Abstract: The present invention provides for a computer-implemented method for controlling the generation, customization and management of medical forms, the method comprising receiving current patient identification information, receiving a selection of a medical procedure provided to the current patient for which a medical insurance claim is to be submitted to the current patient's medical insurance provider, identifying one or more individual medical forms required for the medical insurance claim to be submitted to the current patient's medical insurance provider, displaying a sextant image relevant to the selected medical procedure, receiving positional information from a selection made on the displayed sextant image and generating the identified one or more medical forms such that the generated medical forms are automatically populated with the received identification information and the received positional information.

Abstract: A system and method for providing healthcare insurance services to a beneficiary outside of a home boundary of the beneficiary, that includes: receiving a request to provide healthcare insurance services to a beneficiary from a healthcare provider at a first location; determining whether the first location of the healthcare provider is within or outside of the home boundary of the beneficiary; and, if the first location is outside of the home boundary of the beneficiary: determining an eligibility of the beneficiary based on the healthcare provider and the first location of the healthcare provider; and providing an insurance coverage amount to the healthcare provider at the first location based on the determination of the eligibility of the beneficiary.

Abstract: A method of calculating an insurance premium for a firearm and related equipment purchased by a buyer includes receiving information of the buyer by a computer, and collecting data from one or more databases about the buyer by the computer in response to the received information. The method calculates the insurance premium based on a type of the firearm purchased and related equipment and the collected data.

Abstract: Methods and systems for processing data, such as insurance data, using a Web-Scale Data Fabric (WSDF). According to embodiments, a stream ingestion hardware component can ingest messages related to an actionable event and send data objects to an in-memory data store based on the messages. The in-memory data store can retrieve insurance policy information that may be applicable to the actionable event and store the insurance policy information in cache memory. A search-based application interfaces with the in-memory data store to search for and retrieve data associated with the insurance policy information, from which a user or administrator may process or otherwise access the information. The systems and methods can further initiate insurance claim processing as well as enrich the data using various techniques to enable real-time search.

Abstract: A method of providing an insurance rate comprising storing combinations rates based on fields of information in a database, receiving a piece of information relating to one of the fields of information, and pulling an insurance rate based a pre-calculated average of premiums for individuals.

Abstract: A request is received from an insured member to process a claim for an incident. One or more specific insurance policies for the insured member are retrieved from a database and claim rules for each policy are retrieved from the database, producing one or more claim rules for the insured member. One or more claim questions are generated specifically for the insured member based on the one or more claim rules. One or more claim questions are sent to the insured member regarding an incident. One or more responses are received from the insured member in response to the one or more claim questions. One or more claim forms of the one or more specific insurance policies are selected based on the one or more responses and the one or more claim rules. The one or more claim forms are filled out based on the one or more responses.

Abstract: According to one embodiment of the invention, a financial instrument includes a first tax-deferred account and first, second, and third guarantees. The first tax-deferred account has an account balance based in part on a deduction from wages paid to an employee. The first guarantee is a guarantee of a first protected value based upon a deposit growing at a minimum growth rate The second guarantee is a guarantee that a beneficiary may periodically receive a transfer of an amount of money for the life of the employee. The third guarantee is a guarantee that the first protected value may be transferred with the first tax-deferred account to a separate financial instrument including a second tax-deferred account, a fourth guarantee of a second protected value, and a fifth guarantee that a beneficiary may periodically receive a transfer of an amount of money for the life of the employee.

Abstract: A system and method provide determining a risk of a natural hazard associated with a piece of real property and identifying mitigatable items located around the property by collecting local data using at least one sensor. The local data includes information related to risk factors associated with the property. In an embodiment, the local data is collected using a mobile computing device that includes at least one sensor and a mobile application. External data may be also combined with the local data for further analysis to identify mitigatable items. After identifying mitigatable items around the property, the mitigatable items can be modified or removed to reduce the risk of a natural hazard associated with the property. The systems and methods further include computing, using a data processor, an insurance premium of an insurance policy using a computed risk level of a natural hazard associated with the property.

Abstract: Methods and systems for administering acuity assessments to customers who request vehicle insurance policies, and offering insurance policies based on customers' performances on the acuity assessments. In aspects, the vehicle insurance policies can cover various uses of the vehicle, where the policies may be distance- or time-based. The customer requests a vehicle insurance policy and an insurance provider provides a relevant acuity assessment to the customer for completion. The customer performs the acuity assessment and sends corresponding results, and the insurance provider determines the customer's performance. Based at least in part on the customer's performance, the insurance provider generates an insurance quote, which the customer may purchase.

