System and Method for Obtaining and/or Maintaining Insurance Coverage

Abstract

An intermediary entity may act on behalf of consumers to find policy rates and/or other features that best meet the consumers' insurance requirements and/or preferences. For instance, consumers may give affirmative consent or otherwise opt into a program that provides insurance cost savings or discounts. Based upon an analysis of individual consumer characteristics and/or insurance preferences, each individual consumer may be grouped with other insurance consumers having similar characteristics and/or insurance preferences. The insurance consumer groupings may be offered for sale, such as through an online auction. When a winning bid is accepted, the insurance policies of the consumers may be updated or new policies may be provided and/or presented to individual consumers for their approval, thereby providing consumers with lower cost insurance and/or insurance that is more reflective of actual risk (or lack thereof). The consumer groups may be updated over time and re-auctioned.

1 . A computer-implemented method of auctioning groups of insurance policies via an electronic or communications network, the method may include:
 collecting, via one or more processors, insurance policy preferences and customer characteristics for individual customers, wherein the insurance policy preferences include individual customer preferences for insurance policy deductibles and/or limits, and wherein the customer characteristics include risk scores of the individual customers;   grouping, via the one or more processors, multiple insurance customers or customer accounts or policies into an insurance policy group based upon the insurance policy preferences and the customer characteristics for the individual customers;   detecting an event that impacts a risk score of a particular insured, wherein detecting the event includes analyzing, via the one or more processors, telematics data corresponding to the particular insured;   based upon the detected event, updating, via the one or more processors, the risk score of the particular insured;   based upon the updated risk score, adding, via the one or more processors, the particular insured to the insurance policy group;   auctioning or offering for sale, via the one or more processors, such as via an electronic or communications network, the insurance policy group;   receiving, via the one or more processors, bids for purchase and/or offers for the insurance policy group;   accepting, via the one or more processors, one of the bids for purchase and/or offers for the insurance policy group; and   updating, via the one or more processors, insurance policies for insureds associated with the insurance policy group for which the one of the bids was accepted.   
     
     
         2 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the insurance policy preferences include individual customer preferences for insurance policy coverages, deductibles, and/or limits. 
     
     
         3 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the multiple insurance customer accounts or policies are associated with automobile, life, health, renters, home, pet, and/or burial insurance. 
     
     
         4 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the insurance policy preferences include individual customer preferences for claims expectations, telematics use, and/or insurance company ratings. 
     
     
         5 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the customer characteristics additionally relate to or are indicative of customer age, status, marital status, education, occupation, finances, driving history, accident history, vehicle type, home type, location (state or city), and/or other factors. 
     
     
         6 .- 10 . (canceled) 
     
     
         11 . A system, comprising:
 one or more persistent memories storing a customer profile database;   one or more communication interfaces configured to communicate with remote devices via one or more networks;   a customer grouping unit configured to:
 group customer profiles stored in the customer profile database and corresponding to multiple insurance customers or customer accounts or policies into an insurance policy group based upon insurance policy preferences and customer characteristics for the individual customers, wherein the insurance policy preferences include individual customer preferences for insurance policy deductibles and/or limits, and wherein the customer characteristics include risk scores of the individual customers; 
 detect an event that impacts a risk score of a particular insured, wherein detecting the event includes analyzing telematics data corresponding to the particular insured; and 
 based upon the detected event, update the risk score of the particular insured, based upon the updated risk score, add the particular insured to the insurance policy group; and 
   a policy procurement unit configured to:
 auction or offer for sale, such as via an electronic or communications network and using the one or more communication interfaces, the insurance policy group; 
 receive bids for purchase and/or offers for the insurance policy group; 
 accept one of the bids for purchase and/or offers for the insurance policy group; and 
 update insurance policies for insureds associated with the insurance policy group for which the one of the bids was accepted. 
   
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the insurance policy preferences include individual customer preferences for insurance policy coverages, insurance policy deductibles, insurance policy limits, claims expectations, telematics use, and/or insurance company ratings. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the multiple insurance customer accounts or policies are associated with automobile, life, health, renters, home, pet, and/or burial insurance. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the customer characteristics additionally relate to or are indicative of customer age, status, marital status, education, occupation, finances, driving history, accident history, vehicle type, home type, location (state or city), risk, risk scores, and/or other factors. 
     
     
         15 . (canceled) 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the one or more persistent memories store an affinity group database. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the customer grouping unit is further configured to store an indication of the insurance policy group and its corresponding insurance customers or customer accounts in the affinity group database. 
     
     
         18 .- 20 . (canceled)