Flight Accident Insurance

Abstract

A system for providing flight accident insurance at low price and fixed coverage comprises means for limiting the number of policies that can be sold on any given flight to not more than a predetermined number. The predetermined number may be 20. The system comprises an input device for receiving information from a traveler and an output device for providing an insurance quote to said traveler.

I claim: 
     
         1 . A system for providing flight accident insurance to a traveler, said system comprising:
 a) a computer configured to accept an application for said flight accident insurance from said traveler, said application comprising a listing of a flight on said traveler's itinerary;   b) a computer configured to query a flight database to determine if flight accident insurance is available for said flight, said availability being confirmed at least in part if there is less than a first number of said flight accident insurance policies already sold for said flight;   c) a computer configured to receive confirmation of the availability of said flight accident insurance for said traveler;   d) a computer configured to determine a premium for said flight accident insurance; and   e) a computer configured to provide said premium and an offer of coverage to said traveler.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1  wherein said first number is 20 or less. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1  which further comprises a Web Server and a Web Server Cluster wherein said Web Server is configured to serve as an extranet application portal and said Web Server Cluster is configured to serve as an insurance booking engine such that said premium and said offer of coverage can be provided in real time to said traveler. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1  wherein said flight database comprises a listing of all of the airlines offering said flight such that said number of policies already sold is the sum of all policies sold to travelers booking under each of said airlines. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 4  wherein different airlines and different flight numbers will be considered to refer to the same flight if:
 a) the different airlines belong to the same alliance; 
 b) the departure airports and arrival airports are the same for each of the different airlines and different flight numbers; and 
 c) the departure times are within 5 minutes of each other. 
 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1  which further comprises a computer configured to update said number of policies sold for a given flight after an insurance policy is issued such that conflicts due to simultaneous bookings by more than one traveler are avoided. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1  which further comprises a computer configured to cede a portion of the risk of said insurance policies to a reinsurer and wherein said portion is 90% or greater. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1  wherein said computer configured to provide said premium and an offer of coverage to said traveler further comprises one or more of a workstation in communication with the Internet or a mobile device. 
     
     
         9 . A method for offering flight accident insurance to a traveler, said method comprising the steps of:
 a) accepting by a computer an application for said flight accident insurance from said traveler, said application comprising a listing of a flight on said traveler's itinerary;   b) querying a flight database to determine if flight accident insurance is available for said flight, said availability being confirmed at least in part if there is less than a first number of said flight accident insurance policies already sold for said flight;   c) receiving confirmation of the availability of said flight accident insurance for said traveler;   d) calculating a premium for said flight accident insurance; and   e) providing said premium and an offer of coverage to said traveler.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9  wherein said premium is a fixed premium. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 9  which further comprises the steps of:
 a) calculating a Risk Premium based on the risk of said flight having an accident; 
 b) comparing said Risk Premium to a fixed premium, said fixed premium being greater than or equal to the average expected losses of all fight accident insurance policies; and 
 c) setting said premium equal to said Risk Premium if said Risk Premium is greater than said fixed premium. 
 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 9  wherein said flight comprises two connecting flights and wherein said method comprises:
 a) calculating a connecting flight premium for each of said connecting flights; and 
 b) setting said premium equal to the sum of said connecting flight premiums.