Abstract:
A system and method of locating lost or forgotten insurance, annuity or other investment and pension proceeds which requires the inquire to fill out only one form which is then sent electronically or non-electronically to all known benefit companies on the inquirer&#39;s behalf. The system receives the responses from the benefits companies and communicates the results to the inquirer. Thereby, the inquirer (attorney, beneficiary, law enforcement agencies, or the insured) can be assured that an exhaustive search of lost or forgotten insurance, annuity or other investment and pension proceeds has been conducted.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0002]    The present invention relates to business methods and, more particularly, to a system and method of locating lost or forgotten insurance, annuity or other investment and pension proceeds. The system can be used manually or electronically.  
           [0003]    2. General Background  
           [0004]    Many individuals die without leaving clues for their heirs as to life insurance policies, annuities or other investments and/or pensions in which they may have acquired a vested interest. Others lose track of such intangible assets and cannot remember the insurance company, annuity or other investment company, or pension company (all of which are hereinafter sometimes referred to as the “benefit company”) with which they dealt. Currently, there are more than 1700 companies at least 1246 addresses due to mergers, acquisitions, etc.  
           [0005]    It is estimated that as much as $1 Billion dollars in life insurance, annuities and pensions are unclaimed and remain sitting in escrow of theses 1700 benefit companies. Some of this money remains unclaimed because the beneficiaries are unaware that the policies exist at the time of death. Since insurance companies are not required to monitor when policy holders dies, unless the beneficiary claims the benefits, such benefits may remain unclaimed.  
           [0006]    As can be readily seen, there is a continuing need for a system or method of locating lost or forgotten insurance, annuity or other investment and pension proceeds using the power of the Internet.  
           [0007]    Furthermore, there is a continuing need for a system or method of locating lost or forgotten insurance, annuity or other investment and pension proceeds which requires the user to fill out only one form which is then sent to all known benefit companies on the user&#39;s behalf. Thereby, the user (attorney, beneficiary, law enforcement agencies, or the insured or “insuree”) can be assured that an exhaustive search of lost or forgotten insurance, annuity or other investment and pension proceeds has been conducted.  
           [0008]    As will be seen more fully below, the present invention is substantially different in structure, methodology and approach from that of the business methods.  
         SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION  
         [0009]    The preferred embodiment of method of locating lost or forgotten insurance, annuity or other investment and pension proceeds of the present invention solves the aforementioned problems in a straight forward and simple manner.  
           [0010]    Broadly, what is provided is a method of locating lost insurance, annuity or other investments or pension in a population of offsite benefits companies comprising the steps of:  
           [0011]    (a) receiving a request for benefits inquiry by an inquirer from a population of users;  
           [0012]    (b) establishing an inquiry file for the inquirer which includes subfiles for each benefit company the population of offsite benefit companies;  
           [0013]    (c) sending said request for benefits to said each benefit company;  
           [0014]    (d) in response of step (c), receiving a response to said request for benefits from at least one benefit companies; and,  
           [0015]    (e) communicating results of said response to said inquirer.  
           [0016]    The present invention contemplates a method which can be preformed manually or electronically over the Internet.  
           [0017]    In view of the above, an object of the present invention is to provide a method of locating lost or forgotten insurance, annuity or other investment and pension proceeds which requires the user to fill out only one form which is then sent to all known benefit companies on the user&#39;s behalf. Thereby, the user (attorney, beneficiary, law enforcement agencies, or the insured or “insuree”) can be assured that an exhaustive search of lost or forgotten insurance, annuity or other investment and pension proceeds has been conducted.  
           [0018]    The above and other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent from the drawings, the description given herein, and the appended claims.  
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING  
       [0019]    For a further understanding of the nature and objects of the present invention, reference should be had to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which like parts are given like reference numerals and, wherein:  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 1 illustrates a general block diagram of the life benefits locating system of the present invention;  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 2 illustrates the inquiry data file and the subfiles of the present invention;  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 3 illustrates the flowchart of the method of locating lost or forgotten insurance, annuity or other investment and pension proceeds of the present invention;  
         [0023]    [0023]FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate an exemplary Request for Benefits graphical user interface of the present invention; and,  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary inquirer graphical user interface.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0025]    Referring now to the drawings and in particular FIG. 1, a general block diagram of the life benefits locating system  10  (hereinafter referred to as “the system  10 ”) is illustrated. The system  10  includes a computer or server  20  and stores at least one “Request for Benefits” form  205  (FIGS. 4A and 4B) in inquiry forms database  30  which is adapted to be filled-out by an inquirer and submitted to the system  10  manually or electronically. In one embodiment, the “Request for Benefits” form  205  is submitted with a fee or payment to conduct the locating services.  
         [0026]    The system  10  further includes benefit company database  40  and inquiry files and subfiles database  50  in communication with the computer or server  20 . The benefit company database  40  includes the addresses to the population of offsite benefits companies  7  including annuity companies  7 A, insurance companies  7 B, pension companies  7 C and other investment companies  7 D.  
