Patent Issued for Automated damage assessment and claims processing (USPTO 11756131): Allstate Insurance Company

2023 SEP 28 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- According to news reporting originating from Alexandria, Virginia, by NewsRx journalists, a patent by the inventors Garg, Rohit (Champaign, IL, US), Genser, Danuta (Naperville, IL, US), Harlalka, Devbratt (Champaign, IL, US), Katyal, Gaurang (Champaign, IL, US), filed on June 3, 2021, was published online on September 12, 2023.

The assignee for this patent, patent number 11756131, is Allstate Insurance Company (Northbrook, Illinois, United States).

Reporters obtained the following quote 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 to obtaining background information on this patent, NewsRx editors 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 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 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. An enhanced claims processing server may manage the analysis of damage associated with an insured item and the settlement of a claim related to the damage.

“In another aspect of the disclosure, an enhanced claims processing server may interface with a variety of sensors for assessing damage to insured items.

“Further aspects of the disclosure may be provided in a computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions that, when executed, cause a computer, user terminal, or other apparatus to at least perform one or more of the processes described herein.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A system comprising: one or more cameras configured to capture one or more images of an item; a claims processor in communication with the one or more cameras, the claims processor configured to identify a damaged area of the item using the one or more images; and one or more lasers in communication with the claims processor, the one or more lasers configured to capture depth data of the damaged area of the item, the claims processor identifying a type of damage to the damaged area by mapping a depth of damage to the damaged area using the depth data, the claims processor generating damage information based on the type of damage.

“2. The system of claim 1, wherein the claims processor is configured to direct the one or more cameras to automatically capture the one or more images and then one or more lasers to automatically capture the depth data.

“3. The system of claim 1, wherein the damaged area is identified based on a comparison of the one or more images to one or more reference images depicting an undamaged representation of the item.

“4. The system of claim 3, wherein the damaged area is identified by applying an edge filter to the one or more images and the one or more reference images and isolating a portion of the one or more images containing only the damaged area by subtracting image data based on the edge filter.

“5. The system of claim 3, wherein the comparison of the one or more images to the one or more reference images including blur filters and gray-scaling.

“6. The system of claim 3, wherein a confidence factor is assigned to the comparison based on a similarity of the one or more images and the one or more reference images.

“7. The system of claim 3, wherein a location of the damaged area is determined by overlaying a first grid on the one or more images and a second grid on the one or more reference images and comparing grid numbers of the first grid to the second grid.

“8. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more images including a reproduced image stitched together from a plurality of images.

“9. The system of claim 2, further comprising: at least one sensor configured to detect a fluid leaking from the item, the type of damage further determined based on the fluid.

“10. The system of claim 1, wherein the damage information includes repair information for the damaged area of the item.

“11. A method comprising: obtaining one or more images of an item, the one or more images captured using one or more cameras; identifying a damaged area of the item using the one or more images; obtaining depth data of the damaged area of the item, the depth data captured using one or more lasers; identifying a type of damage to the damaged area by mapping a depth of damage to the damaged area using the depth data; and generating damage information based on the type of damage.

“12. The method of claim 11, wherein the item is a vehicle, the method further comprising: automatically directing the one or more cameras to capture the one or more images in response to detecting the vehicle positioned relative to the one or more cameras.

“13. The method of claim 11, wherein the damaged area is identified based on a comparison of the one or more images to one or more reference images depicting an undamaged representation of the item.

“14. The method of claim 13, wherein the damaged area is identified by applying an edge filter to the one or more images and the one or more reference images and isolating a portion of the one or more images containing only the damaged area by subtracting image data based on the edge filter.

“15. The method of claim 13, wherein the comparison of the one or more images to the one or more reference images including blur filters and gray-scaling.

“16. The method of claim 13, wherein a confidence factor is assigned to the comparison based on a similarity of the one or more images and the one or more reference images.

“17. The method of claim 13, wherein a location of the damaged area is determined by overlaying a first grid on the one or more images and a second grid on the one or more reference images and comparing grid numbers of the first grid to the second grid.

“18. The method of claim 13, wherein the one or more images including a reproduced image stitched together from a plurality of images.

“19. The method of claim 11, further comprising: detecting a fluid leaking from the item, the type of damage further determined based on the fluid.

“20. The method of claim 11, wherein the damage information includes repair information for the damaged area of the item.”

For more information, see this patent: Garg, Rohit. Automated damage assessment and claims processing. U.S. Patent Number 11756131, filed June 3, 2021, and published online on September 12, 2023. Patent URL (for desktop use only): https://ppubs.uspto.gov/pubwebapp/external.html?q=(11756131)&db=USPAT&type=ids

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