AU2010202987B9

AU2010202987B9 - Estimation of Building Contents Replacement Cost

Info

Publication number: AU2010202987B9
Application number: AU2010202987A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Michael Keith Bartlett
Original assignee: Land Services Sa Operating Pty Ltd
Current assignee: Land Services Sa Operating Pty Ltd
Priority date: 2009-07-28
Filing date: 2010-07-15
Publication date: 2015-06-25
Anticipated expiration: 2030-07-15
Also published as: NZ586822A; AU2010202987B2; AU2010202987A1

Description

1 AUSTRALIA FB RICE & CO Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys Patents Act 1990 Sum Insured Pty Limited COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT Invention Title: Estimation of Building Contents Replacement Cost The invention is described in the following statement: 2 Title Estimation of Building Contents Replacement Cost Technical Field 5 This invention concerns building contents insurance in general, and more particularly a computer-implemented method for estimating replacement cost of building contents items and a computer-implemented method for reestimating replacement cost of building contents items. In other aspects, there is provided a computer system and computer program for implementing the methods. 10 Background Art Every year, many buildings are damaged by fire, storms and other natural disasters. Building contents insurance is insurance that pays for damage to, or loss of, a policyholder's personal possessions while they are located within the policyholder's 15 building. Of those people who are insured, most are often underinsured, which in the event of a claim inevitably leads to disappointment, financial hardship and frustration. Underinsuring for a policyholder is problematic for both the policyholder and insurance provider. On one hand, the policyholder loses because they do not receive the total 20 replacement cost of their valuable assets. On the other hand, the insurance provider loses because the policyholder feels they have been let down when they needed the support of their insurer the most. The insurance provider also loses out on the opportunity to collect additional premiums should the policyholders have not been underinsured. 25 Disclosure of the Invention In a first aspect, there is provided a computer-implemented method for estimating replacement cost of building contents items, comprising: (a) presenting a user with one or more questions relating to an occupant of a 30 building having contents items to be insured to receive one or more user inputs; (b) determining a personal attribute based on the one or more user inputs; 3 (c) generating a list of building contents items that are associated with the personal attribute; and (d) calculating an estimated replacement cost of the generated list of building contents items. 5 Advantageously, this method allows replacement cost of building contents items to be estimated based on the personal attribute of occupants of the building. Since the type and quality of contents items in a building depends on the personal attribute of their owner, this method can provide a more accurate and personalised estimation of 10 contents replacement cost. The personal attribute may include a personal interest of the occupant. In this case, the method may further comprise receiving an interest level associated with the personal interest of the occupant from the user, and determining the list of building contents 15 items based on the specified interest level. The list of building contents in step (c) may be generated based on a list of expected contents items insured by a plurality of policyholders or owned by users with the same or similar personal attribute. 20 Step (a) may further comprise generating a list of candidate personal attributes and requesting the user to select the personal attribute from the list. The method may further comprise receiving an edited list of building contents items 25 from the user, and calculating the estimated replacement cost of the edited list. In this case, the list of expected contents items may be updated based on the edited list. The method may further comprise storing the generated list of building contents items in a data store to facilitate reestimation of the replacement cost. 30 There is provided a computer-implemented method for reestimating replacement cost of building contents items, comprising: retrieving a list of building contents items from a data store, wherein the list of building contents is previously generated according to the first aspect; 35 receiving one or more second inputs from the user; 4 generating an updated list of building contents items based on the one or more second inputs; and calculating a reestimated replacement cost of the updated list of building contents items. 5 Advantageously, users have the flexibility to access the list of contents items and estimated replacement cost to make adjustments as their circumstances change and to re-evaluate their building contents items at any time to ensure their sum insured stays up to date. 10 The one or more second user inputs may include a personal attribute of an occupant in a building in which the list of contents items is housed. The one or more second user inputs may include one or more of the following 15 characteristics of the building in which the list of contents items is housed: location of the building; number of rooms in the building; types of rooms; age and gender of occupants; and 20 level and standard of building contents. There is provided a computer program to cause a computer to implement at least one of the above mentioned methods. 25 There is provided a computer system for estimating replacement cost of building contents items, comprising a processor operable to: (a) present a user with one or more questions relating to an occupant of a building having contents to be insured to receive one or more user inputs; (b) determine a personal attribute based on the one or more user inputs; 30 (c) generate a list of building contents items that are associated with the personal attribute; and (d) calculate an estimated replacement cost of the generated list of building contents items.