         [0027]    Referring now to FIG. 2, the inquiry data file  70  is shown and is stored in the inquiry data files and subfiles database  50 . The inquiry data file  70  is created and stored in database  50  for each received inquiry. The inquiry data file  70  includes a field for the name of the inquirer  72  and may include a first name and a last name, a law firm name or law enforcement or investigative agency. The inquiry data file  70  further includes fields for the address  74  of the inquirer and the email address  76  if applicable. The inquiry data file  70  also includes fields for the name of the insured or “insuree,” policy or instrument holder  78  (hereinafter referred to as the “insuree”), the social security number  80  and aliases  90  such as for a maiden name. Moreover, the inquiry data file  70  includes fields for other pertinent information such as date of birth  82 , date of death  84 , place of birth  86  and place of death  88 .  
         [0028]    The data fields may be populated via an online session through the Internet  1 B as will be described below.  
         [0029]    The inquiry file  70  further includes benefit company subfiles  92 A,  92 B . . .  92 X for each benefit company of the population of offsite benefit companies  7 . Since each of the benefit company subfiles  92 A,  92 B . . .  92 X are essentially the same only one will be described in detail. The benefit company subfile  92 A includes fields for the name of the company  94  and the address of the company  95 . Furthermore, benefit company subfile  92 A further includes fields for designating holder of a life policy  96 , annuity  97 , pension  98  or other investments  99 . The data fields  96 - 99  are populated after the respective benefit company responds to the request.  
         [0030]    In operation, the computer or server  20  populates, communicates and updates the inquiry forms database  30 , the benefits company database  40  and the inquiry files and subfiles database  50 . Furthermore, the computer or server  20  is connected to a scanner  25  to create electronic copies of hard copy “Request for Benefits” forms. Moreover, the computer or server  20  is connected to printer  35  to create a hard copy “Request for Benefits” forms which can be sent via the postal service  1 C.  
         [0031]    The system  10  is designed to operate as a brick and mortar site and/or a click and mortar site via multi-media communications  1 . During brick and mortar operation, an inquirer from a subset of the population of patrons  5  would request a hard copy “Request for Benefits” form via telephonic communications  1 D appropriate for their subset. The hard copy “Request for Benefits” form would be sent from the system  10  via facsimile  1 A or the postal service  1 C. After the inquirer has completed the hard copy “Request for Benefits” form, the inquirer would send the hard copy “Request for Benefits” form to system  10  via facsimile  1 A or the postal service  1 C.  
         [0032]    On the other hand, during the click and mortar operation, an inquirer from a subset of the population of patrons  5  would communicate with the system  10  via the Internet  1 B to select a “Request for Benefits” form appropriate for their subset and fill-out such form during an online session over the Internet  1 B. After the inquirer has completed the “Request for Benefits” form  205 , the inquirer would send the “Request for Benefits” form  205  to system  10  via the internet  1 B.  
         [0033]    The “Request for Benefits” form  205  can be submitted from an authorized inquirer from a subset of the population of patrons  5 . In the exemplary embodiment, the subsets of the population of patrons  5  includes law enforcement and authorized investigative agencies  5 A, insurees  5 B, attorneys  5 C, and individual beneficiaries  5 D.  
         [0034]    Referring again to the “Request for Benefits” form in stored database  30 , each subset of the population of patrons  5  has a distinct “Request for Benefits” form  205  which should be submitted to the system  10 . Depending on the subset, different information is necessary when identifying the benefits. For example, a form for the insuree  5 B since not deceased would not have information regarding the death of the insuree. However, the form for the beneficiaries  5 D, attorneys  5 C and law enforcement or investigative agencies  5 A may require the formation related to the death of the insuree.  
         [0035]    Referring now to FIGS. 4A and 4B, an exemplary Request for Benefits graphical user interface  200  is shown for use in the click and mortar operation of the system  10 . In general, the Request for Benefits graphical user interface  200  includes a “Request for Benefits” form  205  having an identification of inquirer data entry field  210 . It should be noted that the content of the “Request for Benefits” form  205  is essentially the same for both the hard copy and electronic formats. In the exemplary “Request for Benefits” form  205 , the identification would be for a law enforcement or investigative agency  5 A. The “Request for Benefits” form  205  identifies the insuree by name in the data entry field  215 , aliases in the data entry field  217  and social security number in data entry field  220 . The “Request for Benefits” form  205  includes data entry fields  225 ,  230 ,  235  and  240  for entering the date of birth, the date of death, the place of birth and the place of death, respectively.  
         [0036]    The “Request for Benefits” form  205  further includes data entry fields  250  and  255  for entering the name of the person filing out the data for the law enforcement or investigative agency  5 A and the date.  
