You are on page 1of 54

TABLE OF CONTENT

TITLE PAGE CERTIFICATION PAGE APPROVAL PAGE DEDICATION ACKNOWLEDGEMENT TABLE OF CONTENT ABSTRACT CHAPTER ONE 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 INTRODUCTION BACKGROUND OF STUDY STATEMENT OF THE PRONBLEM OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY SCOPE OF STUDY LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY DIFFINITION OF TERMS ORGANIZATION OF WORK i Ii iii iv v vi 1 1 1 2 4 5 5 7 7 8 10 12 12 12 13 16 17 18 20 22

CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Principles of insurance Insurability Legal Research on the effects of insurance on the society Claims Marketing

CHAPTER THREE

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND SYSTEM ANALYSIS 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.4.1 3.4.2 3.4.3 3.4.4 INTRODUCTION ANALYSIS OF THE PRESENT SYSTEM INPUT AND OUTPUT DOCUMENTS ANALYSIS OF THE PROPOSED SYSTEM DESCRIPTION OF THE NEW SYSTEM DECISION ANALYSIS PHASE DESIGN PHASE CONSTRUCTION PHASE ADVANTAGES OF THE NEW SYSTEM

22 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 28 28 30 30 32 32 32 32 33 34 35 36 37 39 43 43 43 43 44

DATA FLOW DIAGRAM 3.6 HIGH LEVEL MODEL OF PROPOSED SYSTEM CHAPTER FOUR SYSTEM DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION 4.0 INTRODUCTION

4.1 OBJECTIVE OF THE NEW SYSTEM 4.2 MAIN MENU 4.3 DATABASE SPECIFICATION 4.4 INPUT/OUTPUT FORMAT 4.5 THE SYSTEM FLOWCHART 4.6 PROGRAM DOCUMENETATION AND IMPLEMENTATION 4.7 IMPLEMENTATION LAYOUT

4.8 MAINTENANCE AND MANAGEMENT 4.9 4.10 HARDWARE MAINTENANCE DATA VALIDATION

4.11 LANGUAGE JUSTIFICATION 4.12 HARDWARE AND OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

4.13 SOFTWARE TESTING CHAPTER FIVE SUMMARY, RECOMMENDATION AND CONCLUSION 5.0 5.1 5.2 SUMMARY RECOMMENDATION CONCLUSION

45 46 46 46 47 47

ABSTRACT The insurance industry worldwide is facing the challenges of deregulation, consolidation and convergence of financial services. There is today a pressing demand for cutting edge services of insurance business management and enriched customer experiences at a significantly lower cost. This software provides five types of Insurance services, which include Life Insurance, medical Insurance, Motor Insurance, home Insurance and Travel Insurance. Presently this project follows Internet mode i.e. the details can be viewed and updated by the officials of the company. In the project, a User can view the details of various policies and schemes offered by the Insurance Company. New Users can register with the site so that he can get information online. An existing policyholder can view his policy details and calculate the premium. The web site provides information about the new strategies and

subsidiary Schemes of the company, provides loan facility for policy holders and online payments. This software is developed in ASP.Net using vb.net as front end and MS access database as back-end on Windows platform. The project was completed using the structured system and design methodology (SSADM).

CHAPTER ONE 1.0 INTRODUCTION

Insurance is a contract for payment of a sum of money to the person assured on the happening of the event insured against. Usually the contract provides for the payment of an amount on the date of maturity or at specified dates at periodic intervals or at unfortunate death, if it occurs earlier. Among other things, the contract also provides for the payment of premium periodically to the Corporation by the assured. Insurance is universally acknowledged to be an institution which eliminates `risk', substituting certainty for uncertainty and comes to the timely aid of the family in the unfortunate event of death of the breadwinner. Insurance is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent, uncertain loss. Insurance is defined as the equitable

transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for payment. An insurer is a company selling the insurance; the insured, or policyholder, is the person or entity buying the insurance policy. The amount to be charged for a certain amount of insurance coverage is called the premium. Risk management, the practice of appraising and controlling risk, has evolved as a discrete field of study and practice. The transaction involves the insured assuming a guaranteed and known relatively small loss in the form of payment to the insurer in exchange for the insurer's promise to compensate (indemnify) the insured in the case of a financial (personal) loss. The insured receives a contract, called the insurance policy, which details the conditions and circumstances under which the insured will be financially compensated. Insurance involves pooling funds from many insured entities (known as exposures) to pay for the losses that some may incur. The insured entities are therefore protected from risk for a fee, with the fee being dependent upon the frequency and severity of the event occurring. In order to be insurable, the risk insured against must meet certain characteristics in order to be an insurable risk. Insurance is a commercial enterprise and a major part of the financial services industry, but individual entities can also self-insure through saving money for possible future losses.
2