5 There is provided a computer system for reestimating replacement cost of building contents items, comprising a processor operable to: (a) retrieve a list of building contents items from data store, wherein the list of building contents is previously generated according to the computer system described 5 above; (b) receive one or more second inputs from the user; (c) generate an updated list of building contents items based on the one or more second inputs; and (d) calculate an estimated replacement cost of the updated list of building 10 contents items. Brief Description of Drawings An example of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: 15 Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a computer system exemplifying the invention. Fig. 2 is a flowchart of a method for estimating building contents replacement cost exemplifying the invention. Fig. 3 is an interface to request a user's inputs on the location, number of bedrooms, and level and standard of building contents to be insured. 20 Fig. 4(a) is an interface to request a user's inputs on a personal attribute of occupants in the building. Fig. 4(b) is an interface to request a user's inputs on other rooms in the building. Fig. 5(a) is an interface to request a user's inputs on special items. Fig. 5(b) is an interface to present estimated replacement cost and opportunity to 25 edit contents items. Fig. 6 is an exemplary list of contents items. Fig. 7 is a schematic diagram of data structures for storing a list of expected contents item. Fig. 8 is an interface to allow a user to edit the list of contents items in Fig. 6. 30 Fig. 9(a) is an interface to allow a user to request reestimation of replacement cost based on changes to number of rooms, occupants or location. Fig. 9(b) is an interface to allow a user to add room and edit personal attributes of occupants.

