Patent Issued for Blockchain controlled multi-carrier auction system for usage-based auto insurance (USPTO 11068990)

2021 AUG 06 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- From Alexandria, Virginia, NewsRx journalists report that a patent by the inventors Floyd, Matthew L. (Alpharetta, GA, US), filed on December 11, 2017, was published online on July 20, 2021.

The patent’s assignee for patent number 11068990 is State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (Bloomington, Illinois, United States).

News editors obtained the following quote from the background information supplied by the inventors: “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.”

As a supplement to the background information on this patent, NewsRx correspondents 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 modifying usage-based contracts using blockchains, the computer system including at least one processor in communication with at least one memory device, the at least one processor programmed to: store, in a first block of a blockchain structure, an insurance contract for a current trip, wherein the insurance contract is for a driver of a vehicle to insure the driver and the vehicle during the current trip, wherein the insurance contract includes one or more terms, wherein the insurance contract is modifiable during the current trip, and wherein a plurality of nodes, in communication with the blockchain structure, store electronic copies of the insurance contract in the blockchain structure; receive sensor information from one or more sensors associated with the vehicle during the current trip; determine whether the current trip complies with the one or more terms of the insurance contract by comparing the sensor information to the one or more terms of the insurance contract; in response to determining that the current trip does not comply with the one or more terms of the insurance contract, cause to display a warning on a display device advising the driver that the current trip does not comply with the one or more terms of the insurance contract; receive a modification request to modify the one or more terms of the insurance contract that the current trip fails to comply with, the modification request requested by the driver of the vehicle; transmit the modification request to an insurance server associated with the insurance contract; receive an approval response to the modification request from the insurance server, the approval response including at least one modification to the one or more terms of the insurance contract; and in response to receiving the approval response from the insurance server, store the at least one modification in a second block of the blockchain structure associated with the insurance contract, the stored at least one modification modifying the one or more terms of the insurance contract, wherein the second block is subsequent to the first block and includes a hash copy of the first block, thereby maintaining a secure and unalterable order of modifications associated with the insurance contract within the blockchain structure.

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

“3. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the current trip is a currently occurring trip, and wherein the processor is further programmed to: generate the second block of the blockchain structure for the insurance contract in response to receiving the modification request; and update the insurance contract by storing the approval response within the second block.

“4. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the processor is further programmed to transmit the second block to each node of the plurality of nodes, wherein each of the plurality of nodes is configured to update each corresponding stored copy of the insurance contract by storing the received second block.

“5. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the processor is further programmed to transmit the modification request and the approval response to each of the plurality of nodes, wherein each of the plurality of nodes is configured to generate a block of the blockchain structure based upon receiving at least one of the modification request and the approval response, and update each corresponding stored copy of the insurance contract by storing the approval response within each generated block of the respective node.

“6. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the computer system is associated with the vehicle, wherein the plurality of nodes include a plurality of computer devices each associated with one of a plurality of vehicles; and wherein the insurance server is one of the plurality of nodes.

“7. A computer-implemented method for generating and modifying usage-based contracts using blockchains, the method implemented on an insurance monitoring (“IM”) computer system including at least one processor in communication with at least one memory device, the method comprising: storing, in a first block of a blockchain structure, an insurance contract for a current trip, wherein the insurance contract is for a driver of a vehicle to insure the driver and a vehicle during the current trip, wherein the insurance contract includes one or more terms, wherein the insurance contract is stored in modifiable during the current trip, and wherein a plurality of nodes, in communication with the blockchain structure, store copies of the insurance contract in the blockchain structure; receiving sensor information from one or more sensors associated with the vehicle during the current trip; determining whether the current trip complies with the one or more terms of the insurance contract by comparing the sensor information to the one or more terms of the insurance contract; in response to determining that the current trip does not comply with the one or more terms of the insurance contract, causing to display a warning on a display device advising the driver that the current trip does not comply with the one or more terms of the insurance contract; receiving a modification request to modify the one or more terms of the insurance contract that the current trip fails to comply with, the modification request requested by the driver of the vehicle; transmitting, by the IM computer system, the modification request to an insurance server associated with the insurance contract; receiving, at the IM computer system, an approval response to the modification request from the insurance server, the approval response including at least one modification to the one or more terms of the insurance contract; and in response to receiving the approval response from the insurance server, storing, in the at least memory device, the at least one modification in a second block of the blockchain structure associated with the insurance contract, the stored at least one modification modifying the one or more terms of the insurance contract, wherein the second block is subsequent to the first block and includes a hash copy of the first block, thereby maintaining a secure and unalterable order of modifications associated with the insurance contract within the blockchain structure.

“8. The method of claim 7, wherein the approval response includes one or more additional terms, and wherein the method further comprises: displaying the one or more additional terms to the driver for approval; receiving a driver approval of the one or more additional terms from the driver; and storing the one or more additional terms in a third block of the blockchain structure that is associated with the insurance contract.

“9. The method of claim 7 further comprising: generating the second block of the blockchain structure for the insurance contract in response to receiving the modification request; and updating the insurance contract by storing the approval response within the second block.

“10. The method of claim 7 further comprising transmitting the second block to each node of the plurality of nodes, wherein each of the plurality of nodes is configured to update each corresponding stored copy of the insurance contract by storing the received second block.

“11. The method of claim 7 further comprising transmitting the modification request and the approval response to each of the plurality of nodes, wherein each of the plurality of nodes is configured to generate a block of the blockchain structure based upon receiving at least one of the modification request and the approval response, and update each corresponding stored copy of the insurance contract by storing the approval response within each generated block of the respective node.

“12. The method of claim 7, wherein the IM computer system is associated with the vehicle, wherein the plurality of nodes include a plurality of computer devices each associated with one of a plurality of vehicles, and wherein the insurance server is one of the plurality of nodes.”

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

For additional information on this patent, see: Floyd, Matthew L. Blockchain controlled multi-carrier auction system for usage-based auto insurance. U.S. Patent Number 11068990, filed December 11, 2017, and published online on July 20, 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=11068990.PN.&OS=PN/11068990RS=PN/11068990

(Our reports deliver fact-based news of research and discoveries from around the world.)