1.1

BACKGROUND OF STUDY

We look back in history at who first felt the need for a guarantee against loss, and who gave them that guarantee. Way back in Babylonian times, around 2100 B.C.(Frank J. 2008), the Code of Hammurabi was the first basic insurance policy. This policy was paid by the traders in the form of a loan to guarantee the safe arrival of their goods by caravan. Of course, caravans faced the same kind of perils our transportation industry faces today like robbery, bad weather and breakdowns. Now the insurance industry was growing to huge proportions. The companies, though competitive, worked together to create productive systems that could be used throughout the industry. They needed to keep up with the requirements of the increasing amount of laws governing insurance. For example, the Workmens Compensation Act of 1897 in Britain required employers to insure their employees against industrial mishaps. This also fostered what we know today as public liability insurance, which came strongly into play when the automobile arrived on the scene. (Brown RL. (1993). Brown RL 1993 also said that in the 19th century, many societies were founded to insure the life and health of their members. Fraternal orders were created to provide low-cost insurance strictly for their members. Today, many of these fraternal orders and labor organizations still exist. Most employers offer group
3

insurance policies for their employees, providing them with life insurance, sickness and accident benefits, and pensions. Now insurance was the accepted thing to do. Everybody needed to protect themselves against the many risks in life. Farmers wanted crop insurance. People wanted deposit insurance at their banks. Travellers wanted travel insurance. Everybody turned to insurance companies to give them peace of mind. And really, isnt that what insurance is the paying of a premium to protect against some form of loss. This project is aimed at automating the insurance service. 1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PRONBLEM Tracking a policy and tracking the performance of sales force in insurance companies have become methodical and almost flawed in the manual system of tracking and evaluation of sales force performance. Lead distribution and tracking need to be more systematized on computerized platform of insurance service application. After studying the insurance company and their services, I found the following problems: 1. It is hard to centralize the core information of policy holders because the manual workload high, thus the chances of error is high.

2. The manual system administration does not ensure complete control over the database thus control over all sorts of fraudulent activities cannot be ensured. 3. The intra-network and coordination between different departments of an insurance business is ineffective and time consuming 4. Poor data management and processing.

1.3 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY After analysing the above problem, I noted that the solution will be an online application that will address the problems mentioned above. Therefore among the objectives of this study are to provide a system that will: 1. Not only save time and money, but also enable the buyers to compare the terms and premium amount of different insurance service providers. 2. Ensure speed, accuracy and effective cost control. People can access the twin benefits of quick accessibility and minimum paper work. 3. Centralize the core information of policy holders and reduces manual workload, thus minimizes the chances of error 4. Ensure complete control over the database thus controls all sorts of fraudulent activities
5

5. Ensure better data management and processing in comparison to conventional and manual processing. 1.4 SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY

This project study has several significances that we can attest to. This section provides insight into the significance of this study. This significance of the proposed system are: i. Removal of uncertainties: Insurance Company takes the risks of large but uncertain losses in exchange for small premium. So it gives a sense of security, which is real gift to the business man. If all uncertainty could be removed from business, income would be sure. Insurance removed many uncertainties and to that extent is profitable. ii. Stimulant of business enterprise: Insurance facilitates to maintain the large size commercial and industrial organizations. No large scale industrial undertaking could function in the modern world without the transfer of many of its risks to insurer. It safeguards capital and at the same time it avoids the necessity on the part of industrialists. They are therefore free to use their capital as may seem best. An online application helps them to this.

iii.

Promotion of saving: Saving is a device of preparing for the bad consequences of the future. Insurance policy is often very suitable way of providing for the future. This type of policy is found particularly in life assurance. It promotes savings by making it compulsory which has a beneficial effect both for the individual and nation.

iv.

Correct distribution of cost: Insurance helps to maintain correct distribution of cost. Every business man tries to pass on to the consumer all types of costs including accidental and losses also. In the various fields of Insurance such losses are correctly estimated keeping in view a vast number of factors bearing on them. In the absence of insurance application services, these losses and costs would be assessed and distributed only by guess work.

