Granted Patent B2

US 7,660,726 · App. 10/317,645 · Granted Feb 9, 2010

Abstract

Claims (72)

1. A method for an indemnitee to verify insurance coverage of an indemnitor, comprising the steps of:

storing first data indicative of contractual insurance requirements and related pertinent information into a database, wherein the insurance requirements include at least one type of insurance and a minimum monetary level of protection for each type of insurance that the indemnitor is contractually required to maintain to indemnify the indemnitee;

requesting on behalf of the indemnitee proof of insurance from the indemnitor;

providing a server system comprising a server computer connected to memory that stores the database, the server system performing steps comprising:

receiving second data indicative of the indemnitor's insurance coverage information;

storing the second data in the database; storing third data indicative of verified insurance information for a plurality of insurance policies corresponding to a plurality of insurance providers into the database;

comparing the indemnitor's insurance coverage information with the contractual insurance requirements;

determining if the indemnitor is not in contractual compliance;

upon determining that the indemnitor is not in contractual noncompliance, automatically notifying the indemnitor or an insurance agent of the indemnitor that the indemnitor is not in contractual compliance; and

automatically causing issuance of a contingency insurance policy to bring the indemnitor into contractual compliance upon:

a predetermined time period elapsing subsequent to the notifying step, and not receiving proof of the contractual compliance, wherein determining that the indemnitor is not in contractual noncompliance comprises determining that a current insurance policy of the indemnitor does not meet the minimum monetary level of protection for the at least one type of required insurance.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the insurance requirements are reduced to a writing and the writing is summarized, and the server system further performs a step of storing fourth data indicative of the summarized writing into the database.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the insurance is issued to protect the indemnitee in the event of uninsured or underinsured third-party liability claims.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the server system further performs a step of storing information regarding a certificate of insurance or an insurance endorsement the database.

5. A computer readable medium, tangibly embodied with instructions which, when executed by a computer, perform the steps of:

storing first data indicative of contractual insurance requirements and related pertinent information into a database wherein the insurance requirements include at least one type of insurance and a minimum monetary level of protection for each type of insurance that the indemnitor is contractually required to maintain to indemnify the indemnitee;

requesting on behalf of the indemnitee proof of insurance from the indemnitor;

receiving second data indicative of the indemnitor's insurance coverage information;

storing the second data in the database;

storing third data indicative of verified insurance information for a plurality, of insurance policies corresponding to a plurality of insurance providers into the database;

comparing the indemnitor's insurance coverage information with the contractual insurance requirements;

determining if the indemnitor is not in contractual compliance;

upon determining that the indemnitor is not in contractual compliance automatically notifying the indemnitor or an insurance agent of the indemnitor that the indemnitor is not in contractual compliance; and

automatically causing issuance of a contingency insurance policy to bring the indemnitor into contractual compliance upon:

a predetermined time period elapsing subsequent to the notifying step and not receiving proof of contractual compliance wherein determining if the indemnitor is not in the contractual compliance comprises determining that a current insurance policy of the indemnitor does not meet the minimum monetary level of protection for the at least one type of required insurance.

6. The medium of claim 5 which is selected from the group comprising a disk, RAM, ROM, and VROM.

7. The medium of claim 5 which is selected from the group comprising a hard disk, floppy disk, flash memory, and a compact disk.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the risk of non-coverage is shifted from the indemnitee to the indemnitor.

9. A system for an indemnitee to verify insurance coverage of an indemnitor and for shifting the risk of insurance non-coverage of the indemnitor from the indemnitee to the indemnitor, comprising:

a server system for executing system processes and communicating with at least one remote computer over a communication interface, said server system including a processor coupled to memory storing a database, the processor executing system processes, said processes comprising:

comparing the indemnitor's insurance coverage information with contractual requirements stored in the database, wherein the contractual requirements specify at least one type of insurance and a minimum monetary level of protection for each type of insurance that the indemnitor is contractually required to maintain to indemnify the indemnitee;

receiving data indicative of insurance coverage of the indemnitee;

storing the data indicative of the insurance coverage of the indemnitee:

determining if the indemnitor is not in contractual compliance;

upon determining that the indemnitor is not in contractual compliance, automatically notifying the indemnitor or an insurance agent of the indemnitor of that the indemnitor is not in contractual compliance; and

automatically causing issuance of a contingency insurance policy to bring the indemnitor into contractual compliance upon:

a predetermined time period elapsing subsequent to the notifying step, and not receiving proof of the contractual compliance, wherein determining if the indemnitor is in contractual compliance comprises determining that a current insurance policy of the indemnitor does not meeting the minimum monetary level of protection for the at least one type of required insurance.

10. The system of claim 9 wherein the communication interface is the Internet.

11. The system of claim 9 wherein the at least one remote computer is operated by at least one party, such as an indemnitor, an indemnitee, an insurance company, an insurance agent, an insurance broker, a landlord, a property manager, a franchiser, a franchisee, a public entity, a retailer, a tenant, a borrower, a lender, or a vendor.

