Patent Issued for Dynamic auto insurance policy quote creation based on tracked user data (USPTO 11315189): State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company

2022 MAY 16 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- A patent by the inventors Binion, Todd (Bloomington, IL, US), Christensen, Scott T. (Salem, OR, US), Cielocha, Steven (Bloomington, IL, US), Gay, Christopher E. (Dallas, TX, US), Hayward, Gregory (Bloomington, IL, US), filed on April 30, 2018, was published online on April 26, 2022, according to news reporting originating from Alexandria, Virginia, by NewsRx correspondents.

Patent number 11315189 is assigned to State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (Bloomington, Illinois, United States).

The following quote was obtained by the news editors from the background information supplied by the inventors: “The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.

“Auto insurance policy rates may be calculated based on a determined risk for the possibility of a claim against the insurance company under the policy. Determining that risk, however, may be difficult. Typically, insurance companies use a number of factors related to the customer, the property to be insured, and environmental factors (e.g., the geographic area the property is located in and the likelihood of claims in that area). However, accurately determining these factors and, thus, determining an accurate measure of risk for a claim, is difficult because the factors are most often reported to the insurance company by the party most likely to benefit under a claim: the customer.”

In addition to the background information obtained for this patent, NewsRx journalists also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent: “This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter.

“Customers may have urgent needs for short or long term auto insurance policies. Traditional methods of purchasing auto insurance may take too much time to complete, and may not provide the customer with the desired coverage term. A dynamic policy module may provide quick and personalized auto insurance options to a potential customer by accurately and quickly communicating possible risk factors to the insurance provider. Additionally, the module may track usage data of a potential customer to provide more accurate policy quotes, audits, and renewals.

“For example, a computer-implemented method may provide for display, a selectable option to track usage data corresponding to a potential customer. In response to receiving a selection to track the usage data, the method may implement a vehicle’s On Board Diagnostic (OBD) device to track usage, or alternatively, the method may track usage via a portable computing device such as a smart phone. The method may track usage of one or more vehicles associated with a potential customer. Usage data which is useful for calculating insurance policy quotes may include mileage data, speed data, time data, driving characteristics, etc. The method may then receive all usage data and other data associated with a potential customer, along with a selected coverage type. The method may then analyze the usage and other data, and based on the coverage type, determine price quotes for various insurance policies. The method may then receive a purchase transaction, and continue to track usage until the policy has been determined to expire. The method may then reanalyze the data and create new policy quotes for the potential customer.

“In other embodiments, a computer device may track usage data corresponding to a potential customer, and in turn create insurance policy quotes for said potential customer. The computer device may comprise one or more processors and one or more memories coupled to the one or more processors. The one or more memories may include computer executable instructions stored therein that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform a plurality of functions. For example, the functions may cause an On Board Diagnostic (OBD) device to track usage, or alternatively, the functions may track usage via a portable computing device such as a smart phone. The functions may then cause the one or more processors to track usage of one or more vehicles associated with a potential customer. Usage data which is useful for calculating insurance policy quotes may include mileage data, speed data, time data, driving characteristics, etc. The functions may then cause the one or more processors to receive all usage data and other data associated with a potential customer, along with a selected coverage type. The functions may then cause the one or more processors to analyze the usage and other data, and based on the coverage type, determine price quotes for various insurance policies. The functions may then cause the one or more processors to receive a purchase transaction, and continue to track usage until the policy has been determined to expire. Finally, the functions may then cause the one or more processors to then reanalyze the data and create new policy quotes for the potential customer.

“In still other embodiments, a tangible computer-readable medium may include non-transitory computer readable instructions stored thereon to track usage data corresponding to a potential customer, and in turn create insurance policy quotes for said potential customer. For example, the instructions may cause an On Board Diagnostic (OBD) system to track usage, or alternatively, the instructions may track usage via a portable computing device such as a smart phone. The instructions may then comprise tracking usage of one or more vehicles associated with a potential customer. Usage data which is useful for calculating insurance policy quotes may include mileage data, speed data, time data, driving characteristics, etc. The instructions may then comprise receiving all usage data and other data associated with a potential customer, along with a selected coverage type. The instructions may then comprise analyzing the usage and other data, and based on one or more coverage types, determining price quotes for various insurance policies. The instructions may then comprise receiving a purchase transaction, and continuing to track usage until the policy has been determined to expire. Finally, the instructions may then comprise reanalyzing the data and creating new policy quotes for the potential customer.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A computer-implemented method for creating one or more new insurance policy quotes for a customer based at least in part on usage data corresponding to a customer vehicle to be insured by an insurance policy, the method comprising: receiving, from the software application executing on a mobile computing device by one or more processors, a coverage type for the customer vehicle; receiving, by a software application executing on the mobile computing device, a selection to track usage data corresponding to the coverage type for the customer vehicle; tracking, by the software application executing on the mobile computing device, in conjunction with one or more vehicle sensors, the usage data corresponding to the coverage type for the customer vehicle; receiving, from the software application executing on the mobile computing device by one or more processors, the usage data; using, by the one or more processors, at least the usage data to calculate the one or more new insurance policy quotes corresponding to the coverage type for the customer vehicle; and transmitting the one or more new insurance policy quotes to the software application executing on the mobile computing device, wherein the one or more new insurance policy quotes are displayed in a user-interface of the mobile computing device.