1.5

SCOPE OF STUDY

The system was restricted to the following areas during the development. The system provides only five types of Insurance services, which include Life Insurance, medical Insurance, motor Insurance, home Insurance and travel Insurance. There are other types of insurance which it doesnt support. New Users can access the site so as to get information online. An existing policy holder can view his policy details. The web site provides information about the

new strategies and subsidiary Schemes of the company. All other types of insurance like breast insurance is beyond the scope of this research work. 1.6 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

Some setbacks were encountered during the research. These include: i. Lack of quality textbooks or materials on online administration and insurance policy. ii. Financial difficulties due to the economic situation in Nigeria also posed a major constraint this research work because there was no enough fund to carry out a very vast research on other forms of insurance. iii. Inconsistence power supply in Uli, which hinders the development of the program. iv. 1.7 Limited time for thorough research. DIFFINITION OF TERMS

INSURANCE: This is a financial protection against loss or harm: an arrangement by which a company gives customers financial protection against loss or harm such as theft or illness in return for payment premium. CASUALTY:
8

Liability or loss resulting from an accident. LIABILITY: Broadly, any legally enforceable obligation. The term is most commonly used in a pecuniary sense.

LIABILITY INSURANCE - Insurance that pays and renders service on behalf of an insured for loss arising out of his responsibility, due to negligence, to others imposed by law or assumed by contract. DIVIDEND: The return of part of the policy's premium for a policy issued on a participating basis by either a mutual or stock insurer. A portion of the surplus paid to the stockholders of a corporation. DEATH BENEFIT: The limit of insurance or the amount of benefit that will be paid in the event of the death of a covered person. INSURANCE QUOTE:

It is an estimate of the cost of your insurance. Depending upon the type of insurance you are buying the final cost may be higher or lower than the estimate. POLICY: Policy is a course of action: a program of actions adopted by a person, group, or government, or the set of principles on which they are based. In this context, it is the set of actions adopted by the insurance firm. WEB PORTAL: This is a link page, presents information from diverse sources in a unified way. SSADM: Structural system analysis and design methodology. 1.8 ORGANIZATION OF WORK

Chapter one: insurance service. I also provided the problem that led to the development of the system. The objectives of the study, significance of study, scope of study, limitation of study. Chapter two: literature review of insurance service, basically what people have done on the topic.

10

Chapter three: the research methodology, the step followed and analysis of the existing system. Chapter four: the design and implementation of the system, the data dictionary, input-output specification, table format/structure, hardware Chapter five: Recommendation and future development; Summary, conclusion and then references.

11

CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW As noted earlier, insurance is a financial protection against loss or harm: an arrangement by which a company gives customers financial protection against loss or harm such as theft or illness in return for payment premium. In this chapter, I will be reviewing the works and related works people have done on insurance. 2.1 Principles of insurance

Insurance involves pooling funds from many insured entities (known as exposures) to pay for the losses that some may incur. The insured entities are
12

therefore protected from risk for a fee, with the fee being dependent upon the frequency and severity of the event occurring. In order to be insurable, the risk insured against must meet certain characteristics in order to be an insurable risk. Insurance is a commercial enterprise and a major part of the financial services industry, but individual entities can also self-insure through saving money for possible future losses. (Brown, 1993).

2.2

Insurability

Risks which can be insured by private companies typically share seven common characteristics though some of these risks are outside the scope of my study: Large number of similar exposure units: Since insurance operates through pooling resources, the majority of insurance policies are provided for individual members of large classes, allowing insurers to benefit from the law of large numbers in which predicted losses are similar to the actual losses. (Allen N. et al, 1997) Exceptions include Lloyd's of London, which is famous for insuring the life or health of actors, sports figures and other famous individuals. However, all exposures will have particular differences, which may lead to different premium rates.
13

Definite loss: The loss takes place at a known time, in a known place, and from a known cause. The classic example is death of an insured person on a life insurance policy. Fire, automobile accidents, and worker injuries may all easily meet this criterion. Other types of losses may only be definite in theory. Occupational disease, for instance, may involve prolonged exposure to injurious conditions where no specific time, place or cause is identifiable. Ideally, the time, place and cause of a loss should be clear enough that a reasonable person, with sufficient information, could objectively verify all three elements. Dembe AE, Boden LI. (2000). Accidental loss: The event that constitutes the trigger of a claim should be fortuitous, or at least outside the control of the beneficiary of the insurance. The loss should be pure, in the sense that it results from an event for which there is only the opportunity for cost. Events that contain speculative elements, such as ordinary business risks or even purchasing a lottery ticket, are generally not considered insurable. (Frank J. (2008) Large loss: The size of the loss must be meaningful from the perspective of the insured. Insurance premiums need to cover both the expected cost of losses, plus the cost of issuing and administering the policy, adjusting losses, and supplying the capital needed to reasonably assure that the insurer will be able to pay claims. (Sean, 2004) For small losses these latter costs may be several
14

