Systems and methods for insuring stored food

• US 8,229,771 B1
• Filed: 11/29/2011
• Issued: 07/24/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 06/05/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: United Services Automobile Association
• Original Assignee: United Services Automobile Association
• Inventors: Billman, Bradly J.
• Primary Examiner(s): OJIAKU, CHIKAODINAKA
• Application Number:
  US13/306,703
• Time in Patent Office: 238 Days
• Field of Search: 702/19, 705/4, 705/37, 705/7.41, 221/84, 235/379, 156/213, 426/248
• US Class Current: 705/4
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06395 Quality analysis or management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• 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: Y10T 156/103 Encasing or enveloping the configured lamina

Abstract

A person may store food to prepare for an emergency. An insurance policy may be issue to cover the stored food against loss, theft, spoilage, etc. In issuing the insurance policy and setting the premium, the insurer may take various factors into account, such as the type of food to be stored (e.g., canned, dried, etc.), where the food is to be stored (e.g., a cellar, a closet, a food locker, etc.), and whether the stored food is rotated with new food to prevent the stored food from spoiling due to age. During the life of the insurance policy, the insurer may issue alerts to the policyholder in order to advise the policyholder to rotate old food out of storage.

Claims

1. A system for issuing an insurance policy on food, the system comprising:

at least one computing device with a processor and a memory having instructions stored therein that are executable by the processor to;

determine a premium of a food insurance policy based on a type of food covered by the insurance policy, a condition in which the food is stored and rotated, and underwriting data that describes a loss experience associated with the type of food that identifies the way in which the food is stored and rotated;

issue the food insurance policy

issue an alert to a policyholder of the food insurance policy, wherein the alert advises the policyholder to rotate the food; and

receive, from the policyholder, a confirmation that the supply of stored food has been rotated in response to receiving the alert that advises the policyholder to rotate the food.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the underwriting data includes information that identifies risks associated with the way in which the food is stored and rotated.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the information about how the food is stored indicates that the food is stored in a house of a person to whom the food insurance policy is issued.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the food insurance policy requires rotation of old items of food by replacing the old items of food with new items of food.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein, in the event of a claim for loss or damage to an item of food that is covered by the food insurance policy, a card or certificate that is redeemable for a food item commensurate in value to the item of food that that was lost or damaged is issued.

6. A system for administering food insurance policy on a supply of stored food, the system comprising:

at least one computing device with a processor and a memory having instructions stored therein that are executable by the processor to;

issue food insurance policy based on a type of food to be stored and a condition in which the food is stored and rotated; and

receive, from the policyholder, a confirmation that the supply of stored food has been rotated in response to receiving an alert advising the policyholder to rotate the food.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein an alert is issued to a policyholder of the food insurance policy, wherein the alert advises the policyholder to rotate the supply of stored food by replacing old food in the supply with Previously Presented food.

8. The system of claim 6, wherein the type of food is jarred or canned food.

9. The system of claim 6, wherein the confirmation comprises a certification by the policyholder that the supply of stored food has been rotated.

10. The system of claim 6, wherein, in the event of a claim for loss or damage to an item of food that is covered by the food insurance policy, a card or certificate that is redeemable for a food item commensurate in value to the item of food that that was lost or damaged is issued.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the card or certificate is redeemable only for the type of food for which the claim was made.

12. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising computer-readable instructions stored thereon that are executed by a processor to:

issue a food insurance policy based on a type of food to be covered by the insurance policy, a condition in which the food is stored and rotated, and underwriting data that describes a loss experience associated with the type of food that identifies the condition in which the food is stored and rotated;

issue an alert to a policyholder of the food insurance policy, wherein the alert advises the policyholder to rotate the food; and

receive, from the policyholder, a confirmation that the food has been rotated in response to receiving the alert that advises the policyholder to rotate the food.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12, including instructions executed by the processor to, in the event of a claim for loss or damage to an item of food that is covered by the food insurance policy, issue a card or certificate that is redeemable for a food item commensurate in value to the item of food that that was lost or damaged.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the card or certificate is redeemable only for the type of food for which the claim was made.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the alert advising the policyholder to rotate the food includes instructions to rotate the food by replacing the food with Previously Presented food.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the confirmation comprises a certification by the policyholder that the supply of stored food has been rotated.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the underwriting data includes information that identifies risks associated with the way in which the food is stored and rotated.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the condition in which the food is stored comprises storing the food in a food locker or in a cellar.