6 Detailed Description of the Invention Fig. 1 shows a schematic diagram of the computer system 100 for estimating replacement cost of building contents items exemplifying the invention. In general, building contents are removable property and items that are kept inside a domestic or 5 commercial building. Examples include furniture, curtains, blinds, lawn mowers and interest-related contents such as surfboards and golf clubs. The system 100 comprises a processor 110 in communication with a plurality of users 140 and insurance providers 150 via the Internet 130. Interface Engine 112 at the 10 processor 110 handles estimation requests from a user and Estimation Engine 114 performs estimation calculations based on user inputs. The processor 110 is also in communication with data store 120 to store information such as estimated contents replacement cost 122, reports 124 and contents information 126. 15 Referring now to the flowchart 200 in Fig. 2, a user 140 first submits a request to the processor 110 to have replacement cost of their building contents estimated; see step 210. The request can be submitted using a replacement cost calculator accessible on a website, such as that of an insurance provider 150. 20 Questions and User Inputs (Step 220) Upon receiving a user's request, the Interface Engine 112 proceeds to present the user with a series of questions to generate a list of building contents items that occupants of a building might have; see step 220. 25 Referring to Fig. 3, the user is first asked to provide the postcode 222 of the building of which houses the contents items are to be insured. In this case, the building is a domestic residence. The user 140 is then asked to provide the number of bedrooms in the building and the gender and age of the occupants in each bedroom, as indicated at 224. 30 7 The number of bedrooms and the occupant or occupants of each room are also taken into account by the Estimation Engine 114 when calculating an estimated replacement cost of building contents items. This is because of the high level of clothing and personal effects that are usually present in these types of rooms. As indicated at 224 in 5 Fig. 3, the user 140 is asked to indicate the gender and age of occupants of each bedroom as selected fi-om the following: Adult female (>19 years of age); Adult male (>19 years of age); Teen female (13 to 19 years of age); 10 Teen male (13 to 19 years of age); Child (female or male; 4 to 12 years of age); and Baby (female or male; 0 to 3 years of age). The user 140 is also asked to select the level 226 and standard 228 of the building 15 contents items. These questions allow the Estimation Engine 114 to determine the quantity, quality and variety of contents contained in each room based on the degree to which each room has been furnished. Each room type caters for three levels 226 each indicating the statistical quantity of 20 contents of that room, based on analysis of the type and quantity of items normally found in a particular room type: Minimal, representing a basic level of building contents reflecting either a small room or a minimalist approach to home furnishing; Average, representing an average level of building contents; and 25 Extensive, representing a high level of building contents that reflects either a large room or an above average level of home furnishings. Each room type further caters for three standards 228 each indicating the statistical pricing grade based on analysis of the range of market prices for the various types of 30 items normally found in a particular room type: 8 Average, representing the lowest priced grade of building contents as obtained from budget stores; Quality, representing above average priced grade of building contents as obtained from specialty and middle range stores; and 5 Prestige, representing highest priced grade of building contents as obtained from designer stores. The Interface Engine 112 also asks the user 140 questions to determine personal attributes of each building occupant to enable the Estimation Engine 114 to provide a 10 more accurate estimation of building contents items based on the personal attributes. In the example shown in Fig. 4(a), the user 140 is asked to provide the personal interests of the occupants of the building. For example, if one of the occupants of the building is involved in golf 231, the user 15 can select from the list of candidate personal interests provided. This user input will permit automatic allocation of contents that are associated with the selected personal interest, such as clothing, golf clubs and balls. While not shown, the user 140 can be further asked to provide an interest level of the 20 selected personal interest to allow the Estimation Engine 114 to better estimate the quality of contents items associated with the personal interest. The interest levels are Low, Medium and High to indicate the statistical quantity and pricing grade of the interest-related contents. For example, an avid golf player (High interest level) would have more comprehensive golf-related contents than an occasional player (Low interest 25 level). Advantageously, estimating contents items of a building based on personal attributes of the occupants enables the Estimation Engine 114 to provide a more accurate estimate of building contents items and therefore their replacement cost. Also, by automatically 30 including contents items that an occupant with a particular personal attribute has, the user 140 does not have to manually provide a list of those contents items to the 9 processor 110 and then manually calculate the value of those contents items. This automatic inclusion and estimation of contents saves time and improves useability. It will also be appreciated that the list of personal attributes can be extended based on 5 the occupation of building occupants, especially if they work from home. The next question that the Interface Engine 112 asks is related to the number and type of other rooms in the building, as indicated at 232 in Fig. 4(b). Knowledge of the function of other rooms in the building allows the Estimation Engine 114 typical 10 contents items in those rooms. The user 140 can select from a list comprising the following: Bathroom, Ensuite, Separate Toilet, Kitchen, Laundry, Entry/Foyer, Dining, Living/Lounge, Family, Games/Rumpus, Sunroom, 15 Study/Home Office, Billiard, Garage/Storage/Workshop, Garden Shed, Patio, Balcony/Deck, Verandah and Pool Area Finally, as shown in Fig. 5(a), the user 140 is asked to add any special items or valuables to the list of contents 234. Specified items or valuables are usually items 20 whose replacement value is above a predetermined threshold, such as $1,000. These items usually have to be specified and listed individually on a policy in order to be covered. Estimation of Building Contents and Replacement Cost (Step 250) Referring to Fig. 2 again, the Estimation Engine 114 then generates a list of building 25 contents that the building might have based on the following user inputs: location of the building; number of bedrooms and age and gender of occupants in each bedroom; number of other rooms and their functionality; level and standard of home contents; 30 personal attributes of the occupants, including their personal interests and interest level; and 10 special items added by the user. The Estimation Engine 114 generates the list of building contents items based on contents information 126 that provides an estimation of contents items that a building 5 might have based on a range of possible user inputs. Contents information 126 is built using statistical analysis based on ongoing detailed surveys into the contents of a wide cross section of homes, supplemented by the ongoing survey results of those insurance policyholders using the existing web based calculators. 10 A three-tiered structure comprising contents items, categories and rooms is used. Contents items represent the individual pieces of equipment and furniture known collectively as a user's contents. Examples are chairs, tables, clothing, cutlery, refrigerators etc. Contents items are organised into multiple separate categories according to type. 15 For example, as shown in Fig. 6, contents are compiled into 32 categories, including appliances, clothing, floor furnishings and sports. Rooms as the name suggests represent the individual rooms that could be present in any home. Each room contains a variety of contents from different categories. The type of room determines which contents are included. For example a 20 dining room would include contents such as a table, chairs, buffet unit, framed prints etc. An office would include contents such as a desk, clerical and visitor chairs, filing cabinets, bookcases etc. For attribute-related building contents items, the list may be generated based on a list of 25 expected contents items insured by a plurality of policyholders or owned by users with the same or similar personal attribute. The list of expected contents items is generally compiled using initial surveys conducted over the telephone, by mail, online or personal in-home survey. Once the initial surveys are completed, the list of expected contents items may be improved over time during ongoing use of the system 100. 30 11 Fig. 7 shows exemplary data structures for storing a list of expected contents items in the data store 120. A first data structure 160 stores a list of known personal attributes, and the associated expected contents items are stored a second data structure 170. For each item, the second data structure 170 also stores the expected quantity of the item 5 for a user 140 with different levels of interest. For example, a user with a High interest level 172 for personal attribute #2 is expected to have one item #1 and two item #2s. By contrast, a user with Medium 174 and Low 176 interest level is not expected to have item #1 at all. The value or replacement cost 10 of each item of varying standard (not shown for simplicity) is also stored in the data store 120. Based on a user's personal attribute and interest level, the Estimation Engine 114 retrieves the associated list of contents items, and the expected quantity of each item, 15 from the second data structure 170. Once a list of building contents is generated, the Estimation Engine 114 proceeds to calculate an estimated replacement cost of the contents. Report and Re-estimation (Step 270) 20 The Interface Engine 112 then presents the estimated replacement cost to the user; see step 270 in Fig. 2 and Fig. 5(b). The user 140 can review the list of building contents items that has been automatically generated by the Estimation Engine 114; see 262. An exemplary list is shown in Fig. 6, showing a list of categories of contents items and their respective quantity, level, standard and value. 25 The user 140 can click on any one of the categories to edit the list of contents items in that category 266 using the interface 268 shown in Fig. 8. For example, a user having "Golf' selected as a personal attribute in Fig. 4(a) is expected to have a number of golf related contents such as golf bag, balls, buggy, clubs, shoes and clothing. The quantity 30 and standard of these contents items can be amended to increase or decrease the 12 estimated replacement cost. The Estimation Engine 114 uses the new information to update the list of contents and to re-estimate the replacement cost. Additionally, the Interface Engine 112 also provides an interface for users 140 to add 5 new contents items in each category that are not contained within the database. Further, for each existing or new contents item, the Interface Engine 112 also provides an interface for the user 140 to add and store specific information further describing the contents item including: Customised description of the contents item; 10 Customised price of the contents item; Brand name of the contents item; Model number of the contents item; Serial number of the contents item; Purchase date; 15 Image such as a photograph of the contents item; and Any additional notes. The Estimation Engine 114 also uses user inputs of new contents items, and their quantity, to update the contents information 126 stored in the data store 120. In relation 20 to attribute-related contents information, the Estimation Engine 114 updates the list of expected contents items and/or their expected quantity based on the user inputs; see Fig. 7. In one implementation, the Estimation Engine 114 only updates the list of expected 25 contents items if enough information is collected from a large number of users. In this case, every time a user updates the expected quantity of an item or its standard using the interface in Fig. 8, the corresponding quantity in data structure 170 will be updated with a predetermined small increment. 30 As an example, the Estimation Engine 114 increases the expected quantity of item #1 associated with personal attribute #2 in Fig. by 0.001 at a time to obtain 1.001. Only 13 when the expected quantity exceeds a predetermined threshold, such as 1.5, that the quantity will be rounded up to 2. Advantageously, incremental updates to the list of expected contents items reduces the probability of the updates being skewed towards a small number of users. 5 Storing Results (Step 280) The processor 110 also enables users to store all of the information they have entered or that has been calculated. Once calculation has been completed, user inputs, list of contents items and their replacement cost are stored in the data store 120 for later 10 retrieval and re-estimation; see 122 and 124 in Fig. 1. The user is also asked to create an account. Referring now to Fig. 9(a), a user can login to their account for the following: produce estimates for multiple locations; 15 produce multiple estimates for a particular location; reprice an estimate; delete an estimate; edit the details of an estimate; edit the contents of an estimate; 20 produce PDF reports; and edit their personal details. As shown in the interface in Fig. 9(b), a user can edit the address of the building 282, add a new room 284 and edit a personal attribute of an occupant 286. 25 Advantageously, users have the flexibility to access the list of contents items and estimated replacement cost to make adjustments as their circumstances change and to re-evaluate their building contents at any time to ensure their sum insured stays up to date. In the event a user needs to make an insurance claim they are able to access a 30 detailed list of their building contents items which is stored in a secure environment located remotely from the risk environment.

