Patent Issued for System And Method To Interactively Update Insurance Information Based On Vehicle Modifications (USPTO 10,380,697)

2019 AUG 23 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- United Services Automobile Association (San Antonio, Texas, United States) has been issued patent number 10,380,697, according to news reporting originating out of Alexandria, Virginia, by NewsRx editors.

The patent’s inventors are Cartwright, Kevin M. (Boerne, TX); Bevier, Michele (Boerne, TX); Greer, Perry M. (San Antonio, TX).

This patent was filed on April 1, 2016 and was published online on August 26, 2019.

From the background information supplied by the inventors, news correspondents obtained the following quote: “Vehicle owners frequently seek to upgrade a vehicle by exchanging a component with a compatible component of a different make or model. However, unless the insurance company is notified about the upgrade, the vehicle insurance owner is not insured for the increased value of the upgraded component. If the vehicle owner does notify the insurance company of the upgrade, the insurance policy can be upgraded to cover the increased value of the upgraded component. However, the vehicle owner may be uninformed until the insurance policy is in effect, what the effect of the upgrade is on the premium for the insurance policy, or what value the insurance policy would pay out for the vehicle or the upgraded component in the event of a claim for benefits.

“When contemplating an upgrade to a vehicle, the vehicle owner does not have access to insurance information, including how obtaining coverage for an upgraded component would affect the premium for the insurance policy, or what value the insurance policy would pay out for the vehicle or the upgraded component in the event of a claim for benefits. Accordingly, the vehicle owner chooses which component to upgrade and which component type to use for the upgrade without access to the impact of the upgrade on insurance policy premiums or replacement value of the vehicle or the upgraded component in the event of a claim for benefits. Accordingly, there is a need for a vehicle owner to be able to access this information when contemplating a vehicle purchase, vehicle customization, and for a vehicle upgrade.”

Supplementing the background information on this patent, NewsRx reporters 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, a computer system for determining replacement cost associated with a vehicle is described in which a computer system is provided that has a memory configured to store instructions and a processor disposed in communication with the memory. Upon execution of the instructions, the processor is configured to receive identification data relating to a vehicle and acquire an image based on the identification data. The image includes components associated with the vehicle.

“The processor is further configured to provide the image to a user via a graphical user interface (GUI) with at least one component of the vehicle. Each of the components preferably has an associated interactive element of the GUI. In response to user selection of the component via the GUI, the user is prompted to select a component type from a plurality of component types for the component. Upon execution of the instructions, the processor is configured to determine a replacement cost for a selected type of component type, and provide the determined replacement cost that was determined to the user.

“In certain illustrated embodiments, the replacement cost is associated with an insurance policy. The processor upon execution of the instructions can further be configured to determine a premium associated with the insurance policy based on the replacement cost. The processor upon execution of the instructions can further be configured to determine a replacement cost for the vehicle based on the determined replacement cost that was determined for the selected component type. The processor upon execution of the instructions can further be configured to update the image based on the selected component type. The GUI can provide multiple hierarchical prompts to the user to select the component type from a plurality of component types for the component.

“The processor upon execution of the instructions can further be configured to receive a recorded sound file that includes recording of a sound associated with operation of the vehicle, perform analytics on the sound file to determine a second component of the vehicle used to cause the sound. The processor upon execution of the instructions can further be configured to determine a replacement cost for the second component.

“It is to be appreciated the vehicle can be one of a (but is not to be limited to): motorcycle, automobile, boat, plane, or another recreational vehicle. For instance, the component can be one of an exhaust system, wheel, engine, component, transmission component, seat type, chassis component, sound system component, alarm component, and instrumentation component. The component type can be one of a model, make, grade, and style of the selected component. In certain illustrated embodiments, the user can select a plurality of components.

“In a further aspect, a computer system for determining replacement cost associated with a vehicle is described in which a computer system is provided that has a memory configured to store instructions and a processor disposed in communication with the memory. Upon execution of the instructions, the processor is configured to access an image of the customized vehicle, perform optical analytics on the image to detect at least one component of the vehicle, determine a replacement cost for the at least one component, and provide the determined replacement cost that was determined to a user.

“In a further aspect, a computer system for determining replacement cost associated with a vehicle is described in which a computer system is provided that has a memory configured to store instructions and a processor disposed in communication with the memory. Upon execution of the instructions, the processor is configured to receive a recorded sound file that includes a recording of a sound associated with operation of the vehicle and perform analytics on the sound file to determine a component of the vehicle used to cause the sound.

