Patent Application Titled “Predictive Claims Platform For Managing Repairs” Published Online (USPTO 20220164895): Allstate Insurance Company

2022 JUN 09 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- According to news reporting originating from Washington, D.C., by NewsRx journalists, a patent application by the inventors Beckwith, Richard K. (Round Lake Beach, IL, US); Dewall, Joel T. (Libertyville, IL, US); Marlow, Clint J. (Barrington Hills, IL, US); Riggio, John A. (Mundelein, IL, US); Sulkala, Charles E. (Grayslake, IL, US); Trinco, Robert L. (Schaumburg, IL, US), filed on February 11, 2022, was made available online on May 26, 2022.

The assignee for this patent application is Allstate Insurance Company (Northbrook, Illinois, United States).

Reporters obtained the following quote from the background information supplied by the inventors: “Insurance companies or providers may utilize various resources and information for providing services to customers. For example, insurance providers may rely on resources, such as claims adjusters to inspect and verify damage to a vehicle and to assist insured customers or users in processing their insurance claims after an accident. In insurance claim processing, a customer may file an insurance claim, and the insurance claim may go through a process that leads to a settlement (e.g., obtaining an estimate, taking the estimate to a service center or repair facility, determining a final cost, and the like).

“Nevertheless, insurance claim processing and estimation processes may often be time-consuming, expensive, inaccurate, and complex. For example, estimation of repair value may typically be performed by an individual who is highly trained in vehicle repair estimation, however, these individuals may be relatively expensive to obtain due to the high work load and time involved in estimation. Furthermore, an estimate provided by an adjuster may often be modified to reflect actual repair costs after the repair is completed. This process may be inefficient for both the insurance provider and the repair facility and may result in lengthy negotiations and friction in the relationship between the insurance provider, the customer, and the repair facility.

“As such, new systems, methods, and devices may be desired to assist in enhancing various processes for insurance providers and repair facilities and providing data and resources in an improved and efficient manner.”

In addition to obtaining background information on this patent application, NewsRx editors also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent application: “In light of the foregoing background, the following presents a simplified summary of the present disclosure in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the invention. This summary is not an extensive overview of the invention. It is not intended to identify key or critical elements of the invention or to delineate the scope of the invention. The following summary merely presents some concepts of the invention in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description provided below.

“Aspects of the disclosure address one or more of the issues mentioned above by disclosing computerized methods, systems, devices, and apparatuses for a predictive and/or interactive tool for streamlining claims processing for insurance providers and repair facilities. For example, insurance providers and repair facilities may benefit from the predictive claims computing platform disclosed herein for determining standard amounts for repairing vehicles without having to provide an estimate prior to repair. The systems and arrangements disclosed herein may allow insurance providers to improve customer service, improve cycle time, and manage costs, while fostering beneficial relationships with repair facilities and customers.

“The disclosure describes a system comprising a plurality of vehicles, a computing device associated with a repair facility; a network, and a server, comprising hardware including one or more processor and memory. The server may be configured to determine, by one or more computing devices, a type of insurance coverage needed for repairing each vehicle in a plurality of vehicles based on damage to each vehicle, identify, by the one or more computing devices, a location of a repair facility for repairing the damage to each vehicle, assign, by the one or more computing devices, a standard amount to reimburse the repair facility for repairing each vehicle based on the type of insurance coverage needed and the location of the repair facility, transmit, by the one or more computing devices, the standard amount to a computing device associated with the repair facility, receive, from the computing device associated with the repair facility, a cost for actual repair of each vehicle in the plurality of vehicles after the actual repair for each vehicle has been completed, and adjust, by the one or more computing devices, the standard amount to reimburse the repair facility for future repairs based on identifying a difference between the standard amount and the cost for actual repair of each vehicle.