14 It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that numerous variations and/or modifications may be made to the invention as shown in the specific embodiments without departing from the scope of the invention as broadly described. The present 5 embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive. For example, it will be appreciated that the interface in Fig. 4(a) may be modified to allow a user to enter a personal attribute, instead of selecting from a list of attributes. 10 In this case, the user may also be asked to provide a list of items associated with the attribute, the quantity and quality of the items, and the user's interest level such that the information can be added to the data store 120 for future estimation. It will also be appreciated that although the data structures in Fig. 7 have been illustrated using lookup tables, other types of data structures such as eXtensible Markup 15 Language (XML) tree may be used. It should be understood that the techniques of the present invention might be implemented using a variety of technologies. For example, the methods and "engines" described herein may be implemented by a computer program in the form of a series of 20 computer executable instructions residing on a suitable computer readable medium. Suitable computer readable media may include volatile (e.g. RAM) and/or non-volatile (e.g. ROM, disk) memory, carrier waves and transmission media (e.g. copper wire, coaxial cable, fibre optic media). Exemplary carrier waves may take the form of electrical, electromagnetic or optical signals conveying digital data steams along a local 25 network or a publically accessible network such as the internet. The methods and "engines" may also be implemented as hardware or a combination of hardware and software. It should also be understood that, unless specifically stated otherwise as apparent from 30 the following discussion, it is appreciated that throughout the description, discussions utilizing terms such as "processing" or "computing" or "asking" or "generating" or 15 "calculating" or "determining" or "displaying" or the like, refer to the action and processes of a computer system, or similar electronic computing device, that processes and transforms data represented as physical (electronic) quantities within the computer system's registers and memories into other data similarly represented as physical 5 quantities within the computer system memories or registers or other such information storage, transmission or display devices.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for estimating replacement cost of building contents items, comprising: 5 (a) presenting a user with one or more questions relating to an occupant of a building having contents to be insured to receive one or more user inputs; (b) determining a personal attribute based on the one or more user inputs; (c) generating a list of building contents items that are associated with the personal attribute; and 10 (d) calculating an estimated replacement cost of the generated list of building contents items.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the personal attribute includes a personal interest of the occupant. 15

