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Insurance Abstract
A method and system for determining an automobile insurance rate
for a person by measuring a person's ability to perform a task or
series of tasks, wherein the measurement correlates to a risk of
loss. After the identity of the person seeking insurance is challenged
and verified, a user interface device, such as a kiosk or the user's
computer, is used to render an interactive test that measures, for
example, the person's dexterity and metal concentration. The test
results are collected electronically and analyzed to provide one
or more scores based on the abilities of the person to finish the
test objectives. The score is used to derive a driving-abilities
rate factor based on actuarial methodology and statistical data.
The driving-abilities rate factor can then be used in combination
with other underwriting factors to determine the automobile insurance
rate for that person.
Insurance Claims
1. A method of determining an automobile insurance rate for a person
seeking insurance, comprising: verifying an identification of the
person; using a user interfacing device, giving an interactive test
to the person, the test being designed to evaluate characteristics
indicative of abilities of the person to operate an automobile;
receiving results of the interactive test; analyzing the results
of the interactive test to produce a driving ability rating factor;
and calculating an insurance rate for the person based on the driving
ability rating factor.
2. A method as in claim 1, wherein the step of giving the test
includes displaying a track on a display device and requiring the
person to trace through the track.
3. A method as in claim 2, wherein the results of the interactive
test include an amount of time used by the person to trace the track
and a number of errors in tracing the track.
4. A method as in claim 1, wherein the step of verifying includes
identifying the person seeking insurance by means of a biometric
device.
5. A method as in claim 1, wherein the step of analyzing includes
generating a test score for the person based on the test results,
and deriving the driving ability rating factor according to the
test score.
6. A method as in claim 1, wherein the step of calculating calculates
the insurance rate based on the driving ability rating factor and
other rating factors.
7. A method as in claim 1, wherein the step of receiving receives
the results of the interactive test via the Internet.
8. A system for determining an automobile insurance rate for a
person seeking insurance, comprising: a user interface device for
presenting an interactive test for evaluating characteristics of
the person indicative of abilities of the person to operate an automobile;
and a server connected to the user interface device for receiving
results of the interactive test, the server being programmed to
analyze the test results to provide a driving ability rating factor
and applying the driving ability rating factor to calculate an insurance
rate for the person seeking insurance.
9. A system as in claim 8, wherein the user interface device is
connected to the server via a computer network.
10. A system as in claim 9, wherein the computer network connecting
the user interface device to the server is the Internet.
11. A system as in claim 8, wherein the user interface device is
a computer.
12. A system as in claim 8, wherein the user interface device is
a kiosk.
13. A system as in claim 8, wherein the user interface device is
operated to present an interactive test comprising displaying a
track on a display device and requiring the person to trace through
the track.
14. A system as in claim 13, wherein the results of the interactive
test include an amount of time used by the person to trace the track
and a number of errors in tracing the track.
15. A system as in claim 8, wherein the user interface device includes
a biometric device for verifying an identity of the person seeking
insurance.
16. A system as in claim 8, wherein the server is programmed to
generate a test score based on the test results, and to derive the
driving ability rating factor based on the test score.
17. A system as in claim 8, wherein the server is programmed to
calculate the insurance rate based on the driving ability rating
factor and other rating factors.
Insurance Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The invention generally relates to automobile insurance,
and, more particularly, to a computer-assisted method and system
for determining automobile insurance rates for individuals.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] Automobile drivers purchase insurance to cover personal
injuries and vehicle damages caused by automobile accidents. The
determination of the insurance rates is an actuarial process that
takes into account various factors, such as the person's driving
history, the miles driven in a year, the years of experience of
driving, the geographic location, certain demographic data such
as age and gender, the type of vehicle owned by the person, etc.
Such factors commonly used for underwriting the automobile insurance
are largely based on statistical analysis of historical data for
predicting the probabilities of the person to be involved in accidents
in the future.
[0003] Conventional rating factors have been used successfully
to determine automobile insurance premiums, but are somewhat incomplete.
One significant aspect that has not been included is the present
state of the dexterous and cognitive abilities of the particular
person seeking insurance. Such factors have heretofore not been
considered in the underwriting calculation. As a consequence, the
insurance rates often do not reflect precisely how safely and effectively
the insured can operate an automobile. Using conventional underwriting
methodology, two persons may be given the same insurance rate based
on the standard demographic and experienced based underwriting factors,
even though their current abilities in operating an automobile differ
drastically.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0004] The systems and methods of the invention provide a new way
to efficiently and accurately determine the automobile insurance
rate for an individual by measuring indicia reflective of the abilities
of the particular individual to operate an automobile, such that
the insurance rate more accurately reflects the future risks of
damages associated with that individual.
[0005] Relatedly, the method and system of an aspect of an aspect
of the invention allows the driving abilities of a potential insured
to be evaluated and factored into the calculation of the insurance
rate for that individual.
