Patent Issued for Item inventory and item replacement (USPTO 11449945): Liberty Mutual Insurance Company

2022 OCT 06 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- Liberty Mutual Insurance Company (Boston, Massachusetts, United States) has been issued patent number 11449945, according to news reporting originating out of Alexandria, Virginia, by NewsRx editors.

The patent’s inventors are Bernstein, Daniel C. (Boston, MA, US), Capone, Christopher A. (Stoneham, MA, US), George, Matthew (Boston, MA, US), Piccolo, Brian S. (Braintree, MA, US), Quinn, Courtney T. (Boston, MA, US), Tassone, Christopher Ralph (Dover, MA, US).

This patent was filed on October 10, 2019 and was published online on September 20, 2022.

From the background information supplied by the inventors, news correspondents obtained the following quote: “The process for filing and adjusting personal property claims is manual and time consuming. Typically, policyholders or customers must create and validate a list of lost, damaged, or stolen property associated with a claim that is then submitted to a claims adjuster. For items that cannot be priced or replaced by a vendor, the claims adjuster manually conducts an appraisal for each item before a reimbursement is issued to the policyholder or customer. The amount of reimbursement is defined by the replacement value of the original item or an item of like kind and quality. A policyholder may choose to replace the item through a vendor, replace the item himself or herself, or accept a cash value for the item which is calculated/determined as replacement value less depreciation. If the policyholder or insurance customer chooses to replace an item himself or herself, he or she can be reimbursed for the lesser of the purchase price of the item or the established replacement value of the item. Additionally, a policyholder or customer may have purchased one or more items that are not covered under the policyholder or customer’s existing policy. If a loss of one or more of these newer items occurs, the policyholder or customer may be frustrated to learn that items are not covered under the existing policy.

“Thus, there is a need in the art for methods, apparatus, systems, and computer program products for improving the claims process.”

Supplementing the background information on this patent, NewsRx reporters also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent: “In general, embodiments of the present invention provide methods, apparatus, systems, computing devices, computing entities, and/or the like for the improved and efficient filing and processing of insurance claims.

“In various embodiments, the present invention may proactively identify & notify customers of underinsurance scenarios. In various embodiments, the present invention may provide a grace period of coverage for newly purchased items. In various embodiments, an automated, partially automated, and/or electronic method or system for compiling and filing an insurance claim may be provided. In some embodiments, an automated, partially automated, and/or electronic method or system for processing and calculating/determining the claim and/or providing reimbursement may be provided.

“In one aspect of the present invention, a method for automatic processing of an insurance claim. In one embodiment, the method comprises (a) receiving one or more item indicators, each item indicator associated with an item in an insurance claim for an insured party; (b) for a particular item indicator of the one or more item indicators, automatically identifying an item listing associated with the particular item indicator from an item inventory, the item listing identified based at least in part on the particular item indicator; and © indicating the item listing as a replacement item for the particular item. Indicating the item listing as a replacement item for the particular item comprises adding the item listing to an electronic shopping cart.

“In another aspect of the present invention, a system for automatic processing of an insurance claim is provided. In one embodiment, the system comprises at least one memory device and at least one processor. The system is configured to at least (a) receive one or more item indicators, each item indicator associated with an item in an insurance claim for an insured party; (b) for a particular item indicator of the one or more item indicators, automatically identify an item listing associated with the particular item indicator from an item inventory, the item listing identified based at least in part on the particular item indicator; and © indicate the item listing as a replacement item for the particular item. Indicating the item listing as a replacement item for the particular item comprises adding the item listing to an electronic shopping cart.

“In yet another aspect of the present invention, a computer program product for automatic processing of an insurance claim is provided. In one embodiment, the computer program product comprises at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program code portions stored therein. The computer-readable program code portions comprise (a) an executable portion configured to receive one or more item indicators, each item indicator associated with an item in an insurance claim for an insured party; (b) an executable portion configured to receive, for a particular item indicator of the one or more item indicators, automatically identify an item listing associated with the particular item indicator from an item inventory, the item listing identified based at least in part on the particular item indicator; and © an executable portion configured to indicate the item listing as a replacement item for the particular item. Indicating the item listing as a replacement item for the particular item comprising adding the item listing to an electronic shopping cart.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A computer-implemented method for automated generation and population of an item listing of an item inventory, the method comprising: receiving, by a server system via a network interface, one or more item indicators configured to identify an item owned by a user, wherein the one or more item indicators are provided by a user application operating on a user computing entity in communication with the server system and the user application is configured to interface with a graphical user interface of the user computing entity to identify purchase of the item by the user via the graphical user interface and to provide the one or more item indicators responsive to identifying the purchase of the item by the user; responsive to receiving the one or more item indicators, for at least one of the one or more item indicators, analyzing the at least one of the one or more item indicators, by the server system, to automatically identify the corresponding item; automatically requesting and receiving, by the server system, data associated with the item from an external computing entity via an application program interface in communication with a data management application operating on the external computing entity; automatically determining, by the server system and based at least in part on the data associated with the item, a category associated with the item and identifying an item listing template corresponding to the category; automatically generating, by the server system, the item listing corresponding to the item based at least in part on the item listing template corresponding to the category associated with the item; automatically populating, by the server system, one or more fields of the item listing with the data associated with the item, the one or more fields defined at least in part by the item listing template; automatically determining, by the server system and based at least in part on a user profile associated with the item listing and stored by the server system, one or more online catalogs; automatically identifying, by the server system, an online catalog listing corresponding to a replacement item corresponding to the item from at least one of the one or more online catalogs, wherein the at least one of the one or more online catalogs is accessible via an application program interface in communication with a catalog application operating on a retailer system, and associating the catalog listing with the item listing; and storing, by the server system, the item listing in the item inventory associated with the user.

