Patent Issued for Blockchain controlled multi-carrier auction system for usage-based auto insurance (USPTO 11030699)

2021 JUN 24 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (Bloomington, Illinois, United States) has been issued patent number 11030699, according to news reporting originating out of Alexandria, Virginia, by NewsRx editors.

The patent’s inventors are Floyd, Matthew L. (Alpharetta, GA, US).

This patent was filed on December 11, 2017 and was published online on June 8, 2021.

From the background information supplied by the inventors, news correspondents obtained the following quote: “Usage-based insurance contracts (also known as trip based insurance) are short-term contracts that allow a driver to pay for insurance as they need it. In many cases, this insurance is based upon the combination of the user and the vehicle. However, as many drivers are no longer being tied to specific vehicles, it has become more difficult to determine the proper insurance for the individual user on a case by case basis. Furthermore, while the usage-based insurance (UBI) may include restrictions on the user, it is not always possible to determine when the user has complied with these restrictions. In some cases, a user may wish to modify already issued insurance to allow for a detour or side trip. There exists a need to collect and collate data about a user and a trip to allow for proper tracking of insurance policies and individuals.”

Supplementing the background information on this patent, NewsRx reporters also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent: “The present embodiments may relate to blockchain based systems and methods for managing usage-based insurance contracts. The platform may include an Insurance Monitoring (IM) computer system associated with a vehicle, a User Based Auto Insurance Management (“UBAIM”) system, a plurality of sensors on the vehicle, a plurality of vehicle computer devices associated with a plurality of vehicles configured to act as nodes for a blockchain ledger, and/or an insurer auction network including a plurality of insurer computer devices associated with a plurality of insurers. The IM computer system may be a mobile device associated with the driver and/or a vehicle computer device associated with the vehicle. In some further embodiments, the IM computer system may be separate from the vehicle and be in communication with the vehicle.

“The IM computer system may be configured to: (i) receive a user request for trip insurance (such as via wireless communication or data transmission over one or more radio links or digital communication channels), where the user request includes a plurality of information about the user (who may or may not be the driver), the vehicle (which may be an autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle), and the trip; (ii) transmit the user request to the insurer auction network, where the insurer auction network transmits the request to the plurality of insurer computer devices, which are configured to generate bids based upon the user request; (iii) receive, from the insurer auction network, a plurality of bids (or a selected winning bid) from the plurality of insurer computer devices for trip insurance based upon the user request; (iv) display the plurality of bids (or selected winning bid) to the user; (v) receive a user selection of a bid of the plurality of bids (or a user approval of the selected winning bid); (vi) transmit the user selection (or user approval) to the insurer auction network, where the insurer auction network notifies the insurer computer device associated with the selected bid (or winning bid), which may be the UBAIM server or may be in communication with the UBAIM server; (vii) store an insurance and/or smart contract that includes one or more terms (the terms may include conditions, clauses, vehicle or driver limitations, premiums, discounts, deductibles, endorsements, duties, obligations, etc.) for the trip using a blockchain structure, where the plurality of nodes store copies of the insurance contract, and where in some embodiments, the blockchain based insurance contract may be generated by the UBAIM server, and in other embodiments, the blockchain based insurance contract may be generated by the IM computer system based off of information from the bid and/or the UBAIM server. The IM computer system may further be configured to: (viii) receive, from the driver and/or a vehicle (such as an autonomous vehicle controller), a requested modification of at least one of the one or more terms of the insurance contract; (ix) transmit the requested modification to the UBAIM server; (x) receive a response to the request from the UBAIM server, where the response may include an approval or one or more additional terms; (xi) if the response includes one or more additional terms, display the one or more additional terms to the driver and/or vehicle for approval and wait to receive approval of the one or more additional terms from the driver; (xii) store the modification, the response, the approval, and/or the one or more additional terms in the insurance contract (which may be a virtual or electronic smart contract), in some embodiments, the IM computer system may (a) generate a new block for the insurance contract based upon the requested modification and the response, (b) update the insurance contract with the new block, and/or © transmit the new block with the plurality of nodes, where each the plurality of nodes are configured to update their stored copies of the insurance contract with the new block. In other embodiments, the IM computer system may transmit the requested modification and the response to the plurality of nodes, where each of the plurality of nodes are configured to generate a new block based upon the requested modification and the response and update their stored copies of the insurance contract with the generated block. The IM computer system may further be configured to: (xiii) receive sensor information from the one or more sensors associated with the vehicle; (xiv) with customer permission or affirmative consent, compare the received sensor information with the one or more terms (conditions, limitations, clauses, duties, obligations, etc.) of the (electronic and/or smart) insurance contract; (xv) determine whether the driver and/or the vehicle (such as autonomous vehicle) complied with the one or more terms based upon the comparison; (xvi) if the determination is that the driver or autonomous vehicle complied with the one or more terms, the computer device may be further configured to: (a) transmit a notification of driver or autonomous vehicle compliance to an insurance server associated with the insurance contract; (b) generate a new block for the insurance contract based upon the notification of driver or autonomous vehicle compliance; © store the notification of driver or autonomous vehicle compliance in the insurance contract; (d) receive an indication of a discount and/or lower premium for the insurance contract from the insurance server; (e) generate a new block for the insurance contract based upon the indication of the discount and/or lower premium; (f) store the indication in the insurance contract; (g) display the indication of the discount and/or lower premium of the insurance contract to the driver including an acknowledgement request; (h) receive the acknowledgement from the driver and/or vehicle; (i) generate a new block for the insurance contract based upon the acknowledgement; (j) store the acknowledgement in the insurance contract; and/or (k) generate a new block for the insurance contract based upon the notification, the indication, and/or the acknowledgement; and/or (xvii) generate a new block for the (electronic or smart) insurance contract that includes sensor information on a periodic basis.

