“Method Of Preparing And Submitting An Insurance Claim” in Patent Application Approval Process (USPTO 20210035227)

2021 FEB 23 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- A patent application by the inventor Pfister, Mark J. (Covington, LA), filed on July 31, 2020, was made available online on February 4, 2021, according to news reporting originating from Washington, D.C., by NewsRx correspondents.

This patent application has not been assigned to a company or institution.

The following quote was obtained by the news editors from the background information supplied by the inventors: “Consumer applications and websites are often confusing to individuals who are not technologically savvy. Owning multiple devices is not always feasible. Understanding how to use every platform is also not always within a consumer’s abilities. Most consumers have at least one electronic device, such as a desktop, laptop, smart phone, tablet, etc. With various operating systems on each device, a single application for only one type of device or one platform is inconvenient and unusable for many individuals.

“Most individuals who own or lease property are required to have insurance. When the insured needs to have damage assessed, waiting for a claims adjuster to physically come to the insured’s property and determine damages is time-consuming and draws out the process of making the insured whole again. The ability to digitize the process so that information is processed as efficiently as possible is desirable. However, sometimes, various electronic devices and services (cell towers, power lines, land lines, etc.) are also damaged, leaving the insured with options that may not be simplest to provide data.

“Likewise, ensuring that the insured is able to provide all the necessary data to a claims adjuster in a format that can be compatible with various claims adjuster software and insurance software is also desirable.”

In addition to the background information obtained for this patent application, NewsRx journalists also obtained the inventor’s summary information for this patent application: “Embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to providing various methods of submitting data to a system for simplified, verifiable compilation of photographs and related data of lost items to be claimed through an insurance company without putting undue burden on the claimant during a stressful time in claimant’s life.

“One aspect is directed to a method of capturing a contents list for an insurance company. The method comprises: receiving a link from an independent insurance adjuster to a claims application and/or website; uploading at least one photograph for at least one claimed item in an account for the claims application and/or website; providing descriptive data corresponding to the at least one photograph; and submitting the descriptive data and the at least one photograph to the independent insurance adjuster.

“In another aspect, the descriptive data comprises for at least one of the claimed items an item name, a brand, a model number, a serial number, a replacement cost, and an age.

“In another aspect, at least one entry of the descriptive data is unknown and a placeholder is stored.

“In another aspect, the at least one photograph and at least one entry of the descriptive data are sent at a same time from a single device.

“In another aspect, the at least one photograph and at least one entry of the descriptive data are sent at different times from multiple devices.

“In another aspect, the method comprises uploading one or more additional photographs that correspond with the claimed item.

“In another aspect, the method comprises creating a room list that comprises multiple ones of the claimed items and corresponding descriptive data for each of the multiple claimed items.

“In another aspect, one of the photographs corresponds with the claimed items and one or more additional claimed items.

“One aspect is directed to a server for capturing a contents list for an insurance company. The server comprises processing circuitry, and memory containing instructions executable by the processing circuitry. The server is operative to: receive data to generate an account for the claims application and/or website; receive a room list that comprises a plurality of claimed items in the room, at least one photograph of each of the claimed items, and a description of each of the claimed items; validate the descriptive data and the at least one photograph for the claimed item; and transmit the validated descriptive data and the validated at least one photograph to the independent insurance adjuster.

“In another aspect, the server is operative to transmit the validated descriptive data and the validated at least one photograph to the independent insurance adjuster prior to receiving a claim corresponding to one of the claimed items.

“In another aspect, the server is further operative to send a link from an independent adjuster to a claims application and/or website.

“One aspect is directed to a server for providing claims data to an insurance company. The server comprises processing circuitry, and memory containing instructions executable by the processing circuitry. The server is operative to: receive a claims request for a claim from an insured claimant; transmit the claims request to an independent adjuster; receive acknowledgement that claimed contents in the claims request are covered by an insurance policy; receive an account generation request from the independent adjuster for the insured claimant; receive a contents list from the insured claimant, the contents list comprising at least one photograph and descriptive data with each of the at least one photograph corresponding to at least a portion of the descriptive data; transmit the contents list to the independent adjuster; import the contents list data to the estimation software application; receive a formatted claim from the estimation software application; and transmit the formatted claim for processing by the insurance company.

“In another aspect, the server is further operative to transmit a link to an insured claimant to generate a claimant account after receiving the account generation request.

“In another aspect, the server is further operative to store the contents list for the insured claimant in the memory.

“In another aspect, the server is further operative to receive a request to import data from the contents list to an estimation software application.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A method of capturing a contents list for an insurance company, the method comprising: receiving a link from an independent insurance adjuster to a claims application and/or website; uploading at least one photograph for at least one claimed item in an account for the claims application and/or website; providing descriptive data corresponding to the at least one photograph; and submitting the descriptive data and the at least one photograph to the independent insurance adjuster.

“2. The method of claim 1, wherein the descriptive data comprises for at least one of the claimed items: an item name; a brand; a model number; a serial number; a replacement cost; and an age.

“3. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one entry of the descriptive data is unknown and a placeholder is stored.

“4. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one photograph and at least one entry of the descriptive data are sent at a same time from a single device.

“5. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one photograph and at least one entry of the descriptive data are sent at different times from multiple devices.

“6. The method of claim 1, further comprising uploading one or more additional photographs that correspond with the claimed item.

“7. The method of claim 1, further comprising creating a room list that comprises multiple ones of the claimed items and corresponding descriptive data for each of the multiple claimed items.

“8. The method of claim 6, wherein one of the photographs corresponds with the claimed items and one or more additional claimed items.

“9. A server for capturing a contents list for an insurance company, the server comprising: processing circuitry; memory containing instructions executable by the processing circuitry where the server is operative to: receive data to generate an account for the claims application and/or website; receive a room list that comprises a plurality of claimed items in the room, at least one photograph of each of the claimed items, and a description of each of the claimed items; validate the descriptive data and the at least one photograph for the claimed item; and transmit the validated descriptive data and the validated at least one photograph to the independent insurance adjuster.

“10. The server of claim 9, wherein the server is operative to transmit the validated descriptive data and the validated at least one photograph to the independent insurance adjuster prior to receiving a claim corresponding to one of the claimed items.

“11. The server of claim 9, wherein the server is further operative to send a link from an independent adjuster to a claims application and/or website.

“12. A server for providing claims data to an insurance company, the server comprising: processing circuitry; memory containing instructions executable by the processing circuitry where the server is operative to: receive a claims request for a claim from an insured claimant; transmit the claims request to an independent adjuster; receive acknowledgement that claimed contents in the claims request are covered by an insurance policy; receive an account generation request from the independent adjuster for the insured claimant; receive a contents list from the insured claimant, the contents list comprising at least one photograph and descriptive data, each of the at least one photograph corresponding to at least a portion of the descriptive data; transmit the contents list to the independent adjuster; import the contents list data to the estimation software application; receive a formatted claim from the estimation software application; and transmit the formatted claim for processing by the insurance company.

“13. The server of claim 12, wherein the server is further operative to transmit a link to an insured claimant to generate a claimant account after receiving the account generation request.

“14. The server of claim 12, wherein the server is further operative to store the contents list for the insured claimant in the memory.

“15. The server of claim 12, wherein the server is further operative to receive a request to import data from the contents list to an estimation software application.”

URL and more information on this patent application, see: Pfister, Mark J. Method Of Preparing And Submitting An Insurance Claim. Filed July 31, 2020 and posted February 4, 2021. Patent URL: http://appft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PG01&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=%2220210035227%22.PGNR.&OS=DN/20210035227&RS=DN/20210035227

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