Patent Publication Number: US-2003236686-A1

Title: System for calculating insurance premium

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001] The present invention relates to a technique of calculating a premium of insurance containing automobile insurance by means of a computer system utilizing a network.  
       [0002] Heretofore, in calculation of an insurance premium, the premium is calculated on the basis of information relative to a risk of payment of the insurance. In order to calculate the premium of the automobile insurance, there is a prior art used in the operation situation of an automobile. For example, JP-A-2002-024553 discloses a technique of using operation situation data including the number of workdays and the distance covered of an automobile as the calculation standard of the premium. This technique discloses an automobile management and insurance system which collects data concerning automobile information containing the “distance covered” of the automobile and calculates the insurance premium on the basis of the data.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0003] In the above background art, however, it is necessary to grasp the situation of the automobile by means of automobile management means at all times (every predetermined period). That is, the background art can be applied to an automobile if the traveling (operation) situation of the automobile can be managed like a rent-a-car. Accordingly, it is difficult that the background art is applied to the automobile which is used by a common driver and is not managed. In this case, it is difficult to grasp the traveling situation of the automobile and accordingly calculation of the insurance premium is also difficult.  
       [0004] Further, the risk of occurrence of an accident is not simply decided only by the distance covered and the number of workdays of the automobile. Accordingly, in the background art, it is difficult to calculate the insurance premium in accordance with a person (or an automobile) insured more properly.  
       [0005] In order to solve the above problem, the present invention is constructed as follows:  
       [0006] According to the present invention, equipment information relative to equipment (or parts) equipped in an automobile is inputted to calculate an insurance premium on the basis of the information. In the present invention, the insurance premium may be calculated on the basis of information indicative of the traveling situation containing the distance covered of the automobile and other information such as classes. The equipment equipped in the automobile includes equipment equipped upon purchase containing options in addition to equipment equipped after purchase of the automobile. The present invention contains notification of a next insurance plan prepared on the basis of the calculated insurance premium to a customer.  
       [0007] Further, the equipment information contains point information which is information for calculating the insurance premium in a correspondence manner to the equipment. The point information contains a discount rate of the insurance premium or point information corresponding to a discount amount. Moreover, the point information contains not only information itself used to calculate the insurance premium but also information for modifying information used to calculate the insurance premium and containing a class.  
       [0008] Further, in the present invention, the equipment information may be calculated on the basis of sales data treated by a computer apparatus managed by a store of the equipment. In such configuration, even an insurance premium for an automobile which is not managed by the computer apparatus can be calculated. The sales data contains an article identifier (ID) for identifying an article which is a purchased equipment.  
       [0009] Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description of the embodiments of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
     
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
     [0010]FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a system according to an embodiment of the present invention;  
     [0011]FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a policyholder database (DB)  21 ;  
     [0012]FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of purchase information  1 ;  
     [0013]FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of product data  3  and article data  4 ;  
     [0014]FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a collation DB  31 ;  
     [0015]FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of an article-for-additional-service DB  32 ;  
     [0016]FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a master-for-additional-service DB  33 ;  
     [0017]FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of an article DB  41 ;  
     [0018]FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a point-to-premium correspondence table;  
     [0019]FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a point-to-amount-claimed correspondence table  34 ;  
     [0020]FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of policyholder information  2 ;  
     [0021]FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing first processing in the embodiment of the present invention;  
     [0022]FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing second processing in the embodiment of the present invention; and  
     [0023]FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing third processing in the embodiment of the present invention. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS  
     [0024] Embodiments of the present invention are now described with reference to the accompanying drawings.  
     [0025]FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a system according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the present invention, computer apparatuses are connected to each other through a network  60  including the Internet. As the computer apparatuses, there are policyholder terminals  10  utilized by policyholders or insurance contractors, insurance company servers  20  managed by insurance companies, a collation system  30  for calculating an insurance premium, store servers  40  for managing sales data of equipment and a maker server  50  managed by a production company of equipment. Two or more computer apparatuses may be provided as each kind of computer apparatuses. Further, the store servers  40  are installed in each of one or more stores. In the embodiment, there are provided one or more store terminals  45  connected to the store servers  40 . Information relative to sale containing sales data can be inputted by means of the store terminals  45  and the store terminals  45  contain registers, POS (Point of Sale) terminals and the like.  
     [0026] Further, the computer apparatuses are to execute information processing in accordance with programs. Accordingly, the computer apparatuses each include a storage apparatus for storing programs and data, a memory for developing the programs stored in the storage apparatus and a processing unit (processor) for executing information processing in accordance with the programs. Further, the storage apparatus may be connected to the computer apparatus.  
