Patent Publication Number: US-2009240534-A1

Title: System and method for aligning territories

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims priority to U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 61/038,177, filed Mar. 20, 2008, the contents of which is herein incorporated by reference. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to competitive pricing analysis and in particular to competitive pricing analysis for territorial based services such as vehicle insurance premiums. 
     BACKGROUND 
     A vehicle&#39;s garaging address is one of the major determining factors of a vehicle&#39;s insurance premium because different areas or regions have different demographics that could affect the loss potential of a risk. Some demographics used are accident occurrence, crime rates and population densities. Insurance companies have demonstrated that certain regions or areas have higher occurrences of loss due to these demographics. For example, areas of higher population densities have a higher risk of loss due to accidents and areas with higher crime rates result in a higher risk of loss due to theft and vandalism. 
     To stay competitive in the market place by allowing companies to price a policy that is more reflective of loss potential, companies have adopted territorial rating. Territorial rating is when companies assign territories to certain areas or regions and based on that territory&#39;s demographics assign a factor or a base rate that best reflects that territory&#39;s loss potential. Since the determination and justification for these territories are from the insurance company, the number of territories and the actual boundary for each territory is unique from company to company. For the state of New York for instance, the number of territories can range from as low as 60 to as high as 130+ unique territories. How the boundaries for each territory are defined for a particular company, can be as simple as a zip code to territory table or can get as complex as boundaries defined by city limits, county limits, townships, streets, highways or geographic boundaries, such as mountains, lakes or rivers. 
     Given the complexities and uniqueness of territories and their boundaries for each company, the challenge introduced to the competitive pricing analyst is to determine which of the competitor territory or territories should be used when trying to compare rates for each of the analyst&#39;s company territories. To add to this challenge, competitive pricing reports often require that these reports are summarized by zip code, city or county. This means, the analyst would have to be able to determine which of the company territories to use when pricing a particular zip code, city or county. 
     What is required is a system and method for aligning the territories of various companies against each other and also against particular zip codes and similar boundaries. 
     SUMMARY OF ONE EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION 
     Advantages of One or More Embodiments of the Present Invention 
     The various embodiments of the present invention may, but do not necessarily, achieve one or more of the following advantages: 
     the ability to identity uniquely aligned territories for different companies; and 
     provide a comparison of ratings for territories within a region of interest such as a zip code. 
     These and other advantages may be realized by reference to the remaining portions of the specification, claims, and abstract. 
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF ONE EMBODIMENT OF THE PRESENT INVENTION 
     In one aspect, the invention relates to a method for aligning territory definitions of a plurality of insurance companies. In the method, at least first and second territory definitions are mapped for a region of interest. The territory definitions are aligned and the uniquely aligned territories are determined. 
     In one aspect, the invention relates to a system for aligning a plurality of territory definitions comprising at least one mapping tool and at least one database. The mapping tool is configured to map a first territory definition and a second territory definition on the region of interest. The mapping tool allows a user to align the first territory definition and the second territory definition and to define one or more uniquely aligned territories. A definition of the one or more uniquely aligned territories may be stored in the database. 
     In one aspect, the invention relates to a system for processing a plurality of territory definitions for a plurality of insurance companies comprising means for aligning the plurality of territory definitions and means for defining the uniquely aligned territories of the plurality of territory definitions. 
     In one aspect, the invention relates to a method for determining one or more aligned territories comprising receiving a location indicator, executing a query on the database using the location indicator as an index, and retrieving from the database at least one territory indicator associated with the location indicator. 
     The above description sets forth, rather broadly, a summary of one embodiment of the present invention so that the detailed description that follows may be better understood and contributions of the present invention to the art may be better appreciated. Some of the embodiments of the present invention may not include all of the features or characteristics listed in the above summary. There are, of course, additional features of the invention that will be described below and will form the subject matter of claims. In this respect, before explaining at least one preferred embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of the construction and to the arrangement of the components set forth in the following description or as illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is substantially a schematic view of one embodiment of a territory alignment system; 
         FIG. 2  is substantially a flowchart of a territory alignment process; 
         FIG. 3  is substantially a table of territory definitions for a first company; 
         FIG. 4  is substantially a table of territory definitions for a second company; 
         FIG. 5  is substantially a zip code map; 
         FIG. 6  is substantially a territory map for the first company; 
         FIG. 7  is substantially a territory map for the second company; 
         FIG. 8  is an overlaid territory map for the first and second companies; and 
         FIG. 9  is a split boundary table for the overlaid territory map of  FIG. 8 . 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF CERTAIN EMBODIMENTS OF THE PRESENT INVENTION 
     In the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments, reference is made to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this application. The drawings show, by way of illustration, specific embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. It is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and structural changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. 
     A system in accordance with an embodiment of the invention is illustrated in  FIG. 1 . In the system  10 , a host  12 , such as from a competitive pricing analyst, interfaces with a database  14  that stores territory information for a plurality of companies, such as insurance carriers. The territory information may be received from the companies, e.g. company A  21  and company B  22 , by the host  12  through suitable communications links  23 , such as the internet, File Transfer Protocols (FTP), phone links, interactive voice response systems or any suitable communications links. Alternatively, the territory information may be obtained from an external resource and entered into database  14  via the host  12 . In one embodiment, the host  12  may include a processor, graphical user interface, server and/or other computing components. 
