Patent Issued for Configuration and transfer of image data using a mobile device (USPTO 11915321): Allstate Insurance Company

2024 MAR 14 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- A patent by the inventors Brandmaier, Jennifer A. (Chicago, IL, US), Faga, Mark E. (Evanston, IL, US), Johnson, Robert H. (Hoffman Estates, IL, US), Koza, Daniel (Hinsdale, IL, US), Loo, William (Arlington Heights, IL, US), Marlow, Clint J. (Barrington Hills, IL, US), Stricker, Kurt M. (Northfield, IL, US), filed on August 2, 2022, was published online on February 27, 2024, according to news reporting originating from Alexandria, Virginia, by NewsRx correspondents.

Patent number 11915321 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 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.

“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 method comprising: executing, by an enhanced claims processing server, an automated claims processing process comprising: transmitting instructions to a mobile device to capture images related to a damage of an insured item; receiving, from the mobile device, a plurality of captured images related to damage of the insured item; processing the plurality of sets of image data to determine whether the plurality of sets of image data satisfies at least one objective criterion indicating suitability of the plurality of captured images; determining that a set of images of the plurality of captured images satisfies the at least one objective criterion; based on determining a first image of the plurality of captured images does not satisfy the at least one objective criterion, transmitting instructions to the mobile device to provide an audio description of the damage to the insured item as the first image of the plurality of captured images does not satisfy the at least one objective criterion; receiving, from the mobile device, a captured audio file related to the damage of the insured item; processing the captured audio file to generate a first set of text data corresponding to the captured audio file; generating, based on the first set of text data, a replacement image corresponding to the captured audio file; and responsive to a determination that the replacement image satisfies the at least one objective criterion, transmitting an indication that the set of images and the first set of text data satisfy criteria that, when satisfied, indicate that the set of images and the first set of text data is acceptable to determine a cost estimate associated with the damage to the damaged object.

“2. The method of claim 1, further comprising generating a replacement image based on the first set of text data and determining that the replacement image satisfies the at least one objective criterion.

“3. The method of claim 2, wherein generating the replacement image comprises: parsing a database of historical claims data for a historical damage description that matches the first set of text data; and retrieving a historical damage image corresponding to the historical damage description that matches the first set of text data, wherein the replacement image is generated based on the historical damage image.

“4. The method of claim 1, further comprising: generating a second set of text data based on the set of images; comparing the second set of text data to the first set of text data; and determining, based on the comparison, that the first set of text data corresponds to one or more descriptions of damage indicated by the second set of text data.

“5. The method of claim 4, wherein generating the second set of text data comprises: parsing a database of historical claims data for one or more historical damage images that matches the set of images; and retrieving one or more historical damage descriptions corresponding to the historical damage images, wherein the second set of text data is based on the one or more historical damage descriptions.

“6. The method of claim 1, wherein the instructions to provide the audio description comprise a first instruction to provide an audio description of a damaged object of the insured item and a second instruction to provide an audio description of the insured item in its entirety.

“7. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one objective criterion comprises one or more of an image quality criterion indicating a predetermined image quality, a completeness criterion indicating one or more types of images of the insured item, or a blurriness criterion indicating an objective measure of non-blurriness.

“8. The method of claim 1, wherein the indication comprises one or more of a proposed settlement of an insurance claim associated with the insured item, a determined cost estimate to repair the damage to the insured item, a determined cost estimate to replace the insured item with a new item, a determined cost estimate to repair a part of the insured item, or a determined cost estimate to replace a part of the insured item with a new part.

“9. A system comprising: an insured item, wherein the insured item comprises a plurality of damaged areas; a processor; and a memory storing computer-readable instructions thereon that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to: transmit instructions to a mobile device to capture images related to a damage of an insured item; receive, from the mobile device, a plurality of captured images related to damage of the insured item; process the plurality of sets of image data to determine whether the plurality of sets of image data satisfies at least one objective criterion indicating suitability of the plurality of captured images; determine that a set of images of the plurality of captured images satisfies the at least one objective criterion; based on determining a first image of the plurality of captured images does not satisfy the at least one objective criterion, transmit instructions to the mobile device to provide an audio description of the damage to the insured item as the first image of the plurality of captured images does not satisfy the at least one objective criterion; receive, from the mobile device, a captured audio file related to the damage of the insured item; process the captured audio file to generate a first set of text data corresponding to the captured audio file; generate, based on the first set of text data, a replacement image corresponding to the captured audio file; and responsive to a determination that the replacement image satisfies the at least one objective criterion, transmit an indication that the set of images and the first set of text data satisfy criteria that, when satisfied, indicate that the set of images and the first set of text data is acceptable to determine a cost estimate associated with the damage to the damaged object.

“10. The system of claim 9, the memory storing computer-readable instructions that, when executed by the processor, further cause the processor to generate a replacement image based on the first set of text data and determine that the replacement image satisfies the at least one objective criterion.

“11. The system of claim 10, wherein generating the replacement image comprises: parsing a database of historical claims data for a historical damage description that matches the first set of text data; and retrieving a historical damage image corresponding to the historical damage description that matches the first set of text data, wherein the replacement image is generated based on the historical damage image.

“12. The system of claim 9, the memory storing computer-readable instructions that, when executed by the processor, further cause the processor to: generate a second set of text data based on the set of images; compare the second set of text data to the first set of text data; and determine, based on the comparison, that the first set of text data corresponds to one or more descriptions of damage indicated by the second set of text data.

“13. The system of claim 12, wherein generating the second set of text data comprises: parsing a database of historical claims data for one or more historical damage images that matches the set of images; and retrieving one or more historical damage descriptions corresponding to the historical damage images, wherein the second set of text data is based on the one or more historical damage descriptions.

“14. The system of claim 9, wherein the instructions to provide the audio description comprise a first instruction to provide an audio description of a damaged object of the insured item and a second instruction to provide an audio description of the insured item in its entirety.

“15. The system of claim 9, wherein the at least one objective criterion comprises one or more of an image quality criterion indicating a predetermined image quality, a completeness criterion indicating one or more types of images of the insured item, or a blurriness criterion indicating an objective measure of non-blurriness.

“16. The system of claim 9, wherein the indication comprises one or more of a proposed settlement of an insurance claim associated with the insured item, a determined cost estimate to repair the damage to the insured item, a determined cost estimate to replace the insured item with a new item, a determined cost estimate to repair a part of the insured item, or a determined cost estimate to replace a part of the insured item with a new part.”

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

URL and more information on this patent, see: Brandmaier, Jennifer A. Configuration and transfer of image data using a mobile device. U.S. Patent Number 11915321, filed August 2, 2022, and published online on February 27, 2024. Patent URL (for desktop use only): https://ppubs.uspto.gov/pubwebapp/external.html?q=(11915321)&db=USPAT&type=ids

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