         [0037]    Other forms would include an identification of inquirer data entry field  210  to enter one of an attorney  5 C, a beneficiary  5 D, or the insuree  5 B and may not include data entry field  250 . Moreover, the form for an insuree  5 B would not include data entry fields  230  and  240 .  
         [0038]    Once the inquirer submits the “Request for Benefits” form  205  via the “Request for Benefits” graphical user interface  200 , the inquiry data file  70  is automatically populated. However, if the “Request for Benefits” form  205  is submitted in a non-electronic format the inquiry data file  70  may be populated via manual data entry.  
         [0039]    Referring now to FIG. 5, an exemplary inquirer graphical user interface  300  is shown. The inquirer graphical user interface  300  includes data entry fields  305  and  310  for entering online the inquires first and last names, respectively. The inquirer graphical user interface  300  further includes data entry fields  315  for entering an email address and data entry fields  320 ,  325 ,  330 ,  340  and  345  for entering online the inquirers address, city, state and zip code, respectively. In the exemplary embodiment, payment can be submitted online via data entry fields  355  and  360  for entering an account number of a credit card and expiration date, respectively. Moreover, data entry fields  365   a ,  365   b  and  365   c  provide for selection of the type of credit card such as Master Card (MC), Visa, and American Express (AMEX).  
         [0040]    The computer or server  20  communicates with the population of offsite benefit companies  7  via multi-media communications  1 . After system  10  receives the “Request for Benefits” form  205  and the inquiry data file  70  established, an electronic communication is formatted and assembled to for each and every benefit company of the population of offsite benefit companies  7 .  
         [0041]    In one embodiment, such offsite communications are sent via the Internet  1 B in the form of an e-mail communications to the population of offsite benefits companies  7 .  
         [0042]    An e-mail communication is first assembled using a standardized electronic-mail transfer protocol which may be sent with a digital signature. Digital signatures are well known for use in encryption and secure communications. Therefore, no further discussion regarding digital signatures are necessary.  
         [0043]    The e-mail communication includes an e-mail address header which is automatically populated with the email address of the benefit company in the benefits company database  40  and a text section for insertion of the generic “Request for Benefits” form  205 . The e-mail communication would also include YES/NO selection designators (NOT SHOWN) for indicating where the company holds a life policy, annuity or other investments and/or a pension.  
         [0044]    The system  10  is equipped with a printer  35  to print the hard copy form letters to the benefit companies  7  which are addressed to the mailing address of the benefit company  7 . Additionally, the system  10  may fax the form letters to the benefit companies  7  via facsimile  1 A.  
         [0045]    Referring now to FIG. 3, the method of locating lost or forgotten insurance, annuity or other investment and pension proceeds  100  begins at Step  105  where the system  10  will receive a benefits inquiry from a respective inquirer from a subset of the population of patrons  5 A,  5 B,  5 C,  5 D and  5 E. Step  105  is followed by Step  110  where an inquiry file  70  (FIG. 2) is established wherein the inquiry file  70  includes benefit company subfiles  92 A,  92 B . . .  92 X for each benefit company  7 , described above in relation to FIG. 2.  
         [0046]    Step  110  is followed by Step  115  where the system  10  formats and assembles a Request for Benefits communication to the population of benefits companies  7 . For example, the Request for Benefits communication may be in the form of an email communication, postal service mail or facsimile. Step  115  is followed by Step  120  where the system  10  communicates or sends the Request for Benefits communication to the population of benefit companies  7  stored in benefits company database  40 . Step  120  is followed by Step  125  where the system  10  receives responses from the population of benefit companies  7 .  
         [0047]    Step  125  is followed by decision Step  130  where a determination is made whether any of the benefit companies  7  are not responding. If the determination at Step  130  is YES, Step  130  is followed by Step  135  where the request is resent to the non-responding benefits company(s). For example, if any of the benefit companies of the population of benefit companies  7  do not reply such companies will be re-contacted by a letter or telephone call to provoke a response. Step  135  is followed by Step  125  described above.  
         [0048]    In the event a benefits company does not respond after at least one subsequent request, the insurance commissioner of the state where the benefits company operates will be notified.  
         [0049]    If the decision is NO at Step  130 , then Step  130  is followed by Step  140  where the inquirer is communicated the results of the benefits request.  
         [0050]    The responses from each benefit company  7  is entered or automatically populated into the benefit company subfiles  92 A,  92 B . . .  92 X at data fields  96 - 99 . Thereafter, the inquirer is communicated the results. For example, the results may be communicated via at least one email communication or they may be posted onsite at the system  10  (website) in a online folder accessible by the inquirer via the Internet  1 B. Alternately, the results may be communicated by other multi-media communications  1  including facsimile  1 A and postal service  1 C.  
         [0051]    Because many varying and differing embodiments may be made within the scope of the inventive concept herein taught and because many modifications may be made in the embodiment herein detailed in accordance with the descriptive requirement of the law, it is to be understood that the details herein are to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.