Property insurance risk assessment using application data

• US 7,966,203 B1
• Filed: 02/27/2009
• Issued: 06/21/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 02/27/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Millennium Information Services
• Original Assignee: Millennium Information Services
• Inventors: Pietrzak, Steven
• Primary Examiner(s): Subramanian; Narayanswamy
• Application Number:
  US12/394,777
• Time in Patent Office: 844 Days
• Field of Search: 705/4, 705/35
• 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 40/08 Insurance

Abstract

A pre-screening or application risk assessment score may be calculated based on data accumulated during an insurance application process to more effectively segment risks at the point of application. The application data may be used as a substitute for, or in addition to, the applicant'"'"'s credit score as an accurate measure of risk on the policy. In general, this pre-screening risk assessment score may be particularly useful for segmenting risks during the application and underwriting process for insurance policies that typically require a measurement of risks contributed by both the property and the applicant before the policy is written. More specifically, the score may be used during the underwriting process for property insurance policies. In accordance with one aspect of the disclosure, a method is useful for segmenting risks associated with an insurance coverage determination for property that typically requires a physical inspection, for example, real property.

Claims

1. A tangible computer-readable storage medium including instructions stored thereon and adapted to be executed by a processor to implement a method comprising:

receiving a plurality of application data sets at a computing device during the application process, each application data set corresponding to a different property and including physical characteristics of the corresponding property, wherein the application data is a substitute for a credit score as a measure of risk;

determining a pre-screening risk assessment score for each property based on the application data received during the application process;

generating tier, premium, and quote information for an insurance policy based on the pre-screening risk assessment score;

verifying the application data by determining a complete property risk score for each property based on data received from a physical inspection of the property;

organizing the plurality of application data sets into stacks based on a comparison of the complete property risk score and a multiple-factor rule set, wherein the multiple-factor rule set includes an insurer preference for the disposition of the application process based on the complete property risk score and the comparison organizes the plurality of data sets into one of a first stack for denial or further review of the application process and a second stack for issue or renewal of the application process;

generating tier, premium, and quote information for a revised insurance policy based on the complete risk assessment score; and

communicating at least one of the insurance policy or the revised insurance policy to a customer or agent.

2. The tangible computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein verifying the application data further includes comparing the application data to the data received from the physical inspection.

3. The tangible computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein verifying the application data further includes comparing the pre-screening risk assessment score to the complete property risk score.

4. The tangible computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the application data includes one or more of dwelling feature characteristics, dwelling condition characteristics, liability concern characteristics, and surrounding area characteristics.

5. A computer system comprising:

an application data acquisition interface system;

a risk assessment expert system including a property insurance application data risk assessment module;

a data warehouse storing a plurality of applications for property insurance, each application including application data;

one or more processors coupled to the application data acquisition interface system, the risk assessment expert system, and the data warehouse, and configured to execute instructions of the property insurance application data risk assessment module, wherein the instructions include;

receiving a plurality of application data sets from the application data acquisition interface system, each application data set corresponding to a different property and including property characteristics that are a substitute for a measure of risk contributed by an applicant for property insurance;

determining a pre-screening risk assessment score for each property based on the application data;

generating tier, premium, and quote information for an insurance policy based on the pre-screening risk assessment score;

verifying the application data by determining a complete property risk score for each property based on data received from a physical inspection of the property;

organizing the plurality of property data sets into stacks based on a comparison of the complete property risk score and a multiple-factor rule set, wherein the multiple-factor rule set includes an insurer preference for the disposition of the application process based on the complete property risk score and the comparison organizes the plurality of data sets into one of a first stack for denial or further review of the application process and a second stack for issue or renewal of the application process;

generating tier, premium, and quote information for a revised insurance policy based on the complete risk assessment score; and

communicating at least one of the insurance policy or the revised insurance policy to a customer or agent.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the risk assessment expert system causes the one or more processors to generate tier, premium, quote, and stack information based on the complete property risk score.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the risk assessment expert system further causes the one or more processors to revise the insurance policy based on the pre-screening risk assessment score if the generated tier, premium, and quote information based on the complete property risk score differs from the generated tier, premium, and quote information based on the pre-screening risk assessment score.

8. The system of claim 6, wherein the property insurance application data risk assessment module further causes the one or more processors to verify the application data by comparing the pre-screening risk assessment score to the complete property risk score.

9. The system of claim 5, wherein the application data includes one or more of dwelling feature characteristics, dwelling condition characteristics, liability concern characteristics, and surrounding area characteristics.