times the size of the expected cost of losses. There is hardly any point in paying such costs unless the protection offered has real value to a buyer. Affordable premium: If the likelihood of an insured event is so high, or the cost of the event so large, that the resulting premium is large relative to the amount of protection offered, it is not likely that the insurance will be purchased, even if on offer. Further, as the accounting profession formally recognizes in financial accounting standards, the premium cannot be so large that there is not a reasonable chance of a significant loss to the insurer. If there is no such chance of loss, the transaction may have the form of insurance, but not the substance. (Franklin, J., 2001) Calculable loss: There are two elements that must be at least estimable, if not formally calculable: the probability of loss, and the attendant cost. Probability of loss is generally an empirical exercise, while cost has more to do with the ability of a reasonable person in possession of a copy of the insurance policy and a proof of loss associated with a claim presented under that policy to make a reasonably definite and objective evaluation of the amount of the loss recoverable as a result of the claim. Gollier C. (2003). Limited risk of catastrophically large losses: Insurable losses are ideally independent and non-catastrophic, meaning that the losses do not happen all

15

at once and individual losses are not severe enough to bankrupt the insurer; insurers may prefer to limit their exposure to a loss from a single event to some small portion of their capital base. Capital constrains insurers' ability to sell earthquake insurance as well as wind insurance in hurricane zones. In the US, flood risk is insured by the federal government. In commercial fire insurance it is possible to find single properties whose total exposed value is well in excess of any individual insurer's capital constraint. Such properties are generally shared among several insurers, or are insured by a single insurer who syndicates the risk into the reinsurance market. Mary A. (October 1997) 2.3 Legal

When a company insures an individual entity, there are basic legal requirements. Several commonly cited legal principles of insurance include: Indemnity the insurance company indemnifies, or compensates, the insured in the case of certain losses only up to the insured's interest. Insurable interest the insured typically must directly suffer from the loss. Insurable interest must exist whether property insurance or insurance on a person is involved. The concept requires that the insured have a "stake" in the loss or damage to the life or property insured. What that "stake" is will be

16

determined by the kind of insurance involved and the nature of the property ownership or relationship between the persons. Utmost good faith the insured and the insurer are bound by a good faith bond of honesty and fairness. Material facts must be disclosed. Contribution insurers which have similar obligations to the insured contribute in the indemnification, according to some method. Subrogation the insurance company acquires legal rights to pursue recoveries on behalf of the insured; for example, the insurer may sue those liable for insured's loss. Causa proxima, or proximate cause the cause of loss (the peril) must be covered under the insuring agreement of the policy, and the dominant cause must not be excluded Mitigation - In case of any loss or casualty, the asset owner must attempt to keep the loss to a minimum, as if the asset was not insured. 2.4 Research on the effects of insurance on the society

Insurance can have various effects on society through the way that it changes who bears the cost of losses and damage. On one hand it can increase fraud,

17

on the other it can help societies and individuals prepare for catastrophes and mitigate the effects of catastrophes on both households and societies. Insurance can influence the probability of losses through moral hazard, insurance fraud, and preventive steps by the insurance company. Insurance scholars have typically used morale hazard to refer to the increased loss due to unintentional carelessness and moral hazard to refer to increased risk due to intentional carelessness or indifference. Insurers attempt to address carelessness through inspections, policy provisions requiring certain types of maintenance, and possible discounts for loss mitigation efforts. While in theory insurers could encourage investment in loss reduction, some commentators have argued that in practice insurers had historically not aggressively pursued loss control measures - particularly to prevent disaster losses such as hurricanes - because of concerns over rate reductions and legal battles. However, since about 1996 insurers began to take a more active role in loss mitigation, such as through building codes. (Kunreuther H. (1996). 2.5 Claims

Claims and loss handling is the materialized utility of insurance; it is the actual "product" paid for. Claims may be filed by insured directly with the insurer or through brokers or agents. The insurer may require that the claim be filed on

18

its own proprietary forms, or may accept claims on a standard industry form, such as those produced by ACORD. (Vaughan, E. J., 1997) Insurance company claims departments employ a large number of claims adjusters supported by a staff of records management and data entry clerks. Incoming claims are classified based on severity and are assigned to adjusters whose settlement authority varies with their knowledge and experience. The adjuster undertakes an investigation of each claim, usually in close cooperation with the insured, determines if coverage is available under the terms of the insurance contract, and if so, the reasonable monetary value of the claim, and authorizes payment. The policyholder may hire their own public adjuster to negotiate the settlement with the insurance company on their behalf. For policies that are complicated, where claims may be complex, the insured may take out a separate insurance policy add on, called loss recovery insurance, which covers the cost of a public adjuster in the case of a claim. Adjusting liability insurance claims is particularly difficult because there is a third party involved, the plaintiff, who is under no contractual obligation to cooperate with the insurer and may in fact regard the insurer as a deep pocket. The adjuster must obtain legal counsel for the insured (either inside "house"

