Patent Issued for Agent-facilitated claims damage estimation (USPTO 11783428): Allstate Insurance Company

2023 OCT 30 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- A patent by the inventors Banerjee, Suchandra (Northbrook, IL, US), Brandmaier, Jennifer A. (Chicago, IL, US), Campbell, Josh (Northbrook, IL, US), Faga, Mark E. (Evanston, IL, US), Johnson, Robert H. (Hoffman Estates, IL, US), Marlow, Clint J. (Barrington Hills, IL, US), Murphy, Curtis (Northbrook, IL, US), Stricker, Kurt M. (Northfield, IL, US), filed on June 20, 2022, was published online on October 10, 2023, according to news reporting originating from Alexandria, Virginia, by NewsRx correspondents.

Patent number 11783428 is assigned to Allstate Insurance Company (Northbrook, Illinois, United States).

The following quote was obtained by the news editors from the background information supplied by the inventors: “Conventional insurance claims processing is a complex process that starts with a first notification of loss related to an insured item. Upon notification of loss, the claim may be routed to multiple claims adjusters that analyze different aspects of the damage associated with the insured item in order to determine whether compensation for the loss is appropriate.

“In general, conventional claims adjustment can involve paperwork processing, telephone calls, and potentially face-to-face meetings between claimant and adjuster. In addition, a significant amount of time can elapse between a first notice of loss from the claimant and the final settlement of the claim.

“In addition, while consumers may take advantage of conventional claims processing to determine if they will receive any compensation for loss associated with an item, consumers have traditionally had very few options for obtaining advice associated with loss prior to submission of an insurance claim.”

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

“Aspects of the disclosure involve a streamlined and efficient process for claims management and disclose methods, computer-readable media, and apparatuses for automating the processing and settling of claims related to an insured item. A mobile device may transmit data (e.g., images, video, etc.) related to damage associated with an insured item to an enhanced claims processing server. The enhanced claims processing server may manage analysis of damage associated with the insured item and settlement of a claim related to the damage.

“In another aspect of the disclosure, an enhanced claims processing server may analyze damage data received from a mobile device to generate a repair cost estimate for repairing the insured item.

“In another aspect of the disclosure, an enhanced claims processing server may receive damage data associated with damage to an insured item, prior to submission of a claim for the damage. This data may be analyzed along with other data related to terms of an insurance policy that insures the insured item to provide advice to insurance consumers on the overall monetary valuation of submitting an insurance claim for damage to the insured item.

“In another aspect of the disclosure, a user device may be used as a portal that enables a third party entity such as a repair agency to view and learn more about damage associated with an insured item while the damage is still being assessed through a claims adjustment process.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. An enhanced claims processing system comprising: an enhanced claims processing data server at an insurance company, the enhanced claims processing data server comprising at least one processor and a memory storing computer-executable instructions, which when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to: transmit, to a mobile device having a camera, instructions to display a plurality of photo categories, the plurality of photo categories including at least entire vehicle, VIN, and damaged area related to an insured item; receive, via a network and from the mobile device, a request for instructions relating to one or more of the plurality of photo categories; transmit, via the network and to the mobile device, instructions relating to the requested one or more of the plurality of photo categories, the transmitted instructions providing directions on capture of images corresponding to the respective photo category; present, on a display screen of the mobile device, a viewfinder for the camera; indicate a proper positioning for the capture of images within the viewfinder by presenting, on the display screen and within the viewfinder, a visual marker indicating a location at which to position at least a portion of a view of the insured item; receive, via the network and from the mobile device, a selection of the entire vehicle photo category and at least one entire vehicle digital photo; receive, via the network and from the mobile device, a selection of the VIN photo category and at least one VIN digital photo; receive, via the network and from the mobile device, damage data related to the insured item including a selection of the damaged area photo category and at least one damaged area digital photo; determine that the damage data is related to the insured item corresponding with an insured individual; retrieve, from a database, policy information data corresponding with the insured individual; analyze the damage data to determine damage information related to the insured item; analyze the policy information data; calculate, based on the policy information data and damage information, a projected change in premium and settlement amount; calculate, based on the policy information data and damage information, a projected settlement amount; determine, an overall monetary valuation based on the projected change in premium and the projected settlement amount; determine, based on the overall monetary valuation, an estimated benefit or detriment to the insured individual; determine, based on the estimated benefit or detriment to the insured individual, a recommendation regarding claim submission; transmit, via a network and to the mobile device of the individual, the recommendation regarding claim submission; and receive, via a network and from the mobile device of the individual, a claim submission determination.

