Patent Issued for Feedback loop in mobile damage assessment and claims processing (USPTO 11625791): Allstate Insurance Company

2023 APR 27 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- From Alexandria, Virginia, NewsRx journalists report that a patent by the inventors Brandmaier, Jennifer A. (Chicago, IL, US), Campbell, Joshua E. (Chicago, IL, US), Faga, Mark E. (Evanston, IL, US), Johnson, Robert H. (Hoffman Estates, IL, US), Ramirez, Philip Peter (Arlington Heights, IL, US), Stricker, Kurt M. (Northfield, IL, US), filed on December 14, 2020, was published online on April 11, 2023.

The patent’s assignee for patent number 11625791 is Allstate Insurance Company (Northbrook, Illinois, United States).

News editors 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, while consumers may take advantage of conventional claims processing to determine if they will receive any compensation for loss associated with an item, consumers have traditionally had very few options for obtaining advice associated with loss prior to submission of an insurance claim. Moreover, traditional claims processing often requires multiple actors sharing numerous documents. Accordingly, there may be a need for efficient claims processing to better serve customers.”

As a supplement to the background information on this patent, NewsRx correspondents 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 application stored on the mobile device may be used to capture the data related to the damage. Once the mobile device transmits the captured data, for instance as a part of a claim submission, one or more portions of the application used to capture the data may be locked.

“In another aspect of the disclosure, the enhanced claims processing server may send one or more messages to the mobile device that instruct a user to capture additional data related to the damage. One or more portions of the application used to capture data may be unlocked such that the user may capture additional data in accordance with the instructions.

“Aspects of the disclosure also involve receiving data about an insured item, such as photos of a vehicle, and annotating the received data. In an embodiment, damage annotations may be added to received photos that indicate, for example, a type and a severity for damage displayed in the photos. One or more interfaces, such as a lens, may be displayed to a user such that the interfaces adjust the display of the received photos. In an example, a touch screen display may be used to generate one or more annotations.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A mobile computing device comprising: a processor; a wireless network interface; a camera; a display screen; and a memory in signal communication with the processor and storing computer-readable instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the mobile computing device at least to: present, on the display screen, a viewfinder that depicts a real-time image of a damaged object captured by the camera; display, within the viewfinder, a graphical visual aid overlaid on the real-time image, wherein the graphical visual aid indicates the real-time image of the damaged object is properly positioned within the viewfinder based on a portion of the damaged object substantially aligning with at least a portion of the graphical visual aid; capture, via the camera, a first image of the damaged object; send, via the wireless network interface and to an insurance claim processing server, the first image; receive, via the wireless network interface, a request for an additional image of the damaged object; obtain, using the camera and in response to the request, a second image of the damaged object; and send, using the wireless network interface and to the insurance claim processing server, the second image of the damaged object.

“2. The mobile computing device of claim 1, wherein the computer-readable instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the mobile computing device to: present, on the display screen and within the viewfinder, a second visual marker indicating a second location at which to position the damaged object within the viewfinder.

“3. The mobile computing device of claim 1, wherein the computer-readable instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the mobile computing device to: present, on the display screen, an instruction describing a type of image to be captured.

“4. The mobile computing device of claim 1, wherein the portion of the damaged object is a lateral side of the damaged object.

“5. The mobile computing device of claim 1, wherein the computer-readable instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the mobile computing device to: present, on the display screen, a summary of one or more insurance claims initiated by a user.

“6. The mobile computing device of claim 1, wherein the portion of the damaged object is a front side of the damaged object.

“7. The mobile computing device of claim 1, wherein the damaged object comprises a vehicle.

“8. A method performed by a computing device, comprising: presenting, on a display screen of the computing device, a viewfinder that depicts a real-time image of a damaged object captured by a camera of the computing device; displaying, within the viewfinder, a graphical visual aid overlaid on the real-time image, wherein the graphical visual aid indicates the real-time image of the damaged object is properly positioned within the viewfinder based on a portion of the damaged object substantially aligning with at least a portion of the graphical visual aid; capturing, via the camera, a first image of the damaged object; sending, via a wireless network interface and to an insurance claim processing server, the first image; capturing, using the camera and in response to a request for an additional image of the damaged object, a second image of the damaged object; and sending, using the wireless network interface and to the insurance claim processing server, the second image of the damaged object.

“9. The method of claim 8, further comprising: presenting, on the display screen and within the viewfinder, a second visual marker indicating a second location at which to position the damaged object within the viewfinder.

“10. The method of claim 8, further comprising: presenting, on the display screen, an instruction describing a type of image to be captured.

“11. The method of claim 8, wherein the portion of the damaged object is a lateral side of the damaged object.

“12. The method of claim 8, further comprising: presenting, on the display screen, a summary of one or more insurance claims initiated by a user.

“13. The method of claim 8, wherein the portion of the damaged object is a front side of the damaged object.

“14. The method of claim 8, wherein the damaged object comprises a vehicle.

“15. A system comprising: an insurance claim processing server configured to receive one or more images from a mobile computing device; and the mobile computing device, wherein the mobile computing device comprises: a processor; a wireless network interface; a camera; a display screen; and a memory in signal communication with the processor and storing computer-readable instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the mobile computing device at least to: present, on the display screen, a viewfinder that depicts a real-time image of a damaged object captured by the camera; display, within the viewfinder, a graphical visual aid overlaid on the real-time image, wherein the graphical visual aid indicates the real-time image of the damaged object is properly positioned within the viewfinder based on a portion of the damaged object substantially aligning with at least a portion of the graphical visual aid; send, via the wireless network interface and to an insurance claim processing server, a first image captured by the camera; receive, via the wireless network interface, a request for an additional image of the damaged object; obtain, using the camera and in response to the request, a second image of the damaged object; and send, using the wireless network interface and to the insurance claim processing server, the second image of the damaged object.

“16. The system of claim 15, wherein the computer-readable instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the mobile computing device to: present, on the display screen and within the viewfinder, a second visual marker indicating a second location at which to position the damaged object within the viewfinder.

“17. The system of claim 15, wherein the computer-readable instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the mobile computing device to: present, on the display screen, an instruction describing a type of image to be captured.

“18. The system of claim 15, wherein the portion of the damaged object is a lateral side of the damaged object.

“19. The system of claim 15, wherein the computer-readable instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the mobile computing device to: present, on the display screen, a summary of one or more insurance claims initiated by a user.

“20. The system of claim 15, wherein the portion of the damaged object is a front side of the damaged object.”

For additional information on this patent, see: Brandmaier, Jennifer A. Feedback loop in mobile damage assessment and claims processing. U.S. Patent Number 11625791, filed December 14, 2020, and published online on April 11, 2023. Patent URL (for desktop use only): https://ppubs.uspto.gov/pubwebapp/external.html?q=(11625791)&db=USPAT&type=ids

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