19

counsel or outside "panel" counsel), monitor litigation that may take years to complete, and appear in person or over the telephone with settlement authority at a mandatory settlement conference when requested by the judge. If a claims adjuster suspects under-insurance, the condition of average may come into play to limit the insurance company's exposure. In managing the claims handling function, insurers seek to balance the elements of customer satisfaction, administrative handling expenses, and claims overpayment leakages. (Vaughan, E. J., 1997). As part of this balancing act, fraudulent insurance practices are a major business risk that must be managed and overcome. Disputes between insurers and insured over the validity of claims or claims handling practices occasionally escalate into litigation 2.6 Marketing

Insurers will often use insurance agents to initially market or underwrite their customers. Agents can be captive, meaning they write only for one company, or independent, meaning that they can issue policies from several companies. The existence and success of companies using insurance agents is likely due to improved and personalized service.

20

So far we have seen the reviews researchers have made on this subject matter. Yet there are many controversies I took note of during my research. These controversies are: Insurance insulates too much, Complexity of insurance policy contracts, Limited consumer benefits, redlining, the insurance industry and rent-seeking, insurance patents, religious concerns. I did not embark on this research work to settle these controversies neither will the online application do. These issues have to be settled within the insurance bodies. Then if changes were made to the existing polices, they will be updated in the application. In the next chapter, I will introduce my research methodology and then analysis the existing system.

21

CHAPTER THREE RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND SYSTEM ANALYSIS 3.0 INTRODUCTION In this chapter, we shall look at the methodology used in the development of the proposed system. System development methodology is a standard development process that defines set of activities, method good practice and automated tools that system developers use to develop a system and improve on information. In other words, system development methodology is a set of recommended practice that is accomplished with the training materials for formal educational program and diagrammatic tools. So efficiency of any system is very much dependent upon the quality of the

22

research work carried out in that field hence, every research work is aimed at getting the type of data that is kept in a defined department, the facts to find the methodology of finding them and the way of making them available for use though, there are many methodologies that can be used to carryout research work but will be using structural system analysis and design methodology (SSADM) in order to effectively develop and implement the system. SSADM analyses present system: defines its business requirements and what the new system will have. It focuses on the flow of data through business processes. 3.1 ANALYSIS OF THE PRESENT SYSTEM It is very important to analyse an existing system in details so that the inherent problem may not repeat in the new system. To achieve this we have to employ the techniques known as system analysis. System analysis is a problem solving techniques that breaks a system into its smaller parts or modules for purpose of knowing how well those parts work and interaction with each other in order to accomplish a task. It reveals the major problems area that requires elimination. Presently, the existing system adopts a manual approach of data management. Here there are sheets that are used for the registration of the insured. The
23

sheets also contain other information that is related to a particular customer. When the insured pays the premium the information is recorded in a payment booklet. In an event of accident or loss, the insurance management will have to search through all documents to check the insurance history of the insured that had the loss before they can render any help. The system does not allow people to register or adopt insurance from their locations. They must come to the office before any service can be started or rendered. Analysis of a present system is the study of its operation with an attempt to discover its basic problem areas. This helps to remove major problem areas that need to be eliminated in the design of the system during the analysis of the present system. 3.2 INPUT AND OUTPUT DOCUMENTS In this phase, problems in the existing system that triggered the research are identified. So the aim of the phase is to find out if the research is worth embarking upon, to further back up the reason why this research should be embark upon. We defined the scope in terms of the data processes, interaction with users and interaction with other system as follows: A. PERFORMANCE

24

We cannot talk about performance of a system without mentioning it is throughput and response time. Throughput is the amount of work done within a given time. In this case we measure the performance of the existing system by checking the net income over a given time. This is because in the insurance business model is to collect more in premium and investment income than is paid out in losses. Then, the response time is the time between a request and responses to the request. However the present system does not incorporate technology, so it is hard for the insurance company to get more customers online. B. INFORMATION The information given by the current system includes the information concerning the insurer and the insured. The bio-data of the insured is also taken. C. ECONOMICS The present system cannot be said to be economical since the system take time, space resources to operate. D. EFFICIENCY Since the does not always produce a desired result. It is not efficient.