“The present embodiments may relate to systems and methods for managing usage-based insurance. A computer system, as described herein, may include a vehicle controller or a mobile computer device. The computer device may be configured to (i) receive a user request for trip insurance, where the user request includes a plurality of information about the user, the vehicle (which may be an autonomous vehicle), and the trip (such as an upcoming, approaching, or impending trip using the vehicle); (ii) transmit the user request to an insurer auction network, where the insurer auction network includes a plurality of insurers; (iii) receive, from the insurer auction network, a plurality of bids from a plurality of insurers for insurance for the trip (or a winning bid); (iv) display the plurality of bids (or winning bid) to the user; (v) receive a user selection of a bid of the plurality of bids (or approval of the winning bid); (vi) transmit the user selection (or user approval) to the insurer auction network; (vii) generate an insurance contract (such as a virtual or electronic insurance and/or smart contract) based upon the user request and the selected bid (or user approval of the winning bid); (viii) receive the insurance contract from an insurance server associated with the selected bid (or winning bid); (ix) store the insurance contract based upon the selected bid (or winning bid), where the insurance contract is in a blockchain structure, where a plurality of nodes store copies of the insurance contract in the blockchain structure. The plurality of nodes may include a plurality of computer devices each associated with one of a plurality of vehicles, and the insurance server may be one of the plurality of nodes, and may include one or more terms (the terms may include conditions, obligations, duties, limitations (including driver or vehicle limitations associated with a specific trip or usage-based insurance contract), premiums, discounts, deductibles, clauses, and/or other terms); (x) receive, from the driver and/or vehicle, a requested modification of at least one of the one or more terms of the insurance contract; (xi) transmit the requested modification to an insurance server associated with the insurance contract; (xii) receive a response to the request from the insurance server, where the response includes one or more additional terms; (xiii) display the one or more additional terms to the driver for approval; (xiv) receive approval of the one or more additional terms from the driver or vehicle; (xv) store the one or more additional terms and the response in the insurance contract; (xvi) generate a new block for the insurance contract based upon the requested modification and the response; (xvii) update the insurance contract with the new block; (xviii) transmit the new block the plurality of nodes, where each the plurality of nodes are configured to update their stored copies of the insurance contract with the new block; (xix) transmit the requested modification and the response to the plurality of nodes, where each of the plurality of nodes are configured to generate a new block based upon the requested modification and the response and update their stored copies of the insurance contract with the generated block; (xx) receive sensor information from one or more sensors associated with the vehicle or user mobile device; and/or (xxi) with the driver’s or vehicle owner’s permission or affirmative consent, compare the received sensor information with the one or more terms of the insurance contract.”

There is additional summary information. Please visit full patent to read further.

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A computer system for generating and managing usage-based insurance contracts using blockchains, the computer system including at least one processor in communication with at least one memory device, the at least one processor is programmed to: store a smart insurance contract for a current trip, wherein the smart insurance contract is for insuring at least one of a rider of a vehicle and the vehicle itself during the current trip, wherein the smart insurance contract includes one or more terms, wherein the smart insurance contract is stored in a first block in a blockchain structure along with a digital signature based on a vehicle identifier, and wherein a plurality of nodes each store a copy of the smart insurance contract in the blockchain structure; receive, from the rider, a requested modification of at least one of the one or more terms of the smart insurance contract; transmit the requested modification to an insurance server associated with the smart insurance contract; receive a response to the requested modification from the insurance server; and store the response in a second block of the blockchain structure along with the smart insurance contract to facilitate providing usage-based trip insurance for the at least one of the rider and the vehicle in a transparent manner, wherein the second block is subsequent to the first block, and wherein the response includes the digital signature and the vehicle identifier to associate the response with the smart insurance contract.

“2. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the smart insurance contract is at least one of an electronic insurance contract and a virtual insurance contract, and wherein the current trip is a currently occurring trip or an impending trip.

“3. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the rider of the vehicle includes at least one of a driver of the vehicle and a non-driver, passenger of the vehicle, and wherein the vehicle is at least one of an automobile, an autonomous vehicle, and a semi-autonomous vehicle.

“4. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the one or more terms of the smart insurance contract include at least one of: conditions, obligations, duties, limitations, driver limitations, vehicle operation limitations, time-of-day operation limitations, number of miles limitations, weather limitations, road condition limitations, autonomous vehicle operation limitations, premiums, discounts, and other clauses.