Abstract: A system for providing a guarantee within a deferred annuity for insuring a security against a change in value of the security is disclosed which comprises a computer system configured to have entered information related to a security to be insured by the guarantee within the deferred annuity, the computer system configured to prepare the guarantee within the deferred annuity based upon the entered information related to the security to be insured, the deferred annuity having an account value, and the security to be insured being held in an account separate from the account value of the deferred annuity.

Abstract: Methods and systems for offering and providing trip-based vehicle insurance are provided. Information is received regarding a vehicle operator and a vehicle, and trip-based insurance policies including quantities of vehicle use units are offered to the customer. Based on selected coverage types, the insurance provider may generate an insurance quote for a policy having an amount of the vehicle use units and may facilitate a purchase transaction with the customer for the insurance policy. Once a policy is selected and purchased, the system and method monitor vehicle use to determine each use of a vehicle use unit. Each vehicle use unit generally corresponds to one vehicle trip, but additional vehicle trip limitations may be added that may result in additional charges when exceeded during the course of a vehicle trip.

Abstract: A computer implemented method for providing insurance comprises receiving a plurality of vehicle data including a start point, an end point and a frequency value. The method further comprises analyzing the plurality of vehicle data to determine a driving route associated with the vehicle. The method also comprises determining, based on the frequency value, that the driving route is a common driving route and a risk level of the common driving route. The method further comprises processing one or more insurance options, including pricing and underwriting, based at least in part on the risk level of the common driving route.

Abstract: Methods and systems for processing distance-based insurance policies for vehicles. According to aspects, a distance-based insurance policy for a customer specifies an amount of distance units for insured vehicle travel and has an associated policy term. Before the expiration of the policy term, an insurance provider may determine that few or no distance units remain. Accordingly, the insurance provider may estimate an additional amount of distance units that the customer may want to purchase. The insurance provider can send an offer for the additional amount of distance units to the customer and the customer can select to purchase the additional amount of distance units.

Abstract: A computer system or computer-implemented method may provide incentives to an insured customer for receiving sensor data indicating risk-reducing and risk-increasing behavior during the policy term. In-vehicle sensors or other devices may gather information about the vehicle and its use during the policy term and send the information to a back-end system for analysis. Based on this analysis, the back-end system may determine that the received information is indicative of risk-reducing or increasing behavior. Upon confirmation that the information indicates risk-reducing or increasing behavior, the back-end system may perform one or more actions defined by a set of rules to establish an incentive or disincentive for the customer corresponding to the behavior. For example, the system may modify the customer's insurance policy data, send an e-mail, letter, gift card, coupon, points, or other incentive or disincentive for the customer based on the analysis.

Abstract: A system and method are disclosed herein for maintaining an inventory of assets located at an insured property covered under an insurance policy based on data received from IP-addressable devices located at the property. The system includes an inventory database for storing inventory information about assets located at an insured property, a communication interface for receiving registration and operational data associated with an IP-addressable device, and a business logic computer. The business logic computer creates a data structure for storing inventory information about assets located at the insured property in the inventory database for each insured property. The business logic computer determines, for the insured property, the inventory information about the insured property's assets based on registration and operational data received from its IP-addressable devices located at the property.

Abstract: Methods and systems provide mitigation insurance and a network of service providers who perform the mitigation work at a discount rate for members who own mitigation insurance policies. Through mitigation insurance, embodiments of the present invention provide predictable, negotiated price for mitigation services and qualified service providers to the members of an insurance company. According to an embodiment, the mitigation insurance may provide a basic level of mitigation service to reduce a wildfire risk associated with a home by removing or modifying mitigatable items that act as fire fuels on and around the home. The mitigation insurance policy may be offered through an application on a mobile computing device which is implemented to survey homes and to interact with a server computer operated by the insurance company.

Abstract: Methods and systems for using vehicle-location information to determine vehicle-usage statistics and using the determined vehicle-usage statistics in an assessment of an insurance discount are described in the present disclosure. In an exemplary embodiment, vehicle-usage statistics are determined solely from received location information, without needing to gather additional information.