“The disclosure also describes an apparatus comprising at least one processor, a network interface configured to communicate, via a network, with one or more computing devices, and a memory storing computer-readable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to determine, by one or more computing devices, a type of insurance coverage needed for repairing each vehicle in a plurality of vehicles based on damage to each vehicle, identify, by the one or more computing devices, a location of a repair facility for repairing the damage to each vehicle, assign, by the one or more computing devices, a standard amount to reimburse the repair facility for repairing each vehicle based on the type of insurance coverage needed and the location of the repair facility, transmit, by the one or more computing devices, the standard amount to a computing device associated with the repair facility, receive, from the computing device associated with the repair facility, a cost for actual repair of each vehicle in the plurality of vehicles after the actual repair for each vehicle has been completed, and adjust, by the one or more computing devices, the standard amount to reimburse the repair facility for future repairs based on identifying a difference between the standard amount and the cost for actual repair of each vehicle.

“In addition, aspects of this disclosure provide a method that includes determining, by one or more computing devices, a type of insurance coverage needed for repairing each vehicle in a plurality of vehicles based on damage to each vehicle, identifying, by the one or more computing devices, a location of a repair facility for repairing the damage to each vehicle, assigning, by the one or more computing devices, a standard amount to reimburse the repair facility for repairing each vehicle based on the type of insurance coverage needed and the location of the repair facility, transmitting, by the one or more computing devices, the standard amount to a computing device associated with the repair facility, receiving, from the computing device associated with the repair facility, a cost for actual repair of each vehicle in the plurality of vehicles after the actual repair for each vehicle has been completed, and adjusting, by the one or more computing devices, the standard amount to reimburse the repair facility for future repairs based on identifying a difference between the standard amount and the cost for actual repair of each vehicle.

“Of course, the methods and systems of the above-referenced embodiments may also include other additional elements, steps, computer-executable instructions or computer-readable data structures. In this regard, other embodiments are disclosed and claimed herein as well. The details of these and other embodiments of the present invention are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the description, drawings, and claims.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A system comprising: a first computing device disposed within or proximate to a vehicle; a second computing device associated with a repair facility; a telematics device disposed within the vehicle and communicatively coupled to an on-board diagnostic system of the vehicle; a sensor communicatively coupled to the telematics device and the on-board diagnostic system; a network; and a server, comprising hardware including one or more processors and memory, the server communicatively coupled to the first computing device, the second computing device and the telematics device via the sensor, the server configured to: capture, via the telematics device using the sensor, sensor data regarding at least one of operating state of the vehicle and driving behavior; determine global positioning identifier (GPS) coordinates associated with a geographical location of the vehicle; based on the determined GPS coordinates, geotag the sensor data regarding the operating state of the vehicle; based on a determined geotag, identify a location of a repair facility for repairing the vehicle; cause the first computing device to capture an image of the vehicle; based on the captured image of the vehicle and the sensor data, determine damage information associated with the at least one of the operating state of the vehicle and driving behavior; calculate a standard amount to reimburse the repair facility for repairing the vehicle based on the damage information, on the location of the repair facility, and on data indicating costs of previous repairs to other vehicles; transmit the standard amount to the second computing device associated with the repair facility; receive, from the second computing device associated with the repair facility, a cost for actual repair of the vehicle after the actual repair for the vehicle has been completed; and adjust the standard amount to reimburse the repair facility for future repairs based on identifying a difference between the standard amount and the cost for actual repair of the vehicle.

“2. The system of claim 1, wherein the vehicle is one of a plurality of vehicles, the system further comprising a plurality of user devices respectively associated with each vehicle in the plurality of vehicles, wherein the server is further configured to: transmit, to each user device in the plurality of user devices, a request for information regarding a respective user regarding each vehicle; receive, from each user device, the sensor data; and determine a type of insurance coverage for repairing each vehicle based on the sensor data.

“3. The system of claim 1, wherein the telematics device further comprises a GPS receiver and wherein the GPS coordinates are determined by the telematics device.

“4. The system of claim 1, wherein the actual repair for the vehicle occurs over a predetermined period of time.

“5. The system of claim 1, wherein the server is further configured to: identify that the cost for actual repair of the vehicle is higher than the standard amount reimbursed to the repair facility for repairing the vehicle; and adjust the standard amount by a percentage to reimburse the repair facility less for future repairs.