     [0027] Referring now to a flowchart shown in FIG. 12, first processing in the embodiment is described. The first processing represents processing at a preparatory stage for realizing point service.  
     [0028] In step  101 , the collation system  30  registers policyholder information  2  shown in FIG. 11 and transmitted from each of the insurance company servers  20  in step  100  into the policyholder DB  21  shown in FIG. 2. The collation system  30  registers the policyholder information  2  representing contents of the insurance containing an insurance number for identifying automobile insurance. The policyholder information  2  contains information containing insurance numbers and policyholder&#39;s names for identifying policyholders, information for identifying kinds of vehicles insured, information of number plates of vehicles insured and mail addresses of policyholders. Further, the mail address may be a destination of PR data transmitted to a policyholder in step  114  described later.  
     [0029] Further, in step  103 , the store server  40  registers product data  3  containing an article identifier (ID) for identifying an article of commerce as shown in FIG. 4 into an article database (DB)  41  shown in FIG. 8. The product information  3  contain information transmitted from the maker server  50  in step  102 . Further, the product information  3  contain information inputted to the store server  30  from the persons concerned in the store.  
     [0030] Next, in step  104 , the store server  40  executes application processing of an additional service registration to the insurance company server  20 . In the embodiment, the store server  40  transmits application information  5  containing article information  4  to the insurance company server  20 . The article data  4  is to be based on the article DB  41 .  
     [0031] The article information  4  contains article IDs, article names, article classification indicating classification of articles, specification indicating specification of articles such as kinds of suitable vehicles, selling prices and points given to the articles. The points are to be issued for sale of articles. Further, the store server  40  may transmit individual application information  5  corresponding to each of the plurality of insurance company servers  20 . That is, the store server  40  may transmit the application information containing the article information  4  having a different point even if the article is identical. Further, the points contain individual points in accordance with the kind of vehicles or contents of the insurance (particularly, class and premium).  
     [0032] Next, in step  106 , the insurance company server  20  executes judgment processing as to whether the application information  5  received in step  105  can be registered or not. The collation system  30  executes judgment processing in accordance with the relation of the points and predetermined information. The collation system  30  executes the judgment processing in accordance with whether the first correspondence relation of the predetermined information indicated in the correspondence table and permissible points and the second correspondence relation of the predetermined information inputted in step  105  and the points have the predetermined relation or not. The first correspondence relation is not shown particularly.  
     [0033] For example, when the second correspondence relation satisfies the first correspondence relation, the judgment for permitting the registration is executed. Characteristic information of articles containing prices and identification of articles is stored as predetermined relation in the correspondence table. In this case, permitted points are stored as an example of the first correspondence relation in accordance with a value indicated by the characteristic information. For example, the first correspondence relation is set so that the higher the price of the article is the larger the value of the point becomes.  
     [0034] The embodiment contains that the user of the insurance company server  20  executes final judgment in step  106 . In this case, the insurance company server  20  may output the correspondence table and the application information  5 . The users contain the person who utilizes the insurance company server  20  by means of a terminal unit that can utilize the insurance company server  20 .  
     [0035] Next, when the judgment in step  106  is negative, the insurance company server  20  notifies that fact to the store server  40  in step  107 . In step  111 , the store server  40  receives it and outputs it or stores it in a predetermined memory area.  
     [0036] Further, when the judgment in step  106  is affirmative, the process proceeds to step  108 . In step  108 , the result of judgment containing the application information  5  is transmitted to the collation system  30 . The application information  5  contains information indicative of similar contents in addition to the information transmitted in step  104 .  
     [0037] Next, in step  109 , the collation system  30  registers the application contents indicated in the transmitted application information  5  to a master-for-additional-service DB  33  shown in FIG. 7. That is, the article information  4  containing the article ID and the given points are stored in corresponding manner to each other. In this case, information for specifying the store may be stored in a correspondence manner thereto in addition thereto.  
     [0038] Next, in step  110 , the collation system  30  informs the registration information to the store server  30 . The informed registration information contains the information indicating that the registration has been made, and the article information  4  and the points which are the registered contents. Information for specifying a store may be contained in the informed registration information. The informed registration information is received by the store server  20  in step  112 . The store server  40  executes at least one of outputting and registering of the contents of the received registration information.  
     [0039] The stores contain not only a single store but also a plurality of stores such as a chain store. In case of the plurality of stores, information for specifying a store may be contained. The registration information may be broadcast to the store servers managed by the plurality of stores.  