25

3.3

ANALYSIS OF THE PROPOSED SYSTEM The primary objective of this phase is to produce system improvement

objectives that will address problems of the current system. The improvement objectives are: Not only save time and money, but also enable the buyers to compare the terms and premium amount of different insurance service providers. Ensure speed, accuracy and effective cost control. People can access the twin benefits of quick accessibility and minimum paper work. Centralize the core information of policy holders and reduces manual workload, thus minimizes the chances of error Ensure complete control over the database thus controls all sorts of fraudulent activities Ensure better data management and processing in comparison to conventional and manual processing. 3.4 DESCRIPTION OF THE NEW SYSTEM The purpose of this phase is to state what the new system should do. For instance, in this research work the new system should be able to reduce the responses that normally take long time in the present system. The new system should be able to produce consistent information, process several insurance
26

data at a time, without hanging and collect relevant data from the insured for proper processing. The above requirement can be looked into two ways: functional requirement and non-functional requirement. Functional: this has to do with a feature that processes the sensitive data of the insured and feature that allows for remote registration to the insurance company. Non-functional: this is a feature of constant that defines a satisfactory system such are: a. Validation of the input data. b. Alert on invalid data. c. Back up. 3.4.1 DECISION ANALYSIS PHASE This phase of the SSADM is connected with the production of an approved proposed. To prove that we come up with a proposal statement that is worth approving, we shall consider the following feasibility. TECHNICAL FEASIBILITY

27

Do I have this technical ability to design and build the system? my answer is yes as my knowledge in system analysis, active server page, and html shall be put to work.

OPERATIONAL FEASIBILITY From the fore going analysis the new system will be certainly fulfil user requirements. ECONOMIC FEASIBILITY The cost of this work cannot be compared to the features. Therefore cost cannot be an obstacle for the completion of this work. SCHEDULE FEASIBILITY I are quite sure that this work will not take time more than required. 3.4.2 DESIGN PHASE The main purpose of this phase is to transform requirement statement into design mode. Details of this phase will be given attention in chapter four. 3.4.3 CONSTRUCTION PHASE
28

With this model, this new system will be developed using ASP, HTML and Access database. The ASP.NET/V.B.NET and HTML is for the application and user interface while Microsoft access database is for the management of the database.

3.4.4 ADVANTAGES OF THE NEW SYSTEM After the analysis of the present system one can draw a conclusion that there is a very large advantage for the new system. The major advantage of all the advantages is: Removal of uncertainties: Insurance Company takes the risks of large but uncertain losses in exchange for small premium. So it gives a sense of security, which is real gift to the business man. If all uncertainty could be removed from business, income would be sure. The proposed system removed many uncertainties and to that extent the business is profitable. 3.5 DATA FLOW DIAGRAM SYMBOLS AND MEANING

SYMBOLS

MEANING

FUNCTIONS

29

They are entities outside the Double Square External entities system but they either supply input data into the system or the use system output.

Showing what the system is doing.

Process

Data flow

It models the passage of data in the system and is presented by the lines joining system component. It is a repository of data or file.

Data store

DATA FLOW DIAGRAM

Insured

Registration data and payment details

Database Server 30 Insurance policy from the insured

services

3.6 HIGH LEVEL MODEL OF PROPOSED SYSTEM


Insurance web application homepage

login

Registration / get a quote

policy

Your Quotes

Status

Life

Motor

Home

31

CHAPTER FOUR SYSTEM DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION 4.0 INTRODUCTION

System design is the task of structuring each element within the new system in order to create an integrated data processing system that meet up with the users requirement and at the same time conform to the specification and boundaries established during the analysis phase. It involves specifying the expected output and identifying the input required to achieve the goals intended. During the design phase structured system analysis and design methodology SSADM was used to provide a simplified top down analysis. 4.1 OBJECTIVE OF THE NEW SYSTEM The aim of the design phase is to develop an online insurance service application which will help the company to manage insurance data get more customers and maximise profit.

32

4.2 MAIN MENU

Home Page: this is the first page displayed in the browser after the user

enters the address of the website and like all other home pages, it contains hyperlinks when link users to other pages of the website. Login page: this is a page where the user logs in. this user is a person that has registered for insurance in the company as the insured. Registration: this is where a new customer gets a quote. This means insurance. There is no registration without insurance. This means that your registration is not needed if you are not interested in any insurance service. To register means to buy one or more insurance service.

33

Policies: this page consists of the latest news about the insurance company and their policies. This also contains the terms of service and information in case another insurance type is added to the list.

4.3 DATABASE SPECIFICATION The new system will use Microsoft access to store information of the insured in the following tables.

FIELD NAME

DATA TYPE

FIELD WITHD

34

Pin Fname Mname Sname Sex Marital status Date of birth Mobile number 1 Email address Type of insurance Mode of payment

Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text

Default Default Default Default Default Default Default Default Default Default Default

Image Address LGA State

Text Text Text Text

Default Default Default Default

PAYMENT TABLE FUNCTION OF THE TABLE: store all the payment details

35

FIELD NAME Pin First name Surname Middle name Payment method

DATA TYPE Text Text Text Text Text

FIELD WIDTH Default Default Default Default Default

4.4 INPUT/OUTPUT FORMAT Input are the data to be sent to the program or system while output are the information to be displayed on the screen or as print out.

