Patent Issued for Streamlined property insurance application and renewal process (USPTO 11120506): United Services Automobile Association

2021 SEP 30 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- According to news reporting originating from Alexandria, Virginia, by NewsRx journalists, a patent by the inventors Allen, Michael J. (San Antonio, TX, US), Davis, Mark (Boerne, TX, US), Devereaux, Ramsey (San Antonio, TX, US), Read, Spencer (Helotes, TX, US), Swain, Kathleen L. (Peoria, AZ, US), filed on November 30, 2016, was published online on September 14, 2021.

The assignee for this patent, patent number 11120506, is United Services Automobile Association (San Antonio, Texas, United States).

Reporters obtained the following quote from the background information supplied by the inventors: “Smart house functionality is a maturing space, but the opportunity for insurance companies remains largely untapped. Thus, the terms of insurance policies, such as homeowner insurance policies, may not be reflective of the true nature of the risks being insured.

“Another maturing space concerns satellite imagery. As the number of satellites increases, the more satellite imagery is becoming available to the public. As a result, satellite imagery systems or image draped systems, such as, Google Earth, are becoming more popular. Using Google Earth, a user can view satellite imagery, 3D terrain, and Geographic Information Services (GIS) data such as roads and political boundaries which can be stored in a central database. Google Earth can also display information from other public sources.

“In this regard, there is utility and functionality to be provided by aggregating smart home functionality with satellite imagery and other insurance related data to facilitate rapid decision making processes.”

In addition to obtaining background information on this patent, NewsRx editors also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent: “The purpose and advantages of the below described illustrated embodiments will be set forth in and apparent from the description that follows. Additional advantages of the illustrated embodiments will be realized and attained by the devices, systems and methods particularly pointed out in the written description and claims hereof, as well as from the appended drawings.

“To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the illustrated embodiments, in one aspect, disclosed is an improved and efficient insurance data gathering process contingent upon captured image and informatics sensor data. The captured image data may be used to facilitate rapid insurance-related decisions. In regards to a decision to be rendered regarding a property insurance policy (e.g., insurance policy renewal, obtaining a new insurance policy and receiving a quote for an insurance policy), at least one image is preferably retrieved which is associated with the property. The retrieved at least one image may be utilized for property identification purposes. One or more accounts associated with the insured (e.g., homeowner’s insurance policy, automobile insurance policy, life insurance policy and investment account (401K)) are identified and one or more risks characteristics are identified regarding the insured. Preferably, the one or more risks characteristics for the insured are identified via analysis of informatic data received from one or more informatic sensor devices associated with the property. The one or more accounts may be mutually exclusive of the insurance policy to which the decision is to be rendered. An aggregated dataset is provided from the at least one image, one or more accounts and risk characteristics associated with the insured. Predictive analysis is performed on the aggregated dataset to render a risk profile for the insured regarding an insurance policy for the property. A decision is rendered regarding the insured and the insurance policy based upon the rendered risk profile.

“In another aspect, retrieving the at least one image includes determining if an image associated with the property is available from a stored location (e.g., a database), and if not, an image associated with the property is obtained in real time from a camera device. Additionally, it is to be appreciated retrieving at least one image may include determining one or more risk characteristics for the property via analysis of the at least one image and may also include rendering a 3D model representative of the property from a retrieved image.

“This summary section is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described subsequently in the detailed description section. This summary section 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.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A system, comprising: one or more dwelling sensors configured to generate sensor data representative of one or more environmental characteristics of a dwelling; an analysis server configured to: receive the sensor data from the one or more dwelling sensors; receive additional sensor data from other dwellings in a common geographical area to the dwelling; generate a geographical assessment of the common geographical area using the sensor data and the additional sensor data, by: averaging values of the sensor data and the additional sensor data to derive an averaged value; and determining a characteristic of the geographical area based upon the averaged value, wherein the geographical assessment is based upon the characteristic of the geographical area; generate a dwelling assessment based upon the sensor data and the geographical assessment; determine a condition of the dwelling based upon the sensor data; and update the dwelling assessment based upon the condition of the dwelling; a policy analysis service configured to: receive the dwelling assessment; determine potential perils for the dwelling based upon the dwelling assessment; determine potential insurance policy adjustments based upon the dwelling assessment and the potential perils; determine whether an insurance policy discount should be added as one of the potential insurance policy adjustments, based at least in part upon: an insured offering sensor data to the analysis server, the insured performing routine dwelling maintenance, or both; and present the potential insurance policy adjustments via an electronic communication.

“2. The system of claim 1, wherein the geographical assessment comprises an indication of a general level of risk in the common geographical area.

“3. The system of claim 2, wherein the risk comprises a wind damage risk level derived from the sensor data and the additional sensor data, the sensor data and the additional sensor data comprising data representative of wind conditions over a period of time, in the common geographical area.

“4. The system of claim 3, wherein the wind conditions over the period of time, in the common geographical area, are averaged to derive the wind damage risk.

“5. The system of claim 1, wherein the sensor data and the additional sensor data: comprises insect infestation data in the common geographical area and the geographical assessment comprises an indication of a structural integrity risk associated with insect infestations in the common geographical area; or both.