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising receiving an interest level associated with the personal interest of the occupant from the user, and determining the list of building contents items based on the specified interest level. 20

4. The method of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the list of building contents items in step (c) is generated based on a list of expected contents items insured by a plurality of policyholders or owned by users with the same or a similar personal attribute. 25

5. The method of any one of the preceding claims, wherein step (a) further comprises generating a list of candidate personal attributes and requesting the user to select the personal attribute from the list.

6. The method of any one of the preceding claims, further comprising receiving an 30 edited list of building contents items from the user, and calculating the estimated replacement cost of the edited list.

7. The method of claim 6 when limited by claim 4, further comprising updating the list of expected contents items based on the edited list. 35 17

8. The method of any one of the preceding claims, further comprising storing the generated list of building contents items in a data store to facilitate reestimation of the replacement cost. 5

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising: retrieving the generated list of building contents items from the data store; receiving one or more second inputs from the user; generating an updated list of building contents items based on the one or more second inputs; and 10 calculating a reestimated replacement cost of the updated list of building contents items.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the one or more second user inputs include a personal attribute of an occupant in a building in which the list of contents items is 15 housed.

11. The method of either claim 9 or 10, wherein the one or more second user inputs include one or more of the following characteristics of the building in which the list of contents items is housed: 20 location of the building; number of rooms in the building; types of rooms; age and gender of occupants; and level and standard of building contents. 25

12. A computer program to cause a computer to implement the method for estimating replacement cost of building contents items according to any one of claims 1 to 11. 30

13. A computer-implemented method for reestimating replacement cost of building contents items, comprising: retrieving a list of building contents items from a data store, wherein the list of building contents is previously generated according to the method of any one of claims 1 to 8; 35 receiving one or more second inputs from the user; 18 generating an updated list of building contents items based on the one or more second inputs; and calculating a reestimated replacement cost of the updated list of building contents items. 5

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the one or more second user inputs include a personal attribute of an occupant in a building in which the list of contents items is housed. 10

15. The method of either claiml3 or 14, wherein the one or more second user inputs include one or more of the following characteristics of the building in which the list of contents items is housed: location of the building; number of rooms in the building; 15 types of rooms; age and gender of occupants; and level and standard of building contents.

16. A computer program to cause a computer to implement the method reestimating 20 replacement cost of building contents items according to any one of claims 13 to 15.

17. A computer system for estimating replacement cost of building contents items, comprising a processor operable to: (a) present a user with one or more questions relating to an occupant of a 25 building having contents to be insured to receive one or more user inputs; (b) determine a personal attribute based on the one or more user inputs; (c) generate a list of building contents items that are associated with the personal attribute; and (d) calculate an estimated replacement cost of the generated list of building 30 contents items. 19

18. A computer system for reestimating replacement cost of building contents items, comprising a processor operable to: (a) retrieve a list of building contents items from data store, wherein the list of building contents is previously generated according to the computer system of claim 17 5 ; (b) receive one or more second inputs from the user; (c) generate an updated list of building contents items based on the one or more second inputs; and (d) calculate an estimated replacement cost of the updated list of building 10 contents items.

19. A computer-implemented method for estimating replacement cost of building contents items substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings. 15

20. A computer-implemented method for reestimating replacement cost of building contents items substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings. 20

21. A computer system for estimating replacement cost of building contents items substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

22. A computer system for reestimating replacement cost of building contents items substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings. 25