     [0040] Next, processing subsequent to step  113  which is additional processing in the embodiment is now described. In step  113 , the collation system  30  confirms the registration contents. That is, whether the registration contents require advertisement or not is judged. This judgment is made on the basis of advertisement information contained in the registration contents. The advertisement information is contained in the application information  5  and indicates whether advertisement is required or not. Further, when the advertisement information indicates that advertisement is required, the advertisement information also contains information relative to parties receiving advertisement. In other words, in step  104 , the store server  40  transmits the application information  5  with the advertisement information contained therein. The store server  40  receives the information indicating whether the advertisement is required or not (or at least one thereof) and prepares the application information  5  in accordance with the received contents to transmit it.  
     [0041] When the advertisement is required, the mail addresses of the parties receiving advertisement are added. The mail addresses may be extracted from customer information possessed by the store server  40  or may be inputted by hand. Further, when the customer information is extracted, the mail addresses of the customers having information indicative of tendency of purchase and corresponding to the article information  4  contained in the application information  5  are extracted. In the embodiment, information for implementing electronic or non-electronic advertisement to the customers (parties receiving advertisement) may be utilized in addition to the mail addresses. The mail addresses represent the addresses of the policyholder terminals  10  in the embodiment and the policyholder terminals  10  include information processing units containing personal computers and portable telephones.  
     [0042] When it is judged that the advertisement is required in step  113 , the collation system  30  delivers the advertisement information to the mail addresses in step  114 . The delivered advertisement information contains the article information  4  contained in the application information  5 .  
     [0043] The foregoing is the description of the first processing. Next, second processing in the embodiment is described with reference to FIG. 13. The second processing is processing concerning the service such as giving of points and a discount of the insurance premium.  
     [0044] First, in step  117 , the collation system  30  notifies the article information  4  containing the points conforming to the contents registered in step  109  to the store server  40 .  
     [0045] In step  118 , the store server  40  outputs the notified article information  4 . Further, the article information  4  may be outputted to the store terminals  45  containing POS terminals connected to the store server  40 , advertisement boards and the like. The processing in steps  117  and  118  is selective processing and may not be executed. Further, as shown in step  118 ′, the advertisement information may be outputted by the policyholder terminal  10 .  
     [0046] The article information outputted may be as follows: The article information of the article corresponding to the kind of vehicle indicated in the policyholder DB  21  or a collation DB  31  may be outputted. When the article information is transmitted to the policyholder terminal  10 , the collation DB  31  is used while using the mail address of the destination of transmission as a key to specify the kind of vehicle. Even in step  114  described above, the advertisement information may be also delivered similarly. Further, when the article information is transmitted to the store server  40 , the information for specifying the insurance such as the insurance number is received from a purchaser or the like and this information and the collation DB  31  are used to specify the kind of vehicle.  
     [0047] In step  119 , the store server  40  receives a purchase request of an article to be given points containing the article information  4  and information for specifying the purchaser. Here, the store server  40  may judge whether the article of the inputted article information  4  is to be given points or not. In step  112 , it is judged in accordance with the registered contents whether the article of the received article information  4  is to be given points or not. Further, the policyholder terminal  10  may receive the purchase request from a consumer (policyholder) in step  119 ′. In this case, in step  131 , the policyholder terminal  10  informs the information indicative of the purchase request to the store server  40 .  
     [0048] Further, the input of the purchase request contains (1) input from the policyholder terminal  10 , (2) input from the user to the store server  40  and (3) input from the store terminal  45  such as the POS terminal and the register connected to the store server  4 .  
     [0049] Next, in step  120 , the store server  40  transmits the purchase information  1  shown in FIG. 3 to the collation system  30 . The purchase information  1  contains the article information  4 , the information for specifying the purchaser and the information for specifying the store (or store server  30 ). The insurance number for specifying the automobile insurance of the purchaser is used as the information for specifying the purchaser. Further, the information for specifying the purchaser may be to specify any of the purchaser himself or the automobile insurance of the purchaser.  
     [0050] Next, in step  121 , the collation system  30  registers the purchase information  1  in the collation DB  31 . In this case, the purchase information is registered in a correspondence manner to the policyholder information registered in step  101 .  
     [0051] Next, in step  122 , the collation system  30  calculates the total point for each insurance number. In this calculation, the collation DB  31  is subjected to sorting processing while using the insurance number as a key to prepare an article-for-additional-service DB  32  shown in FIG. 6. This calculation processing may be performed for each insurance number at the time conforming to the term of validity of the insurance indicated in the collation DB  31 . For example, the total points may be calculated a predetermined time before the term of validity of the insurance. In this case, the total point can be utilized for a discount in a next updated insurance contract. Further, when a request is issued from the insurance company server  20 , the calculation processing may be performed.  