“2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the usage data is used to determine one or more of: a number of times the customer enters or exits the customer vehicle, a total idle time for the customer vehicle, a total driving time for the customer vehicle, a number of times the customer vehicle enters and exits a particular location, a frequency of driving events, a severity of driving events, an average miles per gallon the customer vehicle achieves, a carbon footprint the customer vehicle achieves, a location of the customer vehicle, a number or percent of times the customer vehicle surpasses a speed limit threshold a crime statistic along a travel route, a weather event along the travel route, or an accident report along the travel route.

“3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the usage data is used to determine a distance traveled by the customer vehicle.

“4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the usage data is used to determine a travel route of the customer vehicle.

“5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the usage data is used to determine a measure of traffic along a customer travel route.

“6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising: sending, by the one or more processors, a prompt to the software application executing on the mobile computing device of the customer, the prompt to take a photo of the odometer of the customer vehicle; and analyzing, by the one or more processors, the photo at one or more of the software application executing on the mobile computing device or a backend server to determine a set of numbers from the photo, wherein the set of numbers indicates a mileage of the customer vehicle.

“7. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, wherein sending, by the one or more processors, the prompt to the software application executing on the mobile computing device of the customer, the prompt to take the photo of the odometer of the customer vehicle includes: sending at periodic intervals, by the one or more processors, the prompt to the software application executing on the mobile computing device of the customer, the prompt to take the photo of the odometer of the customer vehicle.

“8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving, by the one or more processors, a purchase transaction of a calculated insurance policy quote from the customer.

“9. A dynamic insurance policy system configured to create one or more new insurance policy quotes for a customer based at least in part on usage data corresponding to a customer vehicle to be insured by an insurance policy, the system comprising: a data system server including one or more processors and one or more memories, the memories including instructions executed on the one or more processors to: provide for display on a software application executing on a mobile computing device, a selectable option to track usage data corresponding to a coverage type for the customer vehicle; track, via the software application executing on the mobile computing device within the customer vehicle, the usage data corresponding to the coverage type for the customer vehicle; receive the usage data corresponding to the customer vehicle and other data corresponding to the customer; use the usage data received and the other data received to calculate the one or more new insurance policy quotes corresponding to the coverage type for the customer vehicle; and transmit the one or more new insurance policy quotes to the software application executing on the mobile computing device, wherein the one or more new insurance policy quotes are displayed in a user-interface of the software application executing on the mobile computing device.

“10. The computer system of claim 9, wherein the usage data further includes speed data, time data, and driving characteristics.

“11. The computer system of claim 9, wherein the usage data is used to determine one or more of: a number of times the customer vehicle is turned on and off, a number of times the customer enters or exits the customer vehicle, a total idle time for the customer vehicle, a total driving time for the customer vehicle, a number of times the customer vehicle enters and exits a particular location, a frequency of driving events, a severity of driving events, an average miles per gallon the customer vehicle achieves, a carbon footprint the customer vehicle achieves, a location of the customer vehicle, a number or percent of times the customer vehicle surpasses a speed limit threshold, a crime statistic along a travel route, a weather event along the travel route, or an accident report along the travel route.

“12. The computer system of claim 9, wherein the usage data is used to determine a distance traveled by the customer vehicle.

“13. The computer system of claim 9, wherein the usage data is used to determine a travel route of the customer vehicle.

“14. The computer system of claim 9, wherein the usage data is used to determine a measure of traffic along a customer travel route.

“15. The computer system of claim 9, wherein the usage data and the other data is further received through one or more databases of customer information.

“16. A tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium including non-transitory computer readable instructions stored thereon for creating one or more new insurance policy quotes for a customer based at least in part on usage data corresponding to a customer vehicle to be insured by an insurance policy the instructions to: provide for display on a software application executing on a mobile computing device, a selectable option to track usage data corresponding to a coverage type for the customer vehicle; receive, via the software application executing on the mobile computing device, a selection to track usage data corresponding to the coverage type for the customer vehicle; track, via the software application executing on the mobile computing device, the usage data corresponding to the coverage type for the customer vehicle; receive from the software application executing on the mobile computing device the usage data corresponding to the customer vehicle and other data corresponding to the customer; use the usage data received and the other data received to calculate the one or more new insurance policy quotes corresponding to the coverage type for the customer vehicle; and transmit the one or more new insurance policy quotes to the software application executing on the mobile computing device, wherein the one or more new insurance policy quotes are displayed in a user-interface of the mobile computing device.

“17. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the usage data is used to determine one or more of: a frequency of driving events, a severity of driving events, a travel route of the customer vehicle, a crime statistic along a travel route, a measure of traffic along the travel route, a weather event along the travel route, or an accident report along the travel route.”

URL and more information on this patent, see: Binion, Todd. Dynamic auto insurance policy quote creation based on tracked user data. U.S. Patent Number 11315189, filed April 30, 2018, and published online on April 26, 2022. 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=11315189.PN.&OS=PN/11315189RS=PN/11315189

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