project on web based application for insurance services
TRANSCRIPT
TABLE OF CONTENT
TITLE PAGE i
CERTIFICATION PAGE Ii
APPROVAL PAGE iii
DEDICATION iv
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT v
TABLE OF CONTENT vi
ABSTRACT 1
CHAPTER ONE 1
1.0 INTRODUCTION 1
1.1 BACKGROUND OF STUDY 2
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PRONBLEM 4
1.3 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY 5
1.4 SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY 5
1.5 SCOPE OF STUDY 7
1.6 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY 7
1.7 DIFFINITION OF TERMS 8
1.8 ORGANIZATION OF WORK 10
CHAPTER TWO 12
LITERATURE REVIEW 12
2.1 Principles of insurance 12
2.2 Insurability 13
2.3 Legal 16
2.4 Research on the effects of insurance on the society 17
2.5 Claims 18
2.6 Marketing 20
CHAPTER THREE 22
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND SYSTEM ANALYSIS 22
3.0 INTRODUCTION 22
3.1 ANALYSIS OF THE PRESENT SYSTEM 23
3.2 INPUT AND OUTPUT DOCUMENTS 24
3.3 ANALYSIS OF THE PROPOSED SYSTEM 25
3.4 DESCRIPTION OF THE NEW SYSTEM 26
3.4.1 DECISION ANALYSIS PHASE 27
3.4.2 DESIGN PHASE 28
3.4.3 CONSTRUCTION PHASE 28
3.4.4 ADVANTAGES OF THE NEW SYSTEM 28
DATA FLOW DIAGRAM 30
3.6 HIGH LEVEL MODEL OF PROPOSED SYSTEM 30
CHAPTER FOUR 32
SYSTEM DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION 32
4.0 INTRODUCTION 32
4.1 OBJECTIVE OF THE NEW SYSTEM 32
4.2 MAIN MENU 33
4.3 DATABASE SPECIFICATION 34
4.4 INPUT/OUTPUT FORMAT 35
4.5 THE SYSTEM FLOWCHART 36
4.6 PROGRAM DOCUMENETATION AND IMPLEMENTATION 37
4.7 IMPLEMENTATION LAYOUT 39
4.8 MAINTENANCE AND MANAGEMENT 43
4.9 HARDWARE MAINTENANCE 43
4.10 DATA VALIDATION 43
4.11 LANGUAGE JUSTIFICATION 43
4.12 HARDWARE AND OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS 44
4.13 SOFTWARE TESTING 45
CHAPTER FIVE 46
SUMMARY, RECOMMENDATION AND CONCLUSION 46
5.0 SUMMARY 46
5.1 RECOMMENDATION 47
5.2 CONCLUSION 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.
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 Workmen’s 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
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, isn’t 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. 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 doesn’t 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. Limited time for thorough research.
1.7 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:
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.
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.
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
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.
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
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
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
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,
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
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"
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.
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.
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
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
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
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.
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
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
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
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
External
entities
They are entities outside the
system but they either supply
input data into the system or the
use system output.
Process
Showing what the system is doing.
Data flow
Data store
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 FLOW DIAGRAM
Double Square
Insurance policy from the insured
services
Insured
Database
Server
Registration data and payment details
3.6 HIGH LEVEL MODEL OF PROPOSED SYSTEM
Insurance web application homepage
login Registration / get a quote
policy
Your Quotes Status
Life Motor Home
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.
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.
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
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
FIELD NAME DATA TYPE FIELD WIDTH
Pin
First name
Surname
Middle name
Payment method
Text
Text
Text
Text
Text
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
Yes No
Start
Login?
Login Choose insurance?
No
Yes
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.
Process It is used to show what the system is doing.
Review personal details
Stop
Register and get a quote
Display box It is used to display the output of a data
Disk (storage device)
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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
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
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
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.
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