     A process for territory alignment is depicted in the flowchart  100  of  FIG. 2 . At step  101 , territory definitions for first and second insurance companies are obtained. At step  102 , the territory definitions are mapped onto a region of interest. At step  103 , the territory definitions are aligned, allowing a user to define the uniquely aligned territories at step  104 . 
     In one embodiment, a map containing the boundaries defined by the territory definitions for a number of companies is obtained. The actual boundaries for each territory are then drawn on the map. The complexity of the boundaries needed in the map depend mainly on which company the maps are being drawn for. Some companies define territories based on cities, counties, townships, street, highway or even geographic boundaries. Thus, the map should contain these boundaries to be able to draw an accurate map. Once the territory maps are drawn, they can be overlaid to determine what territory or territories to use for each particular zip code for the relevant companies. 
     In order to provide a specific example of territory alignment, an example of two companies operating territories in zip code 68142 of Nebraska will be described. In  FIG. 3  there is shown the territory definitions for Company  1 . In  FIG. 4  there is shown the territory definitions for Company  2 . A map  50  showing zip code 68142 is shown in  FIG. 5 . The map  50  may be extracted from the database  14  or from various online mapping resources. 
     From the map  50 , it can be seen that zip code 68142 crosses over two counties, Douglas  51  and Washington  52 . Added to the map, is the location of 108th Street  53  as this street serves as a boundary for territories A and B of Company  1  and also crosses thru zip code 68142. Using the map  50  of  FIG. 5  and the respective territory definitions, territory maps may be produced. In one embodiment, the territory maps may be produced using mapping tools including proprietary mapping software such as ArcView. In  FIG. 6 , there is shown a territory map  60  for Company  1  produced from the zip code map  50  and the territory definitions  30  of  FIG. 3 . From the territory map  60 , it can be seen that zip code 68142 is in three territories for Company  1 , namely territory A  61 , territory B  62  and territory E  63 . In  FIG. 7 , there is shown a territory map  70  for Company  2  produced from the zip code map  50  and the territory definitions  40  of  FIG. 4 . From the territory map  70 , it can be seen that zip code 68142 is in two territories for Company  2 , namely territory  15  ( 71 ) and territory  18  ( 72 ). 
     It is shown that for the region of interest, zip code 68142, a 3:2 mapping for Company  1  and Company  2  is produced. If insurance quotes were to be obtained using only the regions defined by the respective companies, a comparison between quotes may not be accurate because a quote obtained for territory  18  of Company  2  may be competitive when compared to a quote for the territory A of Company  1  but not competitive when compared to a quote for territory B of Company  1 . It is therefore necessary to produce uniquely aligned sub-territories for which a 1:1 mapping exists. 
     Aligning the territory map  60  with territory map  70  produces an aligned map  80  as shown in  FIG. 8 , which shows three unique aligned territories  81 ,  82 ,  83 . In the alignment process, there may be common territory boundaries, such as portions of the border of zip code 68142, which are common to the territory definition of each company. There may also be non-common territory boundaries, such as 108th Street, that form territory boundaries for only one territory definition (or a subset of the territory definitions where more than two companies are being analyzed). Each non-common territory boundary will have the effect of dividing the region of interest into a sub-territory. Each sub-territory that is only bordered by the territory definitions, i.e. has no territory definitions within the sub-territory, may be considered to be uniquely aligned. To paraphrase, each uniquely aligned territory covers only one territory of the territory definitions of each company involved in the analysis. 
     The alignment may be performed using mapping tools as mentioned above. The uniquely aligned territories may be, summarized in a table, such as Table  90  shown in  FIG. 9 . Table  90  shows that to effectively rate zip code 68142 for Company  1  and Company  2 , the three uniquely aligned territories must be rated. Each uniquely aligned territory, i.e. each row of table  90  may be considered as a split boundary. The alignment divides the region of interest into sub-territories with a 1:1 mapping of the sub-territories. That is, sub-territories A- 18 , B- 18  and E- 15  may be considered as unique in the aligned mapping. 
     The above example shows an alignment for two companies in one zip code. As an evaluation takes into account more companies and more territory definitions, the resulting split boundary table can become more complex with many additional rows being required to uniquely identify each aligned territory. 
     Territory alignment data may be generated and stored in the database  14 . Using the territory alignments, a company may be better placed to determine its competitive position with respect to other companies of interest. For example, a user interfacing through the host  12 , may enter a company name and/or location indicator such as a zip code, company specific territory name or number, or a geographical features such as a suburb, street name or similar identifier. Using this information, the host  12  may execute a query on the database  14  that returns the relevant territory information for the company entered by the user. Because the territories are uniquely aligned, a location indicator will uniquely identify the territory covering the location indicator. In addition, the query may return territory information of other companies that aligns with the information entered by the user, thus allowing the user to analyze how other companies rate a particular territory, how other companies break down a zip code into territories, and similar information that may assist the user in performing a competitive price analysis. The database queries may allow a user to filter the results. For example, a user may specify to see how the territories of specific companies align and so the alignment data for other companies will be omitted. 
     By obtaining insurance premium quotes for each of the uniquely aligned territories for each of the companies in the study, a user such as a competitive pricing analyst is able to make accurate comparisons between quotes. 
     While the maps depicted show maps in a graphic form, in an alternative embodiment, the maps may be depicted as a mapping of boundary elements, such as in a tabled form, that identify and tabulate the borders of the split boundaries. 
     Although the description above contains many specifications, these should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention but as merely providing illustrations of some of the embodiments of this invention. Thus, the scope of the invention should be determined by the appended claims and their legal equivalents rather than by the examples given.