4.5 THE SYSTEM FLOWCHART


Start

Yes
Login?

No

Login

36

Choose insurance ?

No

Yes
Register and get a quote

Review personal details

Stop

FLOW CHART SYMBOLS, MEANING, AND FUNCTIONS SYMBOLS MEANING FUNCTION

Terminals

Used to show the beginning and the end of a program

Input/output

Input data or output data in a system.

Decision

Used to make decision in a system.

37

Process

It is used to show what the system is doing.

Display box

It is used to display the output of a data

Disk device)

(storage Used for storage of data

4.6 PROGRAM DOCUMENETATION AND IMPLEMENTATION DOCUMENTATION Documentation of the operation procedures, it could be issued in two different perspectives, as a process which denotes or involves the laying down of all information that describes the nature, specification and operation of a system. Documentation may consist of the several components documents like requirements document and design document. OPERATION PROCEDURE Once the files are transferred to an online server that is connected to the internet, it is readily for access by visitors that are online. Although the
38

information on the website can be accessed by any one, there are some pages a user cannot view unless the user is registered. Again there is no registration without buying any of the insurance. So this application is design to show new visitors what the company can offer. If the visitor is impressed by what he or she saw in the website, then he buys insurance by a way of registration. There is nothing like ordinary registration. Registration means buying insurance. When the user has gotten insurance, he can now login with a pin he provided on registration. When he logs in he can view his insurance history. The premium history can also been seen. The user can report any abuse and do other thing available on the site. WEBSITE IMPLEMENTATION Several conditions need to be made before a new system is implemented. This is because the implementation process associated with a lot of events, which the user may not be familiar with. However, the following ideas should be critically evaluated prior implementation. a. Will there be a manual principle and procedures all to be combined with computerized processes. b. The need for expansion, extended, computer utilization in related assignments.

39

c. Use of operator input with processing system as a direct link between the central processing unit and the peripherals such that data reflecting current activities are captured and subjecting to processing the system makes use of host computer which is linked to other small computers work stations in other location. A local area network (LAN) is employed, thus forming a soft if internet, which via host server may be linked to the internet. The cost effectiveness of any system chosen and its applicability in an organization should be critically considered. 4.7 IMPLEMENTATION LAYOUT

This involves all the activities that need to be completed so as to install a program on the hardware and the network necessary for it to work well. The implementation activities involve the following: 1. File conversion 2. Cutover/change over procedure 3. Acquisition of necessary hardware, network server and client software and installation. 4. Establishment of a network and connectivity. 5. Publishing of the site to the web.
40

6. Evaluation and maintenance. File Conversion This processes involves the conversion of files, etc. used by the existing system into electronic files, which are stored in disk etc. these electronic files can be accessed as desired. Cutover/Change Over Procedure Computerization is usually associated with structured and operational changes. To ensure the workability of the system after implementation, an appropriate made of change over the system ought to be adopted. The following modes of change are available for consideration. a. Direct change over. b. Parallel change over. Direct change over: this involves the introduction of the new system without any regards to an existing one. The new system completely replaces the existing system and takes over its functions. The mode is however suitable where there is no relationship between the old and the new system and when the organization is unable to meet the expenses of running both system.

41

Parallel change over: this is the running of the existing and the proposed system together to actually check that both of them output the things when the same test data are ran on both of them. In this case I choose to adopt the parallel change over procedure. Acquisition of Hardware, Network and Clients Software and Installation: This process of computerization and establishment of this new system is meaningless without the acquisition and installation of the following items: Windows server 2003 or later Computer system with the following features: Hard disk: 500 100 gb or higher, Processor of 3.00Mhz, a web server for the deployment of the new system. Those requirements are different from the hardware and software requirement of the user computer. This is the requirement of the host server to get the system running on the web. The implementation team should conduct a market research to determine the required ones at an affordable price. Publishing the Site to The Web After a website has been designed, it makes no meaning until it is published to the web so that it can be accessed remotely.
42

Evaluation and Maintenance Evaluation refers to a critical assignment of the system during and after implementation so as to discover the workability and viability as regards the aid/down aims and objectives of the system. The most be done by experts such as IT professional and network management professionals. The evaluation processes should give solutions to the following questions. Does the system meet the set objectives in terms of cost, their technical performance and operations? Are the outputs correct? Having answered their questions, the idea of maintenance and management comes into mind.

