Patent Application Titled “Roof Risk Data Analytics System To Accurately Estimate Roof Risk Information” Published Online (USPTO 20210192631)

2021 JUL 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 Coonrod, Lane Garrison (Charlotte, NC, US); Holden, Sean David (Northampton, MA, US), filed on December 18, 2019, was made available online on June 24, 2021.

No assignee for this patent application has been made.

Reporters obtained the following quote from the background information supplied by the inventors: “An enterprise may enter into a risk relationship with a risk relationship provider (e.g., an insurer) to protect itself from damages associated with a building’s roof. For example, the risk relationship may provide payments associated with roof leaks, damages due to fire, vandalism, hail, tornados, etc. Several factors may influence the amount of risk associated with a particular roof, such as roof size, the age of the roof, the materials used to construct the roof, etc. To help determine this information, FIG. 1 is a high-level block diagram of a roof data collection system 100. A back-end application computer server 150 may collect information to be processed by a roof risk platform 155. In some cases, a user might self-report roof estimated information via a remote user device 160 such as a telephone or computer. For example, an insurer might ask a business “how old is your roof” and the business might reply “I’m not sure, maybe around ten years old?” This information may then be used to calculate attributes of an insurance policy (e.g., premium values, exclusions risk classifications, etc.,) and the results may be contained in a risk relationship data store 110. Such an approach, however, can be a time consuming and unreliable process. In other cases, the insurer might arrange to perform an in-person inspection of a roof. This, however, can be an expensive way to collect information.

“It would be desirable to provide systems and methods to accurately and/or automatically estimate roof risk information and mitigation strategies in a way that provides fast and accurate results. Moreover, the roof information should be easy to access, understand, update, etc.”

In addition to obtaining background information on this patent application, NewsRx editors also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent application: “According to some embodiments, systems, methods, apparatus, computer program code and means are provided to accurately and/or automatically estimate roof risk information and mitigation strategies in a way that provides fast and accurate results and that allow for flexibility and effectiveness when responding to those results.

“In some embodiments, a risk relationship data store contains electronic records, each electronic record representing a risk relationship between an enterprise and a risk relationship provider (e.g., an insurer), and including, for each risk relationship, an electronic record identifier and a set of roof attribute values. A back-end application computer server may receive, from a third-party data source, roof information for a roof of a building associated with a risk relationship. The computer server may then correlate the received roof information with a particular electronic record in the risk relationship data store. A roof attribute value of the particular electronic record may be updated in accordance with the roof information received from the third-party data source, and a predictive analytics engine of the computer server may then calculate a roof risk score associated with the particular electronic record.

“Some embodiments comprise: means for receiving, by a back-end application computer server from a third-party data source, roof information for a roof of a building associated with a risk relationship; means for correlating the received roof information with a particular electronic record in a risk relationship data store that contains electronic records, each electronic record representing a risk relationship between an enterprise and a risk relationship provider, and including, for each risk relationship, an electronic record identifier and a set of roof attribute values; means for updating a roof attribute value of the particular electronic record in accordance with the roof information received from the third-party data source; and means for calculating, by a predictive analytics engine, a roof risk score associated with the particular electronic record.

“In some embodiments, a communication device associated with a back-end application computer server exchanges information with remote devices in connection with an interactive graphical user interface. The information may be exchanged, for example, via public and/or proprietary communication networks.

“A technical effect of some embodiments of the invention is an improved and computerized way to accurately and/or automatically estimate roof risk information and mitigation strategies in a way that provides fast and accurate results. With these and other advantages and features that will become hereinafter apparent, a more complete understanding of the nature of the invention can be obtained by referring to the following detailed description and to the drawings appended hereto.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A roof risk data analytics system implemented via a back-end application computer server, comprising: (a) a risk relationship data store that contains electronic records, each electronic record representing a risk relationship between an enterprise and a risk relationship provider, and including, for each risk relationship, an electronic record identifier and a set of roof attribute values; (b) the back-end application computer server, coupled to the risk relationship data store, programmed to: receive, from a third-party data source, roof information for a roof of a building associated with a risk relationship, correlate the received roof information with a particular electronic record in the risk relationship data store, update a roof attribute value of the particular electronic record in accordance with the roof information received from the third-party data source, and calculate, by a predictive analytics engine, a roof risk score associated with the particular electronic record; and © a communication port coupled to the back-end application computer server to facilitate a transmission of data with remote user devices to support interactive user interface displays, including an indication of the roof information received from the third-party data source and roof risk score, via a distributed communication network.

“2. The system of claim 1, wherein the third-party data source is associated with at least one of: (i) aerial imagery, (ii) satellite imagery, and (iii) drone imagery.

“3. The system of claim 2, wherein the back-end application computer server is further programmed to use a machine learning algorithm to analyze aerial imagery to determine the updated roof attribute value.

“4. The system of claim 3, wherein the machine learning algorithm utilizes historic insurance claim data.

“5. The system of claim 1, wherein the third-party data source is associated with at least one of: (i) a roof vendor, (ii) a roof installer, (iii) a governmental agency, (iv) a roof material, and (v) a roof warranty.