“2. The enhanced claims processing system of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is further caused to: based on determining that the damage data is not related to the insured item, transmit a request for external policy information data to the mobile device via a network; receive, from the mobile device, the external policy information data; and analyze the external policy information data.

“3. The enhanced claims processing system of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is further caused to transmit, via a network, to the mobile device of the individual and based on the policy information data, upsell material data.

“4. The enhanced claims processing system of claim 3, wherein the upsell material data includes at least one of information about new products and special promotions.

“5. The enhanced claims processing system of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is further caused to: calculate an increase in premium based on the policy information data and the damage data; and transmit, via a network and to the mobile device of the individual, the calculated increase in premium.

“6. The enhanced claims processing system of claim 1, wherein the damage data includes images of the damage to a portion of the insured item.

“7. A method of providing a pre-claim consultation, the method comprising: transmitting, by an enhanced claims processing data server and to a mobile device having a camera, instructions to display a plurality of photo categories, the plurality of photo categories including at least entire vehicle, VIN, and damaged area related to an insured item; receiving, by the enhanced claims processing data server and from the mobile device, a request for instructions relating to one or more of the plurality of photo categories; transmitting, by the enhanced claims processing data server, instructions to the mobile device relating to the requested one or more of the plurality of photo categories, the transmitted instructions providing directions on capture of images corresponding to the respective photo category; presenting, on a display screen of the mobile device, a viewfinder for the camera; indicating a proper positioning for the capture of images within the viewfinder by presenting, on the display screen and within the viewfinder, a visual marker indicating a location at which to position at least a portion of a view of the insured item; receiving, by the enhanced claims processing data server and from the mobile device, a selection of the entire vehicle photo category and at least one entire vehicle digital photo; receiving, by the enhanced claims processing data server and from the mobile device, a selection of the VIN photo category and at least one VIN digital photo; receiving, by the enhanced claims processing data server and from the mobile device, damage data related to the insured item including a selection of the damaged area photo category and at least one damaged area digital photo; determining, by the enhanced claims processing data server, the damage data is related to the insured item corresponding with an insured individual; retrieving, by the enhanced claims processing data server, policy information data corresponding to the insured individual; analyzing, by the enhanced claims processing data server, the damage data to determine damage information related to the insured item; analyzing, by the enhanced claims processing data server, the policy information data; calculating, by the enhanced claims processing server and based on the policy information data and damage information, a projected change in premium; calculating, by the enhanced claims processing data server and based on the policy information data and the damage information, a projected settlement amount; determining, by the enhanced claims processing data server, an overall monetary valuation based on the projected change in premium and the projected settlement amount; determining, by the enhanced claims processing data server and based on the overall monetary valuation, an estimated benefit or detriment to the insured individual; determining, based on the estimated benefit or detriment to the insured individual, a recommendation regarding claim submission; transmitting, by the enhanced claims processing data server to the mobile device, the recommendation regarding claim submission; and receiving, via a network and from the mobile device, a claim submission determination.

“8. The method of claim 7 further comprising: based on determining that the damage data is not related to the insured item, transmitting a request for external policy information data to the mobile device via a network; receiving, from the mobile device, the external policy information data; and analyzing the external policy information data.

“9. The method of claim 7 further comprising: transmitting, via a network to the mobile device of the individual and based on the policy information data, upsell material data.

“10. The method of claim 9, wherein the upsell material data includes at least one of information about new products and special promotions.

“11. The method of claim 7 further comprising: calculating an increase in premium based on the policy information data and the damage data; and transmitting, via a network and to the mobile device of the individual, the calculated increase in premium.”

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

URL and more information on this patent, see: Banerjee, Suchandra. Agent-facilitated claims damage estimation. U.S. Patent Number 11783428, filed June 20, 2022, and published online on October 10, 2023. Patent URL (for desktop use only): https://ppubs.uspto.gov/pubwebapp/external.html?q=(11783428)&db=USPAT&type=ids

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