“6. The system of claim 1, wherein the server is further configured to: transmit, to the second computing device associated with the repair facility, a request for performing a quality review to evaluate quality of repairs conducted by the repair facility; and receive, from the second computing device associated with the repair facility, a confirmation for performing the quality review.

“7. The system of claim 6, wherein performing the quality review further comprises: determining, by the server, that a plurality of vehicles comprising the vehicle pass inspection standards; and identifying, by the server, customer satisfaction of quality of repairs based on one or more surveys, number of insurance policy renewals from customers, and number of returns to the repair facility for additional repairs.

“8. A method performed by a computing system comprising a first computing device disposed within or proximate to a vehicle, a second computing device associated with a repair facility, a telematics device disposed within the vehicle and communicatively coupled to an on-board diagnostic system of the vehicle, a sensor communicatively coupled to the telematics device and the on-board diagnostic system, a network, and a server comprising hardware including one or more processors and memory, the server communicatively coupled to the first computing device, the second computing device and the telematics device via the sensor, the method comprising: capturing, by the server via the telematics device using the sensor, sensor data regarding at least one of operating state of the vehicle and driving behavior; determining, by the server, global positioning identifier (GPS) coordinates associated with a geographical location of the vehicle; based on the determined GPS coordinates, geotagging, by the server, the sensor data regarding the operating state of the vehicle; based on a determined geotag, identifying, by the server, a location of a repair facility for repairing the vehicle; causing, by the server, the first computing device to capture an image of the vehicle; based on the captured image of the vehicle and the sensor data, determining, by the server, damage information associated with the at least one of the operating state of the vehicle and driving behavior; calculating, by the server, a standard amount to reimburse the repair facility for repairing the vehicle based on the damage information, on the location of the repair facility, and on data indicating costs of previous repairs to other vehicles; transmitting, by the server, the standard amount to the second computing device associated with the repair facility; receiving, by the server from the second computing device associated with the repair facility, a cost for actual repair of the vehicle after the actual repair for the vehicle has been completed; and adjusting, by the server, the standard amount to reimburse the repair facility for future repairs based on identifying a difference between the standard amount and the cost for actual repair of the vehicle.

“9. The method of claim 8, wherein the vehicle is one of a plurality of vehicles, the computing system further comprising a plurality of user devices respectively associated with each vehicle in the plurality of vehicles, the method further comprising: transmitting, by the server to each user device in the plurality of user devices, a request for information regarding a respective user regarding each vehicle; receiving, by the server from each user device, the sensor data; and determining, by the server, a type of insurance coverage for repairing each vehicle based on the sensor data.

“10. The method of claim 8, wherein the telematics device further comprises a GPS receiver and wherein the GPS coordinates are determined by the telematics device.

“11. The method of claim 8, wherein the actual repair for the vehicle occurs over a predetermined period of time.

“12. The method of claim 8, the method further comprising: identifying, by the server, that the cost for actual repair of the vehicle is higher than the standard amount reimbursed to the repair facility for repairing the vehicle; and adjusting, by the server, the standard amount by a percentage to reimburse the repair facility less for future repairs.

“13. The method of claim 8, the method further comprising: transmitting, by the server to the second computing device associated with the repair facility, a request for performing a quality review to evaluate quality of repairs conducted by the repair facility; and receiving, by the server from the second computing device associated with the repair facility, a confirmation for performing the quality review.

“14. The method of claim 13, wherein performing the quality review further comprises: determining, by the server, that a plurality of vehicles comprising the vehicle pass inspection standards; and identifying, by the server, customer satisfaction of quality of repairs based on one or more surveys, number of insurance policy renewals from customers, and number of returns to the repair facility for additional repairs.”

There are additional claims. Please visit full patent to read further.

For more information, see this patent application: Beckwith, Richard K.; Dewall, Joel T.; Marlow, Clint J.; Riggio, John A.; Sulkala, Charles E.; Trinco, Robert L. Predictive Claims Platform For Managing Repairs. Filed February 11, 2022 and posted May 26, 2022. Patent URL: https://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=%2220220164895%22.PGNR.&OS=DN/20220164895&RS=DN/20220164895

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