“6. The system of claim 1, wherein the analysis server is configured to: determine a condition of the dwelling based upon the sensor data; and update the dwelling assessment based upon the condition of the dwelling.

“7. The system of claim 1, wherein the analysis server is configured to: determine whether one or more cooking appliances are left unattended for an extended period of time, while on, based upon the sensor data, by: identifying an activity of an operator of the one or more cooking appliances; determining a status of the one or more cooking appliances; and identifying that the one or more cooking appliances are left unattended for the extended period of time when the activity indicates that the operator, for at least a threshold amount of time, is not proximate to the one or more cooking appliances and the status indicates that the one or more cooking appliances is on; and update the dwelling assessment based upon whether the cooking appliances are left unattended for an extended period of time.

“8. The system of claim 1, wherein the policy analysis service is configured to: determine potential perils for the dwelling based upon the dwelling assessment; and determine the potential insurance policy adjustments based upon the potential perils.

“9. The system of claim 8, wherein the policy analysis service is configured to determine whether an insurance policy discount should be added as one of the potential insurance policy adjustments, based at least in part upon: an insured offering sensor data to the analysis server, the insured performing routine dwelling maintenance, or both.

“10. The system of claim 8, wherein the policy analysis service is configured to determine coverage adjustments as one of the potential insurance policy adjustments.

“11. The system of claim 8, wherein the policy analysis service is configured to determine premium adjustments as one of the potential insurance policy adjustments.

“12. A tangible, non-transitory, machine-readable medium, comprising machine-readable instructions to: receive sensor data from one or more dwelling sensors configured to generate sensor data representative of one or more environmental characteristics of a dwelling; receive additional sensor data from other dwellings in a common geographical area to the dwelling; generate a geographical assessment of the common geographical area using the sensor data and the additional sensor data, by: averaging values of the sensor data and the additional sensor data to derive an averaged value; and determining a characteristic of the geographical area based upon the averaged value, wherein the geographical assessment is based upon the characteristic of the geographical area; generate a dwelling assessment based upon the sensor data and the geographical assessment; determining a condition of the dwelling based upon the sensor data; updating the dwelling assessment based upon the condition of the dwelling; determining potential perils for the dwelling based upon the dwelling assessment; determine potential insurance policy adjustments based upon the dwelling assessment and the potential perils; determining whether an insurance policy discount should be added as one of the potential insurance policy adjustments, based at least in part upon: an insured offering sensor data, the insured performing routine dwelling maintenance, or both; and present the potential insurance policy adjustments via an electronic communication.

“13. The machine-readable medium of claim 12, comprising instructions to: determine a condition of the dwelling based upon the sensor data; and update the dwelling assessment based upon the condition of the dwelling.

“14. The machine-readable medium of claim 12, comprising instructions to: determine whether one or more cooking appliances are left unattended for an extended period of time, while on, based upon the sensor data, by: identifying an activity of an operator of the one or more cooking appliances; determining a status of the one or more cooking appliances; and identifying that the one or more cooking appliances are left unattended for the extended period of time when the activity indicates that the operator, for at least a threshold amount of time, is not proximate to the one or more cooking appliances and the status indicates that the one or more cooking appliances is on; and update the dwelling assessment based upon whether the cooking appliances are left unattended for an extended period of time.

“15. The machine-readable medium of claim 12, comprising instructions to: determine potential perils for the dwelling based upon the dwelling assessment; and determine the potential insurance policy adjustments based upon the potential perils.

“16. The machine-readable medium of claim 12, comprising instructions to: determine the potential insurance policy adjustments, wherein the potential insurance policy adjustments comprise: a discount, a coverage limit modification, a premium modification, or any combination thereof.

“17. A method, comprising: receiving sensor data from one or more dwelling sensors configured to generate sensor data representative of one or more environmental characteristics of a dwelling; receiving additional sensor data from other dwellings in a common geographical area to the dwelling; generating a geographical assessment of the common geographical area using the sensor data and the additional sensor data, by: averaging values of the sensor data and the additional sensor data to derive an averaged value; and determining a characteristic of the geographical area based upon the averaged value, wherein the geographical assessment is based upon the characteristic of the geographical area; generating a dwelling assessment based upon the sensor data and the geographical assessment; determining a condition of the dwelling based upon the sensor data; and updating the dwelling assessment based upon the condition of the dwelling; determining potential perils for the dwelling based upon the dwelling assessment; determining potential insurance policy adjustments based upon the dwelling assessment and the potential perils; determining whether an insurance policy discount should be added as one of the potential insurance policy adjustments, based at least in part upon: an insured offering sensor data, the insured performing routine dwelling maintenance, or both; and presenting the potential insurance policy adjustments via an electronic communication.

“18. The method of claim 17, comprising: determining the potential insurance policy adjustments, wherein the potential insurance policy adjustments comprise: a discount, a coverage limit modification, a premium modification, or any combination thereof.”

For more information, see this patent: Allen, Michael J. Streamlined property insurance application and renewal process. U.S. Patent Number 11120506, filed November 30, 2016, and published online on September 14, 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=11120506.PN.&OS=PN/11120506RS=PN/11120506

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