DISTRIBUTED LEDGER SYSTEM FOR INSURANCE RECORD MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
Systems and methods are disclosed with respect to using a distributed ledger, such as a blockchain, for insurance record management systems. The distributed ledger may be utilized to look up information pertaining to a person's insurance. For example, when a driver is pulled over by law enforcement for speeding, the driver may wish to verify an insurance policy by granting a law enforcement official permission to view his or her insurance records stored on the distributed ledger. Advantageously, the distributed ledger could consequently eliminate the need to carry physical proof of insurance.
1 . A computer-implemented method for managing insurance records for policies for individuals, the method comprising:
implementing a plurality of servers, each of the plurality of servers maintaining a copy of a distributed ledger;
when an insurance policy is created for a given individual, storing to the distributed ledger a transaction record representing the created insurance policy, including a policy number and a coverage amount for the created insurance policy, wherein storing the transaction record includes:
(i) generating, at a first server from the plurality of servers, the transaction record representing the created insurance policy;
(ii) proposing the transaction record to one or more other servers from the plurality of servers;
(iii) performing, via the plurality of servers, a consensus analysis of the transaction record utilizing a consensus mechanism; and
(iv) when the consensus analysis indicates that the plurality of servers have formed a consensus, storing the transaction record at the distributed ledger by storing the transaction record to each copy of the distributed ledger at the plurality of servers;
receiving, at the plurality of servers, an electronic message including a request for a verification regarding whether or not an individual of interest is insured;
responding, via the plurality of servers, to the request for the verification by: (i) determining that the individual of interest is the given individual and (ii) detecting that the distributed ledger includes one or more transaction records representing one or more insurance policies for the given individual; and
responding to detecting that the distributed ledger includes one or more transaction records representing one or more insurance policies for the given individual, including: (a) generating the verification by retrieving from the distributed ledger all of the one or more transaction records, including the transaction record representing the created insurance policy, and (b) generating a summary of all of the one or more insurance policies represented by the retrieved one or more transaction records, wherein the summary includes the policy number for the created insurance policy.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein storing the transaction record at the distributed ledger comprises: storing the transaction to a block.
3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein performing the consensus analysis comprises generating a hash value for the transaction, and utilizing the hash value for the transaction to generate a hash value for the block.
4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the consensus mechanism is: a proof of work mechanism, a proof of stake mechanism, or a proof of activity mechanism.
5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the consensus mechanism is: a proof of burn mechanism, a proof of capacity mechanism, or a proof of elapsed time mechanism.
6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the transaction record includes data representing: an identity of the given individual.
7 . The method of claim 1 , further including verifying that a requestor that submitted the request for the verification is authorized, wherein the verification is only generated when requestor is authorized.
8 . The method of claim 7 , further comprising receiving from the given individual a list of authorized parties;
wherein verifying that the requestor is authorized includes verifying that the requestor is on the list of authorized parties.
9 . The method of claim 7 , further comprising receiving from an insurance company a list of authorized parties;
wherein verifying that the requestor is authorized includes verifying that the requestor is on the list of authorized parties.
10 . (canceled)
11 . A system for managing insurance records for a policies for individuals, the system comprising:
a plurality of servers maintaining a distributed ledger for managing insurance records, wherein each of the plurality of servers includes a memory storing: (A) a copy of the distributed ledger, and (B) instructions that, when executed, cause the respective server to: (i) generate, at the respective server, a transaction record representing a created insurance policy for given individual, including a policy number and a coverage amount for the created insurance policy;
wherein the plurality of servers are configured to:
(A) store to the distributed ledger the transaction record representing the created insurance policy, wherein the plurality of servers: (i) perform a consensus analysis of the transaction record utilizing a consensus mechanism; and (ii) store the transaction record at the distributed ledger when the consensus analysis indicates that the plurality of servers have formed a consensus by storing the transaction record to each copy of the distributed ledger at the plurality of servers;
(B) receive an electronic message including a request for a verification regarding whether or not an individual of interest is insured;
(C) respond to the request for the verification by: (i) determining that the individual of interest is the given individual, and (ii) detecting that the distributed ledger includes one or more transaction records representing one or more insurance policies for the given individual; and
(D) respond to detecting that the distributed ledger includes one or more transaction records representing one or more insurance policies for the given individual, including: (1) generate a verification of insurance information for the individual of interest by retrieving from a copy of the distributed ledger all of the one or more transaction records, including the transaction record representing the created insurance policy, and (2) generate a summary of all of the one or more insurance policies represented by the retrieved one or more transaction records, wherein the summary includes the policy number for the created insurance policy.
12 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the plurality of servers are configured to store the transaction record at the distributed ledger by storing the transaction to a block.
13 . The system of claim 12 , wherein the plurality of servers are configured to perform the consensus analysis by generating a hash value for the transaction and utilizing the hash value for the transaction to generate a hash value for the block.
14 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the consensus mechanism is: a proof of work mechanism, a proof of stake mechanism, or a proof of activity mechanism.
15 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the consensus mechanism is: a proof of burn mechanism, a proof of capacity mechanism, or a proof of elapsed time mechanism.
16 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the transaction record includes data representing: an identity of the given individual.
17 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the plurality of servers are further configured to verify that a requestor that submitted the request for the verification is authorized, wherein the verification is only generated when the requestor is authorized.
18 . The system of claim 17 , wherein the plurality of servers are further configured to receive from the given individual a list of authorized parties;
wherein the plurality of servers are configured to verify that the requestor is authorized by verifying that the requestor is on the list of authorized parties.
19 . The system of claim 17 , wherein the plurality of servers are further configured to receive from an insurance company a list of authorized parties;
wherein the plurality of servers are further configured to verify that the requestor is authorized by verifying that the requestor is on the list of authorized parties.
20 . (canceled)