Abstract: The present disclosure generally relates to a computer implemented system and method for automatically generating insurance policy related data. The system and method may determine a vehicle operator and generate empirical vehicle operator identity data. The system and method may further acquire empirical vehicle operation data related to the actual vehicle operator, and correlate the empirical vehicle operator identity data and the empirical vehicle operation data to generate vehicle insurance policy related data. The system and method may further include processing one or more insurance options, including underwriting and pricing, based at least in part on the vehicle insurance policy related data.

Abstract: A system and method may create auto insurance quotes using data collected from a device that tracks vehicle usage data and other data. Usage data may be tracked by an On Board Diagnostic (OBD) device or other portable computing device such as a smart phone. Based on a received coverage type, the usage data and other data may be analyzed to determine auto insurance quotes. A potential customer may then purchase an auto insurance policy. Once the purchased policy has been determined to have expired, new usage data will be collected, and new quotes will be created for the customer.

Abstract: A computer implemented method for providing insurance receives vehicle data that indicates one or more driving maneuvers of a vehicle, wherein the vehicle data originates from one or more sensors. The method also analyzes the received vehicle data to determine a driving pattern associated with one or more operators of the vehicle, wherein the driving pattern includes a plurality of driving maneuvers and the vehicle corresponds to an insurance policy data structure having a rating data component. The method further determines that the driving pattern indicates a change in the rating and adjusts the rating data component. The method further processes one or more insurance options based at least in part on the changed rating.

Abstract: A method and computer system provides vehicle insurance underwriting and ratings to a policy holder. The method and system receives captured sensor data associated with a vehicle from the policy holder. For example, the captured sensor data may include vehicle image and sound data. The method and system may compare the received data to baseline data to determine an operating condition of the vehicle. Based at least in part on the determined operating condition of the vehicle, the method and system may identify a risk of loss for the vehicle. The method and system may then determine an insurance premium for the vehicle based at least in part on the identified risk of loss, and provide the determined insurance premium to the policy holder. In some embodiments, the sensor data is image and sound data captured by a user's mobile phone.

Abstract: Methods and systems for processing credits for customers having distance-based insurance policies for vehicles. According to aspects, a distance-based insurance policy of a vehicle specifies an amount of distance units for insured vehicle travel and has an associated policy term. Upon expiration of the policy term, an insurance provider receives an odometer reading and uses the odometer reading to calculate an amount of unused distance units. The insurance provider may determine one or more types of credit that are based on the amount of unused distance units. The insurance provider may also apply the one or more types of credit to an account of the customer.

Abstract: To save mortgage originators and real estate professionals time and money in working with title insurance companies and to ensure consistent and efficient compliance with consumer protection laws, the present inventor devised, among other things, systems, methods, and components that facilitate the selection, offering, and/or processing of title insurance and real estate closing-cost documentation. One exemplary system provides a specialized quote engine and a database of title companies and their fee structures, enabling real estate agents, mortgage originators and consumers to rapidly identify and select among a set of available title companies for specific prospective real estate transactions based on prices and other relevant criteria, such as agent or loan originator title-company preferences, and/or title-company promotional offers.

Abstract: Methods and systems for processing claims (e.g., healthcare insurance claims) are described. For example, prior to payment of an unpaid claim, a prediction is made as to whether or not an attribute specified in the claim is correct. Depending on the prediction results, the claim can be flagged for an audit. Feedback from the audit can be used to update the prediction models in order to refine the accuracy of those models.

Abstract: A computerized composite risk and benefit product provides a plan participant with a “bank” of coverage through a self-funded trust, which the bank amount set based on the actuarially determined contribution amount paid by the participant. All claims paid are charged against the bank, such that when the bank is exhausted the plan is terminated. The product provides a comprehensive coverage package but a relatively low contribution due to the low underwriting risk resulting from the maximum possible claim amount being capped. Therefore, a comprehensive plan may be provided to a participant at a lower contribution.

Abstract: A system and process for prospectively creating patient episodes of care and triggering associated payment bundles during the claim adjudication process facilitates real-time claim pricing in accordance with payment bundle rules to facilitate episodic payment in place of pay-for-service payment. Additionally, various processes are described for modeling patient episodes and payment bundles and unbundling episodic payments.