12. The system of claim 9 wherein the memory is selected from the group comprising a hard disk, a floppy disk, RAM, ROM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash memory, volatile memory, read/write memory, CD-ROM, and DVD.

13. A computer readable medium, tangibly embodied with computer-executable instructions which, when executed by a computer, perform the steps of:

storing first data indicative of contractual insurance requirements and related pertinent information into a database stored on the memory, wherein the insurance requirements include at least one type of insurance and a minimum monetary level of protection for each type of insurance that an indemnitor is contractually required to maintain to indemnify an indemnitee;

comparing the indemnitor's insurance coverage information with the contractual insurance requirements; and

determining if the indemnitor is not in contractual compliance;

upon determining that the indemnitor is not in contractual compliance, automatically notifying the indemnitor or an insurance agent of the indemnitor that the indemnitor is not in contractual noncompliance; and

automatically causing issuance of a contingency insurance policy to bring the indemnitor into contractual compliance upon:

a predetermined time period elapsing subsequent to the notifying step, and not receiving proof of the contractual compliance, wherein determining that the indemnitor is not in contractual compliance comprises determining that a current insurance policy of the indemnitor does not meet the minimum monetary level of protection for the at least one type of required insurance.

14. The medium of claim 13 which is selected from the group comprising a hard disk, a floppy disk, flash memory, volatile memory, and read/write memory.

15. The medium of claim 13 which is selected from the group comprising a hard disk, a floppy disk, RAM, ROM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash memory, volatile memory, read/write memory, CD-ROM, and DVD.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving the second data indicative of the indemnitor's insurance coverage information is performed subsequent to the indemnitor's agent entering the insurance policy information into the database or a system, or by faxing a certificate of insurance to the service provider or the indemnitee, which information is entered into the database or the system, or by faxing policy endorsements to the service provider or the indemnitee, which is entered into the database or the system.

17. The method of claim 1 , wherein the database is part of a system and the system initiates new requests for proof of insurance when the indemnitor is determined to not be in contractual compliance.

18. The method of claim 1 , wherein the database is part of a system and the system is capable of generating detailed reports, compliance reports, or management reports.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein the reports may be accessed by a remote computer.

20. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one type of insurance is general liability insurance.

21. The method of claim 20 , wherein the contingency insurance remains in force during the time insurance is required of the indemnitor.

22. The method of claim 20 , wherein the insurance only protects the interests of the indemnitee or and/of the indemnitor or both.

23. The method of claim 1 , wherein the indemnitee or indemnitor pays the premium for the insurance.

24. The method of claim 23 , wherein the indemnitee seeks reimbursement from the indemnitor for the premium and any related expenses for the insurance or indemnitor pays directly the premium and any related expenses for the insurance.

25. The method of claim 1 , wherein the server system further performs a step of storing data indicative of digital images of certificates or endorsements in the database.

26. A method for an indemnitee to verily insurance coverage of an indemnitor, comprising the steps of:

at least two parties entering into a contractual relationship that obligates the indemnitor to indemnify the indemnitee by maintaining contractually required insurance and to provide proof of the insurance to the indemnitee, the insurance is to protect the indemnitee in the event of uninsured or underinsured third-party liability claims;

summarizing contractual insurance requirements storing data indicative of the contractual insurance requirements information into a database, wherein the contractual insurance requirements include at least one type of insurance and a minimum monetary level of protection for each type of insurance that the indemnitor is contractually required to maintain to indemnify the indemnitee;

requesting on behalf of the indemnitee proof of insurance from the indemnitor;

providing a server system comprising a server computer coupled to a network and connected to memory that stores the database, the server system performing steps comprising:

receiving second data indicative of the indemnitor's insurance coverage information;

comparing the indemnitor's insurance coverage information with the contractual insurance requirements;

determining if the indemnitor is not in contractual compliance;

upon determining that the indemnitor is not in contractual noncompliance, automatically notifying the indemnitor or an insurance agent of the indemnitor via the network of that the indemnitor is not in contractual compliance; and

automatically causing issuance of a contingency insurance policy to bring the indemnitor into contractual compliance upon:

a predetermined time period elapsing subsequent to the notifying step and not receiving proof of the contractual compliance, wherein determining that the indemnitor is not in contractual compliance comprises determining that a current insurance policy of the indemnitor does not meet the minimum monetary level of protection for the at least one type of required insurance.

27. The method of claim 26 , wherein receiving the second data indicative of the indemnitor's insurance coverage information is performed subsequent to the indemnitor's agent entering the insurance policy information into the database or a system, or by faxing a certificate of insurance to the service provider or the indemnitee, which information is entered into the database or the system, or by faxing policy endorsements to the service provider or the indemnitee, which is entered into the database or the system.

28. The method of claim 26 , wherein the database is part of a system and the system initiates requests for proof of insurance when the indemnitor is determined to not be in contractual compliance.

Assignments (11)