     [0052] In step  123 , the collation system  30  transmits the total point calculated for each insurance number to the insurance company server  20 . The insurance company server  20  of the destination is an insurance company server corresponding to the insurance company contained in the collation DB  31 . That is, the total point is informed to the insurance company server of the insurance company which deals with the insurance corresponding to the insurance number.  
     [0053] Next, in step  124 , the insurance company server  20  informed of the total point calculates the next premium for the next year. The insurance company server  20  calculates the premium which is the payment on the basis of a point-to-amount-claimed correspondence table  34  shown in FIG. 10. In the embodiment, the point-to-amount-claimed correspondence table  34  is provided for each predetermined unit containing the class. Further, a point-to-premium correspondence table  22  shown in FIG. 9 may be used to calculate the premium to be discounted and the payment may be calculated from the calculated premium to be discounted. The point-to-premium correspondence table  22  is also provided for each unit containing the class similarly to the point-to-amount-claimed correspondence table  34 .  
     [0054] In the embodiment, the processing in step  124  is performed by the insurance company server  20 , although it may be performed by the collation system  30 . In this case, the collation system  30  includes the point-to-premium correspondence table  22  and the point-to-amount-claimed correspondence table  34 . These tables are used to perform the processing in step  122  and implement the processing in step  124 . The calculated premium is informed to the insurance company server  20  corresponding thereto. Further, the collation system  30  may calculate the discount premium and the insurance company corresponding thereto may calculate the premium on the basis of the discount premium.  
     [0055] Next, the insurance company server  20  prepares the next insurance plan on the basis of the premium calculated in step  124 . In the embodiment, the class may be calculated in step  124  similarly to the premium.  
     [0056] The foregoing is the description of the second processing. Next, third processing is described with reference to FIG. 14. The third processing is settlement of accounts in giving of the service.  
     [0057] First, in step  126 , the collation system  30  calculates the issued points for each predetermined unit containing the store. The collation system  30  subjects the collation DB  31  to sorting processing while using the store as a key to calculate the total of the issued points for each store.  
     [0058] Next, in step  127 , the collation system  30  calculates the amount to be borne in accordance with the issued points. First, the table representing the correspondence relation of the points and the amount of money, similarly to the point-to-premium correspondence table  22  and the point-to-amount-claimed correspondence table  34 , is used to decide the amount claimed for each store.  
     [0059] Next, in step  128 , the collation system  30  informs the calculated amount claimed to each store server  40 . The store server  40  informed of the calculated amount claimed in step  129  performs the processing for settling the amount claimed in step  130 . Here, the processing for paying the amount claimed to the system managing the collation system  30  is performed. This processing contains transfer to an account of a bank.  
     [0060] In the embodiment, the collation system  30  may perform processing for payment to each insurance company. In this case, the collation system  30  subjects the collation DB  31  to sorting processing while using the insurance company as a key to calculate the total point of each insurance company and performs processing for implementing payment of the amount corresponding to the calculated total point to each insurance company.  
     [0061] Further, in regard to the processing following step  126 , the following processing is also contained in the embodiment. First, in step  126 , the issued points calculated in each store are subdivided for each insurance company to be calculated. To this end, the collation DB  31  is subjected to sorting processing while using the store as key to calculate the points for each store. Then, the sorted data are subjected to sorting processing while using the insurance company as a key and the points for each store are subjected to sorting processing while using the insurance company as a key. Consequently, the points subdivided for each insurance company can be calculated.  
     [0062] Next, in step  127 , the calculated points are converted into the amount claimed. In steps  128  and  129 , the amount claimed for each insurance company is informed to the store servers  40  of the stores issuing the points.  
     [0063] Next, in step  130 , the store servers  40  informed of the amount claimed perform the processing for payment (settlement) to each insurance company. This processing contains processing for transfer to an account similarly to the above-mentioned case.  
     [0064] The foregoing is the description of the embodiment. In the embodiment, the points are used to reduction of the insurance premium in the automobile insurance, while the points may be used to other additional services. According to the embodiment, there can be easily provided the system for offering the additional service to the action such as purchase of equipment relative to the automobile.  
     [0065] It should be further understood by those skilled in the art that although the foregoing description has been made on embodiments of the invention, the invention is not limited thereto and various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claims.