Abstract: Systems, methods, apparatus, computer program code and means for rating and pricing insurance policies are provided. In some embodiments, an automated insurance processing platform rates and prices insurance policies by including a territory factor in the calculation of a premium for the policy. Pursuant to some embodiments, the territory factor is calculated by receiving historical loss data, geographical data, and demographic data, analyzing the historical loss data, the geographical data, and the demographic data to identify data having similar claim behaviors. The historical loss data is analyzed to identify at least a frequency and severity of historical loss by coverage type.

Abstract: Systems, methods and computer-readable media are disclosed for performing various filtering operations and selection processing on healthcare claim transaction data associated with a plurality of healthcare claim transactions. The filtering operations may include a first filtering operation to identify healthcare claim transactions reimbursed at a loss and a second filtering operation to further identify those transactions reimbursed at a MAC rate below cost. The selection processing may be performed to identify, from among the filtered healthcare claim transactions and based at least in part on one or more selection parameter thresholds, those transactions that are suitable candidates for MAC rate appropriateness review by a claims processor.

Abstract: A system, method, and computer-usable medium are disclosed for determining a maximum amount to finance based on a plurality of periodic payments. The maximum financed amount of the purchase price of a vehicle is determined based on a plurality of periodic payments, including the cost of vehicle insurance coverage. Data associated with a borrower is retrieved, followed by the borrower providing information related to a target vehicle and a maximum periodic payment amount for the cost of financing the target vehicle and insuring it. Vehicle insurance requirement data, vehicle insurance policy data, and vehicle loan terms data is then provided and processed with the vehicle data and the borrower data to generate a periodic cost for a vehicle insurance policy. Thereafter, the vehicle data, vehicle loan terms data, and borrower data are processed to generate a periodic cost for a loan on the vehicle.

Abstract: A system and method for modifying benefit coverage including a plurality of benefit codes of an insurance plan, the insurance plan for use in adjudicating one or more insurance claims. The system and method including accessing a set of benefit codes structured in a plurality of benefit containers including a primary benefit container and a plurality of secondary benefit containers, each of the plurality of secondary benefit containers being coupled to the primary benefit container by a respective benefit container reference, each of the plurality of secondary benefit containers containing one or more benefit codes adapted for processing a claim content of the one or more insurance claims, each of the one or more benefit codes being coupled to their respective secondary benefit container by a respective benefit reference, the set of benefit codes defining a benefit hierarchy.

Abstract: A system for implementing a loyalty program includes a personal terminal, an interaction terminal, and a loyalty module. The personal terminal may be associated with a user. The interaction terminal may be associated with a product or service. The interaction terminal and the personal terminal may be operable to establish a communication when in proximity of each other. The loyalty module may be operable to provide a benefit to the user in response to the communication. The benefit may be provided without regard to whether the user obtained or purchased the product or service.

Abstract: Systems and methods are disclosed herein for processing data in connection with insurance information submissions. The system may be configured to receive entity data relating to an entity for which insurance coverage is sought, and query an interface of a third-party platform based on the entity data. The system may then be configured to receive third-party platform interface data from the third-party platform, analyze the data to determine a web site address for a web page on the third-party platform relating to the entity, and retrieve third-party platform web site data from the web page on the third-party platform indicative of content related to the entity. The system may be configured to pre-fill insurance forms relating to the entity based on the third-party platform data.

Abstract: A computer-implemented method for collecting and transmitting data relating to an insurable incident. First data and second data relating to the incident is collected with at least one device. A data package is formed by combining the first data and second data such that the first data is visible and the second data is obscured by the first data. The package is transmitted to an insurance provider.

Abstract: A system and method for asset management and, in particular, cataloguing, organizing, analyzing, utilizing and managing the contents of a building is disclosed. The system involves a process for using various means to capture the assets/contents of an organization/building. One key goal of the cataloging of a building's contents is to establish an insurable amount of assets within the building. Additionally by organizing the task it can be made easier and more foolproof. Once assets have been added to the system, methods are provided to better utilize the information and add value by using the system.

Abstract: A method of managing mobile device lifecycle includes the step of providing a first module in an application residing on a mobile device, whereby upon selection by a user of the mobile device of an insurance purchase transaction, the application initiates a transaction for the purchase of insurance for the mobile device. The method further includes the step of providing a second module in the application residing on the mobile device, whereby upon selection by a user of the mobile device of a sale transaction, the application initiates a transaction for the sale of the mobile device.