[0006] In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention,
a user interface device, such as a kiosk or a personal computer
is used to administer an interactive test designed to assess a person's
driving abilities. After the identity of the person seeking insurance
is challenged and verified, the test is rendered using the user
interface device. The test may involve tasks that measure, for example,
the person's dexterity and level of concentration. The test results
are collected by a server, preferably via a computer network such
as the Internet, and analyzed to provide one or more test scores
based on the abilities of the person to finish the test objectives.
The test score is used to determine a driving-abilities rate factor
based on actuarial methodology and statistical data. The driving-abilities
rate factor can then be used alone or in combination with other
underwriting rating factors to determine the automobile insurance
rate for that person.
[0007] Further objects and advantages of the method and system
for processing insurance transactions can be seen in the following
detailed description of an embodiment of the invention with reference
to the drawing, in which:
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0008] FIG. 1 shows a schematic view of a computer system implementing
an embodiment of the invention for collecting information relating
to the driving abilities of a person seeking automobile insurance
and using such information in determining the insurance rate for
that person;
[0009] FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an embodiment of a method
of collecting information on the driving abilities of a person and
utilizing that information to determine an insurance rate for the
person;
[0010] FIGS. 3-6 show exemplary user interface screens representing
different tasks to be carried out by the person seeking insurance
for interactively evaluating the abilities of the person to operate
an automobile; and
[0011] FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating test results
being factored into the calculation of the insurance rate for the
person seeking insurance.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION
[0012] The present invention is directed to a method and system
for determining the automobile insurance rate for a person seeking
insurance that takes into account the ability or fitness of the
person to operate an automobile. To that end, as part of the underwriting
operation, an interactive test is rendered to collect data indicative
of the person's abilities to operate an automobile. The test results
are then analyzed for deriving a rating factor that is used in determining
a proper insurance rate for that particular person. Although, the
term "automobile" is used throughout this specification,
it will be appreciated by persons of skill in the art that the methods
and systems described herein are applicable to many different types
of insurance including, without limitation, insurance relating to
various types of motorized vehicles such as cars, trucks, vans,
buses, motorcycles, boats and other watercrafts, and airplanes,
etc.
[0013] Referring now to FIG. 1, in one embodiment, a computerized
system for underwriting automobile insurance includes a user interface
device 20 for interacting with a person 26 seeking insurance, and
a server 22 that collects pertinent information regarding the individual.
Server 22 is associated with, and/or may host, applications that
perform calculations to determine the insurance rate for the person
based on various parameters, including a rating factor reflecting
the abilities of the person to operate an automobile. The user interface
device 20 is connected to the server 22, preferably via a computer
network 24, to allow the user to interact with the server 22 for
purposes of taking a test for measuring the driving abilities of
the user, as described in greater detail below. In one scenario,
the server 22 may be connected to and accessible via the Internet.
The server 22 generally includes a processor 28 and one or more
applications or programs 29 for receiving underwriting data and
performing calculations for determining insurance rates. A database
32 may contain insurance statistical data that can be used to assist
the assessment of insurance rates.
[0014] The user interface device 20 may be, for example, a personal
computer of the person seeking insurance, or a computer of a representative
of the insurance company. Alternatively, the user interface device
may be a dedicated kiosk 34. The user interface device 20 has a
suitable user input device, such as mouse 36 or a keyboard 37, that
may be used by the person seeking insurance to accomplish tasks
as part of the driving abilities test, and may have other input
devices 38 for functions such as verifying the user identification
as described in greater detail below.
[0015] In accordance with a feature of the invention, the abilities
of the person 26 seeking insurance to operate an automobile is tested
as part of the underwriting process, and the test results is used
to derive a rating factor that is considered in calculating the
insurance rate for that particular individual. It will be appreciated
that the test results are indicative of the present state of the
abilities of the person to operate a vehicle and are thus highly
pertinent in predicting the future risks of the person to be involved
in automobile accidents. The ability to take into consideration
the present abilities of the insured to operate an automobile has
many benefits for both the insured and the insurance company. For
example, younger drivers are quite often charged with higher premiums
due to their limited driving experience. If, however, those less
experienced drivers can establish, through the use of an interactive
test, a greater than average ability to operate a vehicle in a safe
and effective manner, then the insurance company can justify providing
lower rates for them. One the other hand, if a person seeking insurance
shows poor abilities to operate a vehicle, the insurance company
can require a higher premium to better match the potential risk
of loss it is assuming by providing insurance to that driver.
[0016] Turning now to FIG. 2, before the test of driving abilities
is rendered to a person 26, the person's identity has to be confirmed
to ensure that the person taking the test is actually the person
to be insured (step 60). The user identification can be ascertained
in various ways. For instance, biometric devices may be used to
identify an individual based on fingerprints, voice recognition,
face recognition, iris scan, hand geometry, or signature verification.
Alternatively, the user may be required to enter a password, and
the system uses the password and corroborating data elements to
verify the identity of the person. As another alternative, the identification
may employ digital chip technology using an embedded electronic
chip or an electronic chip embedded in another identifying device
such as a credit/debit card or driver's license. Also, the identification
may be made by physical inspection of the person's identification
documents, such as a driver's license, by a representative (e.g.,
insurance agent) of the insurance company. It will be appreciated
that these alternative ways of ascertaining the identity of the
person seeking insurance are provided here only as examples and
are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.
