Insurance incentive program for promoting the purchase or release of an automobile after an expiration of a lease

• US 8,321,245 B2
• Filed: 03/16/2011
• Issued: 11/27/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 08/24/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: In The Car LLC
• Original Assignee: Disruptive Technologies, Ltd.
• Inventors: Wallach, Robert, Jackson, Jasper
• Primary Examiner(s): Frenel, Vanel
• Application Number:
  US13/049,134
• Publication Number:
  US 20110166894A1
• Time in Patent Office: 622 Days
• Field of Search: 705/4, 705/14, 705/36.R, 705/37, 705/38, 705/307
• US Class Current: 705/4
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/012 Providing warranty services
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0207 Discounts or incentives, e.g. coupons or rebates
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0234 Rebates after completed purchase
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0645 Rental transactions; Leasing transactions
• 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 40/04 Trading; Exchange, e.g. stocks, commodities, derivatives or currency exchange
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/06 Asset management; Financial planning or analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/08 Insurance

Abstract

A lessee of an item, such as an automobile, is encouraged to either purchase the automobile at the expiration of the lease, or to initiate a new lease for the same item. If the lessee undertakes a purchase or a new lease, a manufacturer of the item, or another party, provides insurance covering the item. The methods disclosed herein may be performed over a computer network, such as the Internet.

Claims

1. A processor-implemented method for encouraging the purchase or re-leasing of an item after an expiration of a lease, comprising:

identifying via a processor a lease on an item, the lease having an approaching expiration date;

identifying a customer corresponding to the lease; and

offering the customer a paid insurance policy in exchange for purchasing or re-leasing the item after the expiration date.

2. A processor-implemented purchase or re-leasing of an item promotion method, comprising:

leasing an item for a predetermined period of time;

obtaining an indication that a lease associated with the leased item is approaching an expiration;

obtaining an insurance incentive offer in exchange for purchasing or re-leasing an automobile after an expiration of the lease, wherein the insurance incentive offer including incentive parameters determined based on a difference between an actual residual value of the leased item at the expiration of the lease and a projected residual value of the leased item estimated at an initiation of the lease, wherein the insurance incentive offer including a partial insurance premium coverage by a third party when a customer purchases or re-leases the item at the expiration of the lease; and

submitting an indication to purchase or re-lease the leased item in exchange for the insurance incentive offer.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the insurance premium is paid as part of a periodic payment due for the purchase or re-lease.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the insurance policy has a term that extends beyond the lease expiration date.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the purchase or re leasing of an item promotion involves any of a lessee, a financial agent, a retailer, a manufacturer and an insurance provider.

6. The method of claim 2, wherein the insurance incentive offer is provided at a lessee terminal.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the lessee terminal comprises any of a personal computer, a personal workstation, a personal digital assistant, a network terminal, and a cellular phone.

8. The method of claim 2, wherein the lease includes lessee identification 1 information.

9. The method of claim 2, wherein the insurance incentive information is obtained from an insurance provider at a approaching date to the expiration of the lease.

10. The method of claim 2, wherein the leased item is vehicle of a particular make and model.

11. The method of claim 2, wherein the insurance incentive parameters includes an insurance premium and an insurance term.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the insurance premium is no greater than the difference between an actual residual value of the leased item at the expiration of the lease and a projected residual value of the leased item estimated at an initiation of the lease.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the insurance term is no greater than one year.

14. The method of claim 2, further comprising transmitting the insurance incentive offer to an insurance provider on behalf of the customer.

15. The method of claim 2, wherein the insurance incentive offer is transmitted to customers residing in a selected geographic region.

16. The method of claim 2, wherein the insurance incentive offer is provided based on a class of the item and a qualifying geographic region, without consideration of individual characteristics associated with the customer.

17. A purchase or re-leasing of an item promotion apparatus, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory in communication with the processor, the memory for storing a plurality of processing instructions enabling the processor to;

lease an item for a predetermined period of time;

obtain an indication that a lease associated with the leased item is approaching an expiration;

obtain an insurance incentive offer in exchange for purchasing or re-leasing an automobile after an expiration of the lease, wherein the insurance incentive offer including incentive parameters determined based on a difference between an actual residual value of the leased item at the expiration of the lease and a projected residual value of the leased item estimated at an initiation of the lease, wherein the insurance incentive offer including a partial insurance premium coverage by a third party when a customer purchases or re-leases the item at the expiration of the lease; and

submit an indication to purchase or re-lease the leased item in exchange for the insurance incentive offer.

18. A processor-readable non-transitory medium storing purchase or re-leasing of an item promotion processor-executable instructions executable by a processor to:

lease an item for a predetermined period of time;

obtain an indication that a lease associated with the leased item is approaching an expiration;

obtain an insurance incentive offer in exchange for purchasing 1 or re-leasing an automobile after an expiration of the lease, wherein the insurance incentive offer including incentive parameters determined based on a difference between an actual residual value of the leased item at the expiration of the lease and a projected residual value of the leased item estimated at an initiation of the lease, wherein the insurance incentive offer including a partial insurance premium coverage by a third party when a customer purchases or re-leases the item at the expiration of the lease; and

submit an indication to purchase or re-lease the leased item in exchange for the insurance incentive offer.