to the agents.

21. The method of claim 20, further comprising:

generating sales and commission reports for the companies, the agencies, and the agents; and

synchronizing the information in the storing means with data stored at one or more of the companies.

22. A method comprising:

providing registration information to a shared database system to enroll as a member of the shared database system, wherein the registration information includes a name and a business role of the member along with any appointment business relationship with any other members which include companies, agencies, agents, and customers enrolled with the shared database system or with an entity that is not enrolled with the shared database system to form a private relationship;

receiving a member identification code corresponding to the member from the shared database system, wherein the shared database system is configured to share information among the members, wherein the information that is shared comprises insurance data, including customer, sales, agent, and commissions data, and further comprises business relationship data for the companies, the agencies, the agents, and the customers, with the insurance data including insurance products offered by companies for purchase by the customers directly, for purchase by the customers through the agents, or for purchase by the customers through the agents affiliated with the agencies;

providing a request from the member to the shared database system, wherein the request includes the member identification code embedded in the request and which is used by the shared database system to verify that the member identification code is valid and that the request is authorized based on the business role of the member and the business relationship rules among the members which govern vertical and horizontal hierarchies and the sharing of information among the members, wherein the business relationship rules permit the agent to determine whether to appoint to one or more of the companies, permit the agent to determine whether to appoint to one of the companies directly or through one of the agencies, permit the agent to determine whether to appoint to a given one of the companies only once either directly or through one of the agencies, permit the agent to determine whether to appoint to a number of the companies through the same agency, permit the agent to determine whether to appoint to a number of the companies through a plurality of the agencies, and permit the agency to determine whether to share in a commission paid to the agent if the agent is appointed to one of the companies through the agency;

designating information stored in the shared database system as shared among the companies, the agencies, and the agents based on the business relationship rules, with business relationships established horizontally and vertically in hierarchical relationships among the companies, the agencies, the agents, and the customers such that the companies, the agencies, the agents, and the customers are able to establish independent vertical hierarchical relationships and the agents are able to establish horizontal business relationships to form agencies within the vertical hierarchical relationships, and wherein the information is displayed only to the company, the agency, or the agent that entered the information along with the information that is shared and provide for the company, the agency, and the agent to each participate independently within the system without requiring participation with the other registered companies, agencies, or agents within the system, with at least a portion of the information, available only to one or more of the agencies, the agents, or the customers that are lower vertically in the hierarchical relationship relative to the company, the agency, or the agent that entered the information, and not shared with one or more companies that are higher vertically in the hierarchical relationship; and

receiving a response from the shared database system based on the request.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the member is a company and the request comprises providing a product name and sales commission information to be stored by the shared database system along with other product names and sales commission information from other ones of the members that are companies.

24. The method of claim 22, wherein the member is an agent and the request comprises providing application information to be stored by the shared database system along with other application information from other ones of the members that are agents for various products of the members that are companies.

25. The method of claim 22, wherein the member is a company and the request comprises providing sales information to be stored by the shared database system along with other sales information from other ones of the members that are companies.

26. The method of claim 22, wherein the member is a company and the request comprises providing commission information to be stored by the shared database system along with other commission information from other ones of the members that are companies.

27. The method of claim 22, wherein the request is for a sales and commission report to be provided in the response by the shared database system based on stored sales and commission information of all of the members, with the sales and commission report subject to the role of the member and the business relationship rules.

28. The method of claim 22, wherein the member is a company and the request comprises providing product data, application data, sale data, and/or commission data to be synchronized and stored by the shared database system along with other product data, application data, sale data, and/or commission data from other ones of the members that are companies.

29. A computer system comprising:

a processor;

a memory adapted to store information and instructions;

a communication port, coupled to the memory, the processor, and to a network, configured to transfer information under control of the processor from the memory to the network;

wherein the processor is configured to execute the instructions stored in the memory to perform a communication process comprising;

providing registration information from the memory via the communication port to a shared database system coupled to the network to enroll as a member of the shared database system, wherein the registration information includes a name and a business role of the member along with any appointment business relationship with any other members which include companies, agencies, agents, and customers enrolled with the shared database system or with an entity that is not enrolled with the shared database system to form a private relationship;

receiving a member identification code, via the communication port from the shared database system, corresponding to the member from the shared database system, wherein the shared database system is configured to share information among the members, wherein the information that is shared comprises insurance data, including customer, sales, agent, and commissions data, and further comprises business relationship data for the companies, the agencies, the agents, and the customers, with the insurance data including insurance products offered by companies for purchase by the customers directly, for purchase by the customers through the agents, or for purchase by the customers through the agents affiliated with the agencies;

providing a request from the memory via the communication port to the shared database system, wherein the request includes the member identification code embedded in the request and which is used by the shared database system to verify that the member identification code is valid and that the request is authorized based on the business role of the member and the business relationship rules among the members which govern vertical and horizontal hierarchies and the sharing of information among the members, wherein the business relationship rules permit the agent to determine whether to appoint to one or more of the companies, permit the agent to determine whether to appoint to one of the companies directly or through one of the agencies, permit the agent to determine whether to appoint to a given one of the companies only once either directly or through one of the agencies, permit the agent to determine whether to appoint to a number of the companies through the same agency, permit the agent to determine whether to appoint to a number of the companies through a plurality of the agencies, and permit the agency to determine whether to share in a commission paid to the agent if the agent is appointed to one of the companies through the agency;

designating information stored in the shared database system as shared among the companies, the agencies, and the agents based on the business relationship rules, with business relationships established horizontally and vertically in hierarchical relationships among the companies, the agencies, the agents, and the customers such that the companies, the agencies, the agents, and the customers are able to establish independent vertical hierarchical relationships and the agents are able to establish horizontal business relationships to form agencies within the vertical hierarchical relationships, and wherein the information is displayed only to the company, the agency, or the agent that entered the information along with the information that is shared and provide for the company, the agency, and the agent to each participate independently within the system without requiring participation with the other registered companies, agencies, or agents within the system, with at least a portion of the information, available only to one or more of the agencies, the agents, or the customers that are lower vertically in the hierarchical relationship relative to the company, the agency, or the agent that entered the information, and not shared with one or more companies that are higher vertically in the hierarchical relationship; and

receiving a response via the communication port from the shared database system based on the request.

30. The computer system of claim 29, wherein the member is a company and the request comprises a product name and sales commission information to be stored by the shared database system along with other product names and sales commission information from other ones of the members that are companies.

31. The computer system of claim 29, wherein the member is an agent and the request comprises application information to be stored by the shared database system along with other application information from other ones of the members that are agents for various products of the members that are companies.

32. The computer system of claim 29, wherein the member is a company and the request comprises sales information to be stored by the shared database system along with other sales information from other ones of the members that are companies.

33. The computer system of claim 29, wherein the member is a company and the request comprises commission information to be stored by the shared database system along with other commission information from other ones of the members that are companies.

34. The computer system of claim 29, wherein the request is for a sales and commission report to be provided in the response by the shared database system based on stored sales and commission information of all of the members, with the sales and commission report subject to the role of the member and the business relationship rules.

35. The computer system of claim 29, wherein the member is a company and the request comprises product data, application data, sale data, and/or commission data to be synchronized and stored by the shared database system along with other product data, application data, sale data, and/or commission data from other ones of the members that are companies.