[0017] Once the identity of the person seeking insurance is verified,
an interactive test is given to the person by means of the user
interface device 20 (step 62). To that end, the user interface device
20 has a display device and at least one input device for entering
the user response. For instance, if the user interface device is
a personal computer, the display device may be the screen 40 of
the computer monitor, and the input device may be a mouse 36 and/or
a keyboard 37. If the user interface device is a kiosk 34, the kiosk
may be equipped with a touch-sensitive screen 42, and the screen
may also be used as the input device to receive the user input when
the person touches the screen with a finger or a pen. The kiosk
34 may also include other input devices, such as a joystick 43 or
a keypad 44.
[0018] The interactive test is intended to measure parameters or
characteristics that reliably correlate with risk of loss. The characteristics
include, for example, the abilities of the person being tested to
focus on a particular task, the accuracy of the person in completing
the task, the speed in which the person completes the task. The
performance of the particular individual in terms of these characteristics
can be compared with the performance of others via actuarial methodology.
Depending on its design, the test can take many different forms.
By way of example, FIGS. 3-6 illustrate a sequence of tasks that
may be used in a test for testing the dexterity, motor skills, and
level of concentration of the person. It will be appreciated that
those tasks are only one example of a test that can be rendered,
and may other types of tasks can be designed to measure the desired
indicators.
[0019] In the task illustrated in FIG. 3, the person receiving
the test is presented with a simple track 50 displayed on the screen
40 of the computer 20, and is required to operate the mouse 36 to
move a pointer or cursor 51 through the track. Alternatively, on
a kiosk 34 with a touch-sensitive screen 42, the user may use a
pen to trace through the track displayed on the screen, or use a
joystick 43 to move a cursor through the track. The movement of
the cursor 51 is monitored, and data is recorded as to the number
of times, if any, that the cursor touches and/or traverses the boundary
lines defining the track. The time it takes for the cursor to move
from the start to the finish is also recorded. The exemplary tasks
shown in FIGS. 4-6 are similar to that in FIG. 3, but with increasing
complexity in the shapes of the tracks 53, 54, 55 to make it more
difficult to move the cursor through successive tracks. The goal
is to go through each track quickly without going off the track.
The performance of the person receiving the test is determined by
the amount of time the person takes to go through each track and
how many times the person goes off the tracks. These data are collected
for analyses.
[0020] Returning to FIG. 2, once the interactive test is completed,
the test results are analyzed (step 64). In one embodiment, the
test results are transmitted to an application or applications associated
with server 22 for analyses. As shown in FIG. 7, such application
or applications may generate one or more scores 82 from the test
results 80. For instance, an application associated with the server
22 may generate one overall test score based on the amount of time
used and the number of errors made in accomplishing the tasks. Alternatively,
an application associated with the server 22 may generate one score
based on the amount of time and another score based on the degree
to which the user successfully negotiated the track, wherein both
scores facilitate a multi-dimensional regression analyses.
[0021] The test score or scores 82 generated from the test results
80 are then used to determine the value of a driving-abilities rating
factor 84 that is used in calculating the insurance premium (step
66). The driving-abilities rating factor 84 may be determined using
actuarial principles, such as by looking at the results of the test
and comparing the results to the actual losses incurred by others
who have received s similar test score. The test results and actual
losses may be stored in the database 32 accessible by the server
22 to form the correlation analyses. Based on the accumulated test
scores and loss data for a large number of insured individuals,
the insurance company can reliably determine the correlation between
the test scores and the insurance losses to generate a driving-abilities
rating factor that is indicative of the likelihood of future losses.
The correspondence between the test score and the assigned value
of the driving-abilities rating factor may be presented as a look-up
table 30, which is used by the server 22 to locate or interpolate
the rating factor value based on the test score of the person seeking
insurance.
[0022] The driving-abilities rating factor 84 can then be used
in the determination of the insurance rate 90 for the person seeking
insurance (step 68). In a preferred embodiment, the driving-abilities
rating factor is used together with other standard underwriting
factors 88 in the insurance premium calculation. Those other standard
rate factors include, for example, the past driving history of the
insured, the miles driven per year, driving experience, the type
of vehicle, the area in which the vehicle is operated, age, marital
status, credit history, and other factors commonly used by insurance
companies in assessing the automobile insurance premium.
[0023] In view of the many possible embodiments to which the principles
of this invention may be applied, it should be recognized that the
embodiment described herein with respect to the drawing figures
is meant to be illustrative only and should not be taken as limiting
the scope of invention. For example, those of skill in the art will
recognize that the elements of the illustrated embodiment shown
in software may be implemented in hardware and vice versa or that
the illustrated embodiment can be modified in arrangement and detail
without departing from the spirit of the invention. Therefore, the
invention as described herein contemplates all such embodiments
as may come within the scope of the following claims and equivalents
thereof.
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