4.8 MAINTENANCE AND MANAGEMENT Almost all the components of the network system needed to be maintained and managed as operations continues performance of the system as expected. The issue of maintenance diversified to hardware components and software used in the system.
43

4.9

HARDWARE MAINTENANCE

These include all the activities carried out on the pieces of hardware (computer and network hardware) in order to correct or even prevent future failure of the system. 4.10 DATA VALIDATION

Before data are accepted by the system, there is a validation to verify whether there is data type mismatch. For instance if an imput field requires an email the user must put an email there and nothing else. 4.11 LANGUAGE JUSTIFICATION ASP.NET for Active Server Pages, ASP is a program that runs inside IIS (instruction information server). It is a Microsoft technology. ASP file is just the same as an HTML file; HTML, XML, and Scripts in an ASP file can be executed in the server and ASP files have the file extension asp also ASP can also be referred to as VB.NET. The choice of using this programming language is because it supports interoperability more than any other language and its user friendly. 4.12 HARDWARE AND OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

44

Both applications (desktop and web) and the database system do not necessarily require large hardware requirements. But for optimum performance, the server ought to be a high performance system with a lot of hard disk space and memory. Typically, figures should be Pentium 4 class microprocessor running at a minimum of 2.0GHZ (or its equivalent), and a hard disk space of about 100GB with 1GB (or more) of RAM for server. The operating system on which the internet information server (IIS) will run is windows vista or windows 7 (all from Microsoft). The client PCs do not need as high a hardware requirement as the server does due to minimum processing that goes on in them. In addition, the internet browser running on the client machines should be the Microsoft internet explorer from version 8 upwards or any other new version browser.

4.13 SOFTWARE TESTING To install the software on the server machine the folder containing the source code of the software and other dependency files should be copied from the

45

production system to the server. Then the web module for the site should be created in the server.

CHAPTER FIVE SUMMARY, RECOMMENDATION AND CONCLUSION 5.0 SUMMARY


46

The development of a web based application for insurance services is the objective of this project. The system is designed to help the insurance

company to reduce the time wasted on manual processing of insurance documents. The system is economical because once it is completed there is no additional expenses to be incurred on the system again. The system organizes the insurance data in an appealing manner and retrieves data when needed as fast as possible. This also helps the company to get customers who is not in the same geographical location as the company through online insurance. The system is designed to run on a web server while the visitor will access the site on a webpage through a standard browser. The company has an admin part of the program that allows them to update the information on the application. They can also view edit and even delete an insured in an event of abuse or misconduct. The research has been well made and the system developed to a successful completion. 5.1 RECOMMENDATION

With respect to how the system operates, I make the following recommendations: Companies can adopt the system for proper data management
47

Companies that have their location in remote places can adopt the system so as to get customers that are far away. I recommend a fast and secured web server for the hosting of this system to ensure smooth running and enhanced data security. For the users I also recommend a modern browser for access the site so that the components of the system will load. 5.2 CONCLUSION

This project web based application for insurance services was successfully implemented using standard development software and international defined transmission protocol. The application is therefore capable of being implemented on a wide verity of hardware environments. The web application which provides the user online access to insurance services was implemented using basic web page design tool; HTML, ASP.net. This web based application for insurance services is targeted to give quality services to the users who may wish to insure anything. All terms and conditions are within the website. The user may not need to come to the physical location of the insurance company to obtain needed details before proceeding with insurance. The system was tested and the correct output was obtained. Finally the objectives of developing the system was achieved.

48

REFERENCES Berger, Allen N.; Cummins, J. David; Weiss, Mary A. (October 1997). "The Coexistence of Multiple Distribution Systems for Financial Services: The

49

Case of Property-Liability Insurance.". Journal of Business 70 (4): 51546. doi:10.1086/209730. (online draft) Brown RL. (1993). Introduction to Ratemaking and Loss Reserving for Property and Casualty Insurance. ACTEX Publications. Dembe AE, Boden LI. (2000). Moral hazard: A question of morality?. New Solutions. Feldstein, Sylvan G.; Fabozzi, Frank J. (2008). The Handbook of Municipal Bonds. Wiley. p. 614. ISBN 978-0-470-10875-8.

http://books.google.com/?id=Juc4fb1Fx1cC&lpg=PA614&pg=PA614#v=one page&f=false. Retrieved February 8, 2010. Fitzpatrick, Sean, Fear is the Key: A Behavioral Guide to Underwriting Cycles, 10 Conn. Ins. L.J. 255 (2004). Franklin, J., 2001, The Science of Conjecture: Evidence and Probability Before Pascal, Baltimore:Johns Hopkins University Press, 259. Gollier C. (2003). To Insure or Not to Insure?: An Insurance Puzzle. The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance Theory;). http://www.abi.org.uk/About_The_ABI/role.aspx http://www.iran-law.com/article.php3?id_article=61
50

Kunreuther H. (1996). Mitigating Disaster Losses Through Insurance. Journal of Risk and Uncertainty. Vaughan, E. J., 1997, Risk Management, New York: Wiley.

51

You might also like