Abstract: An approach for protecting (e.g., insuring) against data loss (e.g., due to SLA failures) in a networked computing environment (e.g., a cloud computing environment) is provided. In a typical embodiment, a risk table is created that associates cloud/solution providers with a corresponding risk factor and a cost of insuring the providers based on the risk factors. The risk factors are typically calculated using historical data that is based on (among other things), each provider's historical capability of honoring SLA terms, expected performance levels, etc. In any event, each provider may be associated with a cost of insuring that provider against failing to perform/process one or more future jobs/workloads. This allows a consumer who needs a workload to be processed to: view the risk table, select a provider, and/or insure against any failure to properly and/or timely process the workload.

Abstract: A method of quoting insurance on one or more objects, the objects being owned by the same or different owners and having object information related to the objects in a database maintained by a party for a purpose independent of providing insurance, including electronically accessing object insurance information having been previously entered by an owner of one or more objects for a purpose other than obtaining insurance, electronically transferring the object insurance information to a carrier, generating an insurance quote based at least in part on the object insurance information, and presenting the quote to an owner of an object for acceptance. The method further contemplates providing the owner with the quote electronically and including a link to bind coverage, with payments that can be arranged automatically on a regular schedule.

Abstract: In some embodiments, a non-transitory processor-readable medium stores code representing instructions to cause a processor to receive, from a user, an input of at least one value associated with financial information of a married couple, and calculate, using the at least one value, an average indexed monthly earnings (AIME) value and a primary insurance amount (PIA) value for each individual from the married couple. The code represents instructions to cause the processor to calculate, using the AIME value or the PIA value for each individual from the married couple, a set of Social Security election outcomes using each election strategy from a set of election strategies for each age combination from a set of age combinations for the married couple. The code further represents instructions to cause the processor to present the set of Social Security election outcomes to the user.

Abstract: A computer-implemented system for collecting and assessing wildfire hazard data comprising a mobile device with an application installed on the mobile device for on-site collection of wildfire hazard data and a wildfire risk assessment provider server. The data collected on the mobile device is merged with data at the wildfire risk assessment provider server to produce underwriting risk scores and reports for insurers, education-aimed recommendations and reports for policyholders, wildfire risk alerts for mobile device application users, strategies for client-to-policyholder wildfire awareness communication, and strategies for wildfire response teams used to drive pre-suppression and active fire actions. A method utilizing the system described above.

Abstract: A computer-based insurance claim processing system (500) provides for the formation and segregated storage of associations (510) that link various active insurance claims (506) to one another. In addition, if desired, the associations can comprise additional information regarding, for example, the nature or type of association and/or other information as a user may wish to include to inform, control, or otherwise characterize the association and/or the associated claims.

Abstract: System and method for providing a website, portal and/or user interface adding, reviewing and editing street mapping data and speed-by-street information. The website, portal and/or user interface allows users to add, review and editing all or selected matters of safety data and street information in a street mapping database. The website, portal and/or user interface also allows the user to select any geographical area and/or any group of vehicles and adjust the system response for any reason, such as weather, traffic, road conditions, etc. The present invention also provides a website, portal and/or user interface that allows a user to register their vehicle and/or vehicle monitoring system hardware so that driver profile information and performance data may be stored on the site and viewed by insurance companies. The insurance companies may bid on drivers they wanted to insure.

Abstract: A computer-implemented method for determining payroll related insurance premiums includes receiving at a server computer first payroll data relating to a first employer in a first data format from a first source and second payroll data in a second data format from a second source. At least one of the first source and the second source includes an employer payroll computer system at an employer location. The received data is read and extracted by a utility program at the employer location. The method further includes conditioning the received payroll data into uniform format payroll data; filtering by at least one of the utility program and the server computer the payroll data to remove non-premium related data; applying by inclusion and exclusion rules from a rules engine to determine payroll data items to consider in calculating a payroll-based insurance premium; and calculating payroll-based insurance premiums.

Abstract: A product rate calculation system operating as a rating server (e.g., a process executing on a server computer system, or a process executing on the same computer system as a client process but serving information to the client process) advantageously provides a flexible insurance rating calculation system that can easily be modified and expanded, while still providing quick, and even real-time responsiveness to product rate requests. The product rate calculation system includes an interface to a product information database and a cache for storing product rate information for efficient reuse. The product rate information includes product rate expressions that are parsed and evaluated by an expression evaluation routine to determine a product rate. As part of the evaluation process, additional product rate information (such as look-up table data and numerical constants) as well as consumer information can be used.