“2. The method of claim 1, wherein the application is a browser plug in corresponding to a browser operating on the user computing entity and the application is configured to modify a webpage viewed through the browser to provide the user with a selectable icon configured to, when a user provides input selecting the selectable icon, automatically provide a corresponding item indicator such that the server system receives the corresponding item indicator.

“3. The method of claim 1, further comprising: responsive to receiving a request for a replacement of the item via the network interface: accessing, by a processor of the server system, the item listing from the item inventory, identifying, by the processor, a replacement item based at least in part on replacement item data stored in a corresponding field of the item listing; and causing, by the processor and via the network interface, a retailer system to automatically populate an electronic shopping cart with the replacement item, wherein the request for a replacement of the item is generated responsive to user interaction with an interactive user interface provided by the application via a user interface of the user computing entity, the user interaction comprising selecting a selectable item icon displayed via the graphical user interface and corresponding to the item.

“4. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more fields are selected from the group consisting of an item value, item dimensions, an item manufacturer, an item quality, an item name, and an item description.

“5. The method of claim 1, further comprising: identifying an insurance policy for the user; and determining if at least one of the items of the item listing is covered under the insurance policy.

“6. The method of claim 5, further comprising, in response to determining that a particular item of the item listing is not covered under the insurance policy, providing a notification to the user that the particular item is not covered under the insurance policy.

“7. The method of claim 6, wherein the notification comprises a quote for an insurance policy that does cover the particular item, the quote being valid for a predetermined time period, the method further comprising: receiving a response during the predetermined time period indicating the user wishes to purchase the quoted insurance policy; and responsive to receiving the response during the predetermined time period, providing the user with interim coverage in accordance with the quoted insurance policy.

“8. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving an insurance claim identifying a particular item of the item listing; and processing the insurance claim based at least in part on the data stored in the one or more fields for the particular item.

“9. A system comprising at least one first memory device, at least one first processor, and a first network interface configured to communicate via at least one network, the system configured to at least: receive, via the at least one network interface, one or more item indicators configured to identify an item owned by a user, wherein the one or more item indicators are provided by a user application operating on a user computing entity in communication with the system and the user application is configured to interface with a graphical user interface of the user computing entity to identify purchase of the item by the user via the graphical user interface and to provide the one or more item indicators responsive to identifying the purchase of the item by the user; responsive to receiving the one or more item indicators, for at least one of the one or more item indicators, analyzing the at least one of the one or more item indicators to automatically identify the corresponding item; automatically requesting and receiving data associated with the item from an external computing entity via an application program interface in communication with a data management application operating on the external computing entity; automatically determining, based at least in part on the data associated with the item, a category associated with the item and identifying an item listing template corresponding to the category; automatically generating the item listing corresponding to the item based at least in part on the item listing template corresponding to the category associated with the item; automatically populating one or more fields of the item listing with the data associated with the item, the one or more fields defined at least in part by the item listing template; automatically determining, based at least in part on a user profile associated with the item listing and stored by the system, one or more online catalogs; automatically identifying an online catalog listing corresponding to a replacement item corresponding to the item from at least one of the one or more online catalogs, wherein the at least one of the one or more online catalogs is accessible via an application program interface in communication with a catalog application operating on a retailer system, and associating the catalog listing with the item listing; and storing the item listing in the item inventory associated with the user.

“10. The system of claim 9, wherein the application is a browser plug in corresponding to a browser operating on the user computing entity and the application is configured to modify a webpage viewed through the browser to provide the user with a selectable icon configured to, when a user provides input selecting the selectable icon, automatically provide a corresponding item indicator such that the server system receives the corresponding item indicator.

“11. The system of claim 9, wherein the system is further configured to at least: responsive to receiving a request for a replacement of the item via the network interface: access the item listing from the item inventory, identify a replacement item based at least in part on replacement item data stored in a corresponding field of the item listing; and cause, via the network interface, a retailer system to automatically populate an electronic shopping cart with the replacement item, wherein the request for a replacement of the item is generated responsive to user interaction with an interactive user interface provided by the application via a user interface of the user computing entity, the user interaction comprising selecting a selectable item icon displayed via the graphical user interface and corresponding to the item.

“12. The system of claim 9, wherein the one or more fields are selected from the group consisting of an item value, item dimensions, an item manufacturer, an item quality, an item name, and an item description.

“13. The system of claim 9, wherein the system is further configured to at least: identify an insurance policy for the user; and determine if at least one of the items of the item listing is covered under the insurance policy.

“14. The system of claim 13, wherein the system is further configured to at least, in response to determining that a particular item of the item listing is not covered under the insurance policy, providing a notification to the user that the particular item is not covered under the insurance policy.”

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

For the URL and additional information on this patent, see: Bernstein, Daniel C. Item inventory and item replacement. U.S. Patent Number 11449945, filed October 10, 2019, and published online on September 20, 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=11449945.PN.&OS=PN/11449945RS=PN/11449945

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