System and method of dispensing insurance through a computer network

Abstract

Systems and methods for facilitating the dispensing of insurance and of an insurance company selling insurance policies are provided, which may be network or Internet based, and may be managed through a general agent. Policy information from insurance companies may be received or stored. Data may be received from customers and insurance rates or quotes provided, which may be from competing companies. An instruction to purchase and payment may be received and proof of coverage, such as printing a document, may be facilitated. Data may be input directly by a customer or by an agent on behalf of the customer. The policy information, customer data, and premiums may be provided to the insurance companies. Insurance agents may advertise, and may refer customers from their own websites in exchange for commissions. The insurance offered for sale may be, automobile or specialty insurance, and may provide coverage in another country.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application is a continuation application of and claims priority to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10 / 051,645, filed Jan. 18, 2002 and entitled “SYSTEM AND METHOD OF DISPENSING INSURANCE THROUGH A COMPUTER NETWORK”, which application is a non-provisional of and claims priority to, U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60 / 262,534, filed Jan. 18, 2001 and entitled “Coveragemaker.” This application hereby incorporates by reference these prior applications in their entirety.FIELD OF INVENTION [0002] This invention relates generally to systems and methods for dispensing insurance services through a computer network. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003] In service-oriented industries such as the insurance industry, offices traditionally were staffed with sales personnel working on a one-to-one basis with walk-in or phone-in customers. Often personnel time would be inefficient since advice and quotations given do not result in a sa...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0006] The present invention provides, inter alia, systems and methods for automatically dispensing information, services and products to customers or their insurance agents, which may be carried out by the customer in a self-service fashion. Such systems and methods may be used, for example, for automatically dispensing insurance quotations and policies. Thus, embodiments of the present invention include systems and methods of distributing insurance that minimize or replace the antiquated and costly gathering of information by telephone or in person, and dispensing of forms and documents by hand, via Telecopier, Fax, or regular mail.

[0007] Accordingly, it is a feature of various embodiments of the present invention to provide an automatic and efficient system and method for dispensing information and contractual services to the general public on a self-service basis by accessing the system from the Internet. It is a further feature of various embodiments of the invention to provide such a system which is particularly useful for dispensing information, goods and services such as insurance quotations and policy binder agreements. It is also a feature of various embodiments of this invention to provide the general public with information about comparable insurance coverages from several sources for comparison purposes and in some embodiments to automatically generate and issue insurance binder agreements or insurance policies according to a customer's choices or specifications. An additional feature of various embodiments of this invention is to provide such services by means of a network request from an automated “agent” for the orderly collection of essential information. It is yet another feature of various embodiments of the invention to provide a system which reduces the overall cost of such services by lowering the personnel and office expenses and overheads.

[0008] Systems and methods in accordance with the present invention may change and automate many office functions, and may benefit many of the people and entities involved in the industry by reducing paperwork, safely storing and automatically backing up valuable documents, and by reducing workload. Documents may be updated with substantially real-time processing resulting in accurate reporting without waiting for commonly-used, end-of-day processing. In addition, the network may be linked to many computers worldwide, such as the Internet. In some embodiments, virtually any person at any location in the world may be able use the system and method as long as Internet access is available.

[0009] The system and method of this invention may allow a potential customer or customer quick and easy access to insurance quotations from more than one company simultaneously, and may allow the customer to select, purchase and receive their documents on a self-service and substantially real-time basis. The operations of gathering information, processing their credit card payment, and issuing policies, may be carried out in substantially real time and automatically. This may result in considerable savings in time and money for the customer and insurance companies alike, and may potentially result in more sales since the number of Internet-connected computers far exceeds what would normally be serviced using current practice by insurance offices and representatives. From the insurance industry's perspective, it may be that many members of the public may be more willing to purchase insurance when they can obtain their policy so easily and quickly, without any sales pressure. In addition, insurance companies may have significant savings on overhead costs.

[0011] In an exemplary embodiment, the present invention provides a network-based system for facilitating the dispensing of insurance. The system generally receives policy information (for instance, insurance rates and underwriting guidelines, which may be received via the network) from a plurality of insurance companies, and may also contract (e.g., through the network) with insurance companies to sell the companies' insurance policies in accordance with the policy information provided by them. The system may receive customer data (for instance, identification of the desired type of insurance and parameters applicable to the underwriting guidelines) via the network from one or more customers, and provide to each customer (e.g., via the network) insurance rates for insurance policies from a plurality of competing insurance companies. The insurance company may be identified for each insurance rate quotation. The system may also: receive from the customer (e.g., via the network) an instruction to purchase an insurance policy; receive a payment or a promise to pay; and facilitate the electronic distribution of proof of coverage to the location of the customer (e.g., printing at the location of the customer, a document providing proof of coverage).

[0015] The present invention even further provides another Internet-based method of facilitating the dispensing of insurance. This method generally includes in combination, and in any order, at least the steps of: offering quotes through an Internet website on insurance policies from a plurality of insurance companies, and offering quotes through the Internet website on insurance policies through a plurality of insurance agents. The insurance agents may, for example, log into the website. The method generally also includes the steps of: offering quotes through the Internet website on insurance policies directly to members of the public who log into the website, and offering quotes through the Internet website to members of the public through links on insurance agents' websites. The quotes may be offered to customers, at least some of whom may be at different locations. Some customers may accept at least one of the quotes and agree to purchase an insurance policy. In addition, in some embodiments, the method further includes the step of facilitating the electronic distribution of proof of coverage to the locations of the customers who agree to purchase insurance policies.

Problems solved by technology

Often personnel time would be inefficient since advice and quotations given do not result in a sale.

Thus, time and energy would be wasted for both the industry and the customer, increasing the cost of receiving such services and thereby reducing their demand.

However, it may be necessary for a potential customer to go to the websites of several insurance companies in order to get competing quotes, typically spending considerable time inputting the same data at each website.

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