Abstract: A computer-implemented method settles a partition of a set of liabilities of a defined benefit pension plan arising from projected benefit payments promised to all or a subset of plan participants including pension benefits and other post-retirement benefits. The method includes calculating by the computer system the set of pension liabilities including the required benefit payments for each future year in the lifetime horizon of each participant in the entire or subset of the membership roster of the defined benefit pension plan using projected values based on the plan's specific benefit provisions, where the projected benefit payments are based on one or more assumptions including mortality, morbidity or survivorship. The method also includes specifying a settlement horizon comprised of partitions of the projected future lifetimes of participants over the membership roster, and calculating by the computer system the projected benefit payments within the settlement horizon.

Abstract: A system and method for calculating and applying insurance costs. For vehicle insurance under one embodiment of the present invention, insurance costs are calculated on a per-mile basis in a nonlinear fashion, assigning different levels of risk based upon the distance driven by a customer. In one embodiment of the present invention, the first miles or kilometers driven by a customer are assigned a greater level of risk than later-driven miles or kilometers. The present invention provides an actuarial method that more closely conforms the cost of insurance for a particular vehicle to its annual mileage by creating a Rate Per Mile Factor (RMF), where the RMF is expressed as a function of annual mileage.

Abstract: This invention relates generally to a computer system and method for integrating insurance policy underwriting. In one aspect it integrates the older legacy insurance policy generating systems to on line systems where users access the system through browsers. The computer system to perform the process of underwriting, rating, quoting, binding, and booking an insurance policy includes browsers, data bases, processors and a dispatcher that parses the information to select an insurance process. Suitable software programs review messages received from users to determine if certain messages are less than a prescribed limit. If a message is greater than the limit, then the message is parsed into a header information and one or more data fields whereby the header information is provided to a legacy processor and to policy generation software for further creation of policy related information and documentation.

Abstract: In the present invention, an insurance product, rating system and method generally relates to a rating and pricing system for quantifying the risk that the annual savings will not fall below specified levels associated with implementing and maintaining economic improvements. Disclosed embodiments involve a credit enhancement system and method relating to the manner in which insuring a project savings floor (i.e., a minimum level of return on investment for a given improvement project) can be realized in a better credit rating for bonds or loans associated with the improvement project. The product, system and method can be applied to various industries, including, power generation, petro-chemical, manufacturing and refining facilities. Various embodiments disclosed herein relate to a system and method for establishing a rating system to determine the impact on an insured's credit risk.

Abstract: A method and apparatus may predict a cross-sell product to be presented to a customer. For example, the method and apparatus may communicate a plurality of questions to a customer via a computer network relating to an insurance product. The method and apparatus may receive a customer information and use the customer information to calculate a price quote for the insurance product. The method and apparatus may query a database containing information relating to the insurance product and receive customer information from the database. The method and apparatus may then determine whether the customer information or database information is indicative of a second product. If it is determined that the customer information or the customer database information is indicative of the second product, the method and apparatus may identify the second product as a potential cross-sale product, generate a message presenting the second product and display the message.

Abstract: A method and apparatus receive a graphic of the property, determine a characteristic of the property from the received graphic, modify a modifiable hierarchical scripted questionnaire based on the characteristic of the property determined based upon the received graphic, display the questionnaire as modified, based on the characteristic of the property determined from the received graphic and display an estimate pertaining to the property based on the graphic and the responses to the questionnaire.

Abstract: Systems and methods for assessing damage in a damaged object are disclosed. The method comprises receiving visual data of the damaged object by a computing system. The visual data is converted into at least one Multi-Dimensional (MD) representation of the damaged object. The method further comprises identifying a first set of characteristic points in the at least one MD representation of the damaged object. The first set of characteristic points includes at least one subset of characteristic points, and each of the at least one subset of characteristic points substantially corresponds to a portion of the damaged object. The method furthermore comprises determining at least one first set of contour maps of the portion of the damaged object using the at least one MD representation. Using the first set of characteristic points and the at least one first set of contour maps, the damage in the damaged object is assessed.