“5. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the processor is further programmed to: receive a user request from at least one of the rider of the vehicle and the vehicle itself for insurance coverage for the current trip; transmit the user request to an insurer auction network, wherein the insurer auction network includes a plurality of insurers each associated with an insurer computing device; receive, from the insurer auction network, a plurality of bids from the plurality of insurers for providing the insurance coverage for the current trip; and receive a selection of a bid of the plurality of bids from at least one of the rider of the vehicle and the vehicle itself for insurance coverage for the current trip, the insurance coverage being memorialized in the smart insurance contract.

“6. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the response includes one or more additional terms, and wherein the processor is further programmed to: display the one or more additional terms to the rider for approval; receive approval of the one or more additional terms from the rider; and store the one or more additional terms in a third block of the blockchain structure along with the smart insurance contract, wherein the third block is subsequent to the second block.

“7. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the response includes one or more additional terms, wherein the processor is further programmed to: display the one or more additional terms to the rider for approval; receive approval of the one or more additional terms from the rider; automatically update the smart insurance contract with the approved additional terms; and store the updated smart insurance contract in a third block of the blockchain structure, wherein the third block is subsequent to the second block.

“8. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the processor is further programmed to: generate a third block of the blockchain structure in response to the requested modification and the response; update the smart insurance contract with the response to the requested modification; and store the updated smart insurance contract in the third block, wherein the third block is subsequent to the second block.

“9. The computer system of claim 8, wherein the processor is further programmed to transmit the third block to the plurality of nodes, wherein each of the plurality of nodes are configured to update their respective stored copy of the smart insurance contract with the third block.

“10. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the processor is further programmed to transmit the requested modification and the response to each of the plurality of nodes, wherein each of the plurality of nodes are configured to generate a third block in response to the requested modification and the response, and update their respective stored copy of the smart insurance contract with the third block.

“11. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the computer system is associated with the vehicle, and wherein the plurality of nodes includes a plurality of computer devices each associated with one of a plurality of vehicles.

“12. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the insurance server is one of the plurality of nodes.

“13. A computer-implemented method for generating and managing usage-based insurance contracts using blockchains, the method implemented on an insurance monitoring (“TM”) computer system including at least one processor in communication with at least one memory device, the method comprising: storing a smart insurance contract for a current trip, wherein the smart insurance contract is for insuring at least one of a rider of a vehicle and the vehicle itself during the current trip, wherein the smart insurance contract includes one or more terms, and wherein the smart insurance contract is stored in a first block in a blockchain structure along with a digital signature based on a vehicle identifier, and wherein a plurality of nodes each store a copy of the smart insurance contract in the blockchain structure; receiving, from the rider, a requested modification of at least one of the one or more terms of the smart insurance contract; transmitting, by the TM computer system, the requested modification to an insurance server associated with the smart insurance contract; receiving, at the IM computer system, a response to the requested modification from the insurance server; and storing, in memory, the response in a second block of the blockchain structure along with the smart insurance contract to facilitate timely providing of usage-based trip insurance for the at least one of the rider and the vehicle in a transparent manner, wherein the second block is subsequent to the first block, and wherein the response includes the digital signature and the vehicle identifier to associate the response with the smart insurance contract.

“14. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, wherein the smart insurance contract is at least one of an electronic insurance contract and a virtual insurance contract, and wherein the current trip is a currently occurring trip or an impending trip.

“15. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, wherein the rider of the vehicle includes at least one of a driver of the vehicle and a non-driver, passenger of the vehicle, and wherein the vehicle is at least one of an automobile, an autonomous vehicle, and a semi-autonomous vehicle.

“16. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, wherein the method further comprises: receiving a user request from at least one of the rider of the vehicle and the vehicle itself for insurance coverage for the current trip; transmitting, from the IM computer system, the user request to an insurer auction network, wherein the insurer auction network includes a plurality of insurers each associated with an insurer computing device; receiving, by the IM computer system from the insurer auction network, a plurality of bids from the plurality of insurers for providing the insurance coverage for the current trip; and receiving, by the IM computer system, a selection of a bid of the plurality of bids from at least one of the rider of the vehicle and the vehicle itself for insurance coverage for the current trip, the insurance coverage being memorialized in the smart insurance contract.

“17. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, wherein the response includes one or more additional terms, and wherein the method further comprises: displaying the one or more additional terms to the rider for approval; receiving approval of the one or more additional terms from the rider; and storing the one or more additional terms in a third block of the blockchain structure along with the smart insurance contract, wherein the third block is subsequent to the second block.

“18. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, wherein the response includes one or more additional terms, wherein the method further comprises: displaying the one or more additional terms to the rider for approval; receiving approval of the one or more additional terms from the rider; automatically updating the smart insurance contract with the approved additional terms; and storing the updated smart insurance contract in a third block of the blockchain structure, wherein the third block is subsequent to the second block.”

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

For the URL and additional information on this patent, see: Floyd, Matthew L. Blockchain controlled multi-carrier auction system for usage-based auto insurance. U.S. Patent Number 11030699, filed December 11, 2017, and published online on June 8, 2021. Patent URL: http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=11030699.PN.&OS=PN/11030699RS=PN/11030699

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