Patent Issued for Systems and methods for utilizing imaging informatics (USPTO 11941702): United Services Automobile Association

2024 APR 15 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- A patent by the inventors Allen, Michael J. (San Antonio, TX, US), Devereaux, Ramsey (San Antonio, TX, US), Franck, David S. (San Antonio, TX, US), Read, Spencer (Helotes, TX, US), Swain, Kathleen L. (Peoria, AZ, US), Wheeler, Daniela (Boerne, TX, US), filed on November 30, 2016, was published online on March 26, 2024, according to news reporting originating from Alexandria, Virginia, by NewsRx correspondents.

Patent number 11941702 is assigned to United Services Automobile Association (San Antonio, Texas, United States).

The following quote was obtained by the news editors from the background information supplied by the inventors: “Smart house functionality is a maturing space, but the opportunity for insurance companies remains largely untapped. For example, insurance policies, such as home insurance policies, may not be reflective of the true nature of the risks being insured based on information made available via the smart house.”

In addition to the background information obtained for this patent, NewsRx journalists 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 described is a computer device and method for processing insurance claims utilizing informatic data received from one or more informatic camera sensor devices configured to capture imagery data relating to an insured property. Analysis is performed on the received imagery informatic data to determine an assessment variable regarding the insured property. An insurance policy associated with the insured property is also received by the computer and analyzed to determine insurance coverage terms and conditions for the insured property. Predefined business rules are preferably applied by the computer using at least the determined assessment variable and the determined insurance coverage terms and conditions for the insured property to determine an event relating to the insurance policy associated with the insured property.

“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: a plurality of camera devices configured to acquire image data associated with a property; a sensor configured to acquire sensor data associated with an interior portion of a structure on the property, wherein the sensor is one of a temperature sensor, a humidity sensor, a motion sensor, a smoke detector, a water pressure sensor, a gas detection sensor, a water flow sensor, a water detection sensor, a leak detection sensor, a wind speed sensor, an air pressure sensor, an electrical system sensor, a structural sensor, or an environmental sensor; and a processor configured to: receive the image data from the plurality of camera devices; receive the sensor data from the sensor; receive insurance policy data associated with the property from a database; analyze the image data and the insurance policy data by comparing the image data with at least one previous image of the property; adjust one or more terms of the insurance policy data using an object recognition technique to determine an updated value for the property based on a comparison between a first set of objects depicted in the image data and a second set of objects depicted in the at least one previous image; identify a location of damage in an area of the property based on a comparison between the image data with the at least one previous image and based on the sensor data, wherein the area of the property corresponds to the interior portion of the structure on the property; identify a type of damage associated with the area of the property based on the comparison between the image data and the at least one previous image and based on the sensor data; determine whether an object of the first set of objects is located within the area of the property, wherein the object corresponds to an item of personal property; and request a repair quote for the object in response to the location of damage being in the area of the property, the type of damage, and determining that the object is located within the area.

“2. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to: identify a qualification deductible based the comparison and the insurance policy data, wherein the qualification deductible corresponds to a deductible that the insurance policy data is qualified to receive; and adjust the one or more terms of the insurance policy data based on the qualification deductible.

“3. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to adjust a frequency at which the plurality of camera devices acquire the image data based on analyzing the image data.

“4. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to send a notification indicative of the one or more terms to a computing device associated with the property.

“5. The system of claim 1, comprising a computing device configured to communicate the image data to the processor, wherein the computing device is separate from the processor.

“6. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more terms comprise a premium deductible, a coverage amount, a coverage type, or any combination thereof.

“7. The system of claim 1, wherein the image data is indicative of one or more risks associated with the property, a detection of a structural alteration of the property, or any combination thereof.

“8. The system of claim 1, wherein the image data comprises at least one thermal image associated with the property.

“9. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to: determine a number of occupants within the property based on an identification of one or more individuals depicted in the image data and based on one or more time durations in which the one or more individuals are within the property; and adjust one or more terms of the insurance policy data based on an additional comparison between the number of occupants and a threshold number of occupants.”

URL and more information on this patent, see: Allen, Michael J. Systems and methods for utilizing imaging informatics. U.S. Patent Number 11941702, filed November 30, 2016, and published online on March 26, 2024. Patent URL (for desktop use only): https://ppubs.uspto.gov/pubwebapp/external.html?q=(11941702)&db=USPAT&type=ids

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