“6. The system of claim 1, wherein the third-party data source is associated with street level images.

“7. The system of claim 6, wherein the back-end application computer server is further programmed to use the street level images to construct a three-dimensional model associated with the updated roof attribute data.

“8. The system of claim 1, wherein the updated roof attribute data is associated with at least one of: (i) a roof square footage, (ii) a roof age, (iii) a roof covering material, (iv) a roof shape, (v) a roof risk evaluation, and (vi) a roof hazard.

“9. The system of claim 1, wherein the updated roof attribute data is associated with at least one of: (i) a solar panel, (ii) a chimney, (iii) building heating or cooling equipment, (iv) a water tank, (v) a gutter condition, (vi) a roof extension, (vii) a satellite dish, (viii) public roof use, and (ix) a skylight.

“10. The system of claim 1, wherein the building is associated with at least one of: (i) an office building, (ii) a warehouse, (iii) a residence, (iv) a hanger, (v) a retail establishment, (vi) a stadium, and (vii) any other building structure that is associated with a risk relationship.

“11. The system of claim 1, wherein the risk relationship is associated with an insurance policy and the risk score is to be used in connection with at least one of: (i) insurance policy underwriting, (ii) insurance premium pricing, (iii) insurance physical inspection decisions, (iv) service levels, (v) insurance policy renewals, and (vi) insurance claim servicing.

“12. The system of claim 1, wherein the roof risk score is utilized to automatically establish a communication link with an electronic address associated with the risk relationship and transmit at least one of: (i) an email message, (ii) a calendar event, and (iii) a workflow instruction.

“13. A computerized roof risk data analytics method implemented via a back-end application computer server, comprising: receiving, by the back-end application computer server from a third-party data source, roof information for a roof of a building associated with a risk relationship; correlating the received roof information with a particular electronic record in a risk relationship data store that contains electronic records, each electronic record representing a risk relationship between an enterprise and a risk relationship provider, and including, for each risk relationship, an electronic record identifier and a set of roof attribute values; updating a roof attribute value of the particular electronic record in accordance with the roof information received from the third-party data source; and calculating, by a predictive analytics engine, a roof risk score associated with the particular electronic record.

“14. The method of claim 13, wherein the third-party data source is associated with at least one of: (i) aerial imagery, (ii) satellite imagery, and (iii) aerial imagery.

“15. The method of claim 14, wherein the back-end application computer server is further programmed to use a machine learning algorithm to analyze aerial imagery to determine the updated roof attribute value.

“16. The method of claim 15, wherein the machine learning algorithm utilizes historic insurance claim data.

“17. The method of claim 13, wherein the third-party data source is associated with at least one of: (i) a roof vendor, (ii) a roof installer, (iii) a governmental agency, (iv) a roof material, and (v) a roof warranty.

“18. The method of claim 13, wherein the third-party data source is associated with street level images.

“19. The method of claim 18, wherein the back-end application computer server is further programmed to use the street level images to construct a three-dimensional model associated with the updated roof attribute data.

“20. A non-tangible, computer-readable medium storing instructions, that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform a roof risk data analytics method implemented via a back-end application computer server, the method comprising: receiving, by the back-end application computer server from a third-party data source, roof information for a roof of a building associated with a risk relationship; correlating the received roof information with a particular electronic record in a risk relationship data store that contains electronic records, each electronic record representing a risk relationship between an enterprise and a risk relationship provider, and including, for each risk relationship, an electronic record identifier and a set of roof attribute values; updating a roof attribute value of the particular electronic record in accordance with the roof information received from the third-party data source; and calculating, by a predictive analytics engine, a roof risk score associated with the particular electronic record.

“21. The medium of claim 20, wherein the updated roof attribute data is associated with at least one of: (i) a roof square footage, (ii) a roof age, (iii) a roof covering material, (iv) a roof shape, (v) a roof risk evaluation, and (vi) a roof hazard.

“22. The medium of claim 20, wherein the updated roof attribute data is associated with at least one of: (i) a solar panel, (ii) a chimney, (iii) building heating or cooling equipment, (iv) a water tank, (v) a gutter condition, (vi) a roof extension, (vii) a satellite dish, (viii) public roof use, and (ix) a skylight.

“23. The medium of claim 20, wherein the building is associated with at least one of: (i) an office building, (ii) a warehouse, (iii) a residence, (iv) a hanger, (v) a retail establishment, (vi) a stadium, and (vii) any other building structure that is associated with a risk relationship.

“24. The medium of claim 19, wherein the risk relationship is associated with an insurance policy and the risk score is to be used in connection with at least one of: (i) insurance policy underwriting, (ii) insurance premium pricing, (iii) insurance physical inspection decisions, (iv) service levels, (v) insurance policy renewals, and (vi) insurance claim servicing.”

For more information, see this patent application: Coonrod, Lane Garrison; Holden, Sean David. Roof Risk Data Analytics System To Accurately Estimate Roof Risk Information. Filed December 18, 2019 and posted June 24, 2021. 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=%2220210192631%22.PGNR.&OS=DN/20210192631&RS=DN/20210192631

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