“In embodiments, the processor upon execution of the instructions can further be configured to determine a replacement cost for the component that was determined, and provide the replacement cost that was determined to the user.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“What is claimed is:

“1. A computer system for determining replacement cost associated with a vehicle, the computer system comprising: a memory configured to store instructions; a processor disposed in communication with the memory, wherein the processor upon execution of the instructions is configured to: receive identification data relating to a vehicle; acquire an initial shell image based on the identification data, the initial shell image having components associated with the vehicle; provide the initial shell image to a user via a graphical user interface (GUI) with at least one interactive component of the vehicle, each of the at least one interactive component having an associated interactive element of the GUI; in response to user selection of the interactive component, provide by the GUI multiple hierarchical prompts for the user to select a custom component type from a plurality of the component types for the component; in response to providing the multiple hierarchical prompts via the GUI, prompt the user to select the custom component type from a plurality of component types for the component; generate a customized shell image based on the initial shell image and the custom component type; provide the customized shell image to a user via the GUI with the at least one interactive component of the vehicle; determine a replacement cost for a selected custom component type; determine a premium associated with an insurance policy covering the vehicle, wherein the premium is based on a difference between the replacement cost for the selected custom component and an associated standard component from an initial set of components represented in the initial shell; and provide the premium to the user via the GUI.

“2. The computer system as recited in claim 1, wherein the processor upon execution of the instructions is further configured to determine a replacement cost for the vehicle based on the replacement cost that was determined for the selected custom component type, wherein the premium is further based on the replacement cost.

“3. The computer system as recited in claim 1, wherein the vehicle is one of a: motorcycle, automobile boat, plane, or other recreational vehicle.

“4. The computer system as recited in claim 1, wherein the custom component is one of an exhaust system, wheel, engine component transmission component, seat type, chassis component, sound system component, alarm component, and instrumentation component.

“5. The computer system as recited in claim 1, wherein the custom component type is one of a model, make, grade, and style of the selected component.

“6. The computer system as recited in claim 1, wherein the user selects a plurality of interactive components.

“7. The computer system as recited in claim 1, wherein the processor upon execution of the instructions is further configured to: determine orientation and sizing for the custom component type before generating the customized shell image.

“8. A computer system for determining replacement cost associated with a customized vehicle, the computer system comprising: a memory configured to store instructions; a processor disposed in communication with the memory, wherein the processor upon execution of the instructions is configured to: access an image of the customized vehicle; perform image processing on the image to generate a shell of the customized vehicle, wherein the shell of the customized vehicle is associated with an initial set of components for a model of the customized vehicle; perform image processing on the image to detect a customized component of the vehicle, wherein the customized component is not within the initial set of components; update the shell based on detection of the customized component; determine a replacement cost for the customized component; determine a premium associated with an insurance policy covering the vehicle, wherein the premium is based on a difference between the replacement cost for the customized component and an associated standard component from the initial set of components; and provide the premium to a user.

“9. The computer system as recited in claim 8, wherein the replacement cost is associated with an insurance policy.

“10. The computer system as recited in claim 9, wherein the processor upon execution of the instructions is further configured to determine a premium associated with the insurance policy based on the replacement cost.

“11. The computer system as recited in claim 8, wherein the processor upon execution of the instructions is further configured to determine a replacement cost for the vehicle based on the determined replacement cost.

“12. The computer system as recited in claim 8, wherein the processor upon execution of the instructions is further configured to: determine orientation and sizing for the customized component before updating the shell.

“13. A method, comprising: receiving, at a computer system, identification data relating to a vehicle; acquiring an initial shell image based on the identification data, the initial shell image having components associated with the vehicle; providing the initial shell image to a user via a graphical user interface (GUI) with at least one interactive component of the vehicle, each of the at least one interactive component having an associated interactive element of the GUI; in response to user selection of the interactive component, providing by the GUI multiple hierarchical prompts for the user to select a custom component type from a plurality of the component types for the component; in response to providing the multiple hierarchical prompts via the GUI, prompting the user to select the custom component type from a plurality of component types for the component; generating a customized shell image based on the initial shell image and the custom component type; providing the customized shell image to a user via the GUI with the at least one interactive component of the vehicle; determining a replacement cost for a selected custom component type; determining a premium associated with an insurance policy covering the vehicle, wherein the premium is based on a difference between the replacement cost for the selected custom component and an associated standard component from an initial set of components; and providing the premium to the user via the GUI.

“14. The method as recited in claim 13, further comprising: determining orientation and sizing for the custom component type before generating the customized shell image.

“15. The method of claim 13, further comprising: determining a replacement cost for the vehicle based on the replacement cost that was determined for the selected custom component type, wherein the premium is further based on the replacement cost.

“16. The method of claim 13, wherein the vehicle is one of a: motorcycle, automobile boat, plane, or other recreational vehicle.

“17. The method of claim 13, wherein the custom component is one of an exhaust system, wheel, engine component transmission component, seat type, chassis component, sound system component, alarm component, and instrumentation component.

“18. The method of claim 13, wherein the custom component type is one of a model, make, grade, and style of the selected component.

“19. The method of claim 13, wherein the user selects a plurality of interactive components.”

For the URL and additional information on this patent, see: Cartwright, Kevin M.; Bevier, Michele; Greer, Perry M. System And Method To Interactively Update Insurance Information Based On Vehicle Modifications. U.S. Patent Number 10,380,697, filed April 1, 2016, and published online on August 26, 2019. 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=10,380,697.PN.&OS=PN/10,380,697RS=PN/10,380,697

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