Patent Issued for Traveling-based insurance ratings (USPTO 11783421): Allstate Insurance Company

2023 NOV 01 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- From Alexandria, Virginia, NewsRx journalists report that a patent by the inventors Huls, Eric D. (Chicago, IL, US), filed on June 16, 2016, was published online on October 10, 2023.

The patent’s assignee for patent number 11783421 is Allstate Insurance Company (Northbrook, Illinois, United States).

News editors obtained the following quote from the background information supplied by the inventors: “Insurance companies or providers may utilize telematics data to monitor and analyze driving performance of drivers insured by the insurance companies. Based on collected telematics data, insurance companies may evaluate the driving behaviors of drivers to assess their risk and determine an appropriate insurance cost and premium for each driver. In this way, insurance companies may additionally provide benefits to drivers that engage in safe driving behaviors.

“By monitoring driving performance, insurance companies may be able to predict whether some drivers are more likely than other drivers to engage in high-risk driving which may often result in roadside incidents, such as vehicle breakdowns, accidents, collisions, and the like. For example, it may be particularly beneficial for insurance companies to monitor telematics data for vehicles in which one or more passengers may be riding along with a driver. Distractions from passengers may increase the driver’s risk and the driver’s inclinations to engage in dangerous or unsafe driving behaviors.

“In some cases, it may be beneficial for insurance companies to account for data from drivers, as well as passengers in a vehicle with an insured driver and/or passengers traveling in any mode of transportation (e.g., train, bus, airplane, etc.) in the determination of insurance ratings and premiums. As such, new systems, methods, and devices may be desired in providing customized insurance ratings and premiums and utilizing traveling information for insurance ratings in an improved manner.”

As a supplement to the background information on this patent, NewsRx correspondents also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent: “In light of the foregoing background, the following presents a simplified summary of the present disclosure in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the invention. This summary is not an extensive overview of the invention. It is not intended to identify key or critical elements of the invention or to delineate the scope of the invention. The following summary merely presents some concepts of the invention in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description provided below.

“Aspects of the disclosure address one or more of the issues mentioned above by disclosing computerized methods, systems, devices, and apparatuses for providing traveling-based insurance ratings. For example, a travel-based insurance rating system may determine insurance scores and ratings for a traveler based on data collected during any form of travel (e.g., car, train, bus, airplane, etc.), in which a traveler may be a driver of a vehicle, a passenger in a vehicle, or a passenger in any mode of transportation (e.g., a bus, a train, airplane, spacecraft, etc.). In some arrangements, the travel-based insurance rating system may detect any physical movement of a user, such as by at least one of one or more sensors of a mobile device, by a telematics device associated with a vehicle, or by one or more sensors in a vehicle during a trip. The insurance rating system may provide and adjust insurance rates for travelers based on the collected data, regardless of whether the traveler is a driver of a vehicle, a passenger of a vehicle, a passenger of another mode of transportation, or a user traveling in a bicycle or by foot (e.g., walking, jogging, or running).

“The disclosure describes a system comprising a telematics device associated with a vehicle having one or more sensors arranged therein, a mobile device associated with a passenger of the vehicle, and a server computer comprising hardware including a processor and memory. The server computer may be configured to receive, from the one or more sensors and via the telematics device, driving data of a driver of the vehicle, identify one or more values of the driving data to be within one or more predetermined ranges, wherein the driving data is classified as a trip of the passenger, based on the driving data of the trip, determine one or more driving behaviors of the driver, calculate an insurance rating for the passenger of the vehicle based on the one or more driving behaviors of the driver, and transmit the insurance rating for the passenger to the mobile device.

“The disclosure also describes an apparatus comprising at least one processor, a network interface configured to communicate, via a network, with a telematics device associated with a vehicle having one or more sensors arranged therein and a mobile device associated with a passenger of the vehicle, and a memory storing computer-readable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to receive, from the one or more sensors and via the telematics device, driving data of a driver of the vehicle, identify one or more values of the driving data to be within one or more predetermined ranges, wherein the driving data is classified as a trip of the passenger, based on the driving data from the trip, determine one or more driving behaviors of the driver, calculate an insurance rating for the passenger of the vehicle based on the one or more driving behaviors of the driver, and transmit the insurance rating for the passenger to the mobile device.

“In addition, aspects of this disclosure provide a method that includes receiving, by one or more computing devices, driving data of a driver of a vehicle collected from one or more sensors installed on a mobile device of a passenger associated with the vehicle, identifying, by the one or more computing devices, the driving data to be within one or more predetermined ranges, wherein the driving data is classified as a trip of the passenger, determining, by the one or more computing devices, one or more driving behaviors of the driver based on the driving data from the trip, calculating, by the one or more computing devices, an insurance rating for the passenger based on the one or more driving behaviors of the driver, and transmitting, by the one or more computing devices, the insurance rating for the passenger to the mobile device.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A system comprising: a telematics device associated with a vehicle having a first plurality of sensors arranged therein; a mobile device associated with a first traveler in the vehicle, the mobile device including a second plurality of sensors; and a server computer, comprising hardware including a processor and memory, the server computer configured to: receive, from the mobile device, traveler information associated with the first traveler and a second traveler in the vehicle; receive, from at least one of: the first plurality of sensors or the second plurality of sensors, data regarding a level of sound in the vehicle; determine, from the received traveler information, that the first traveler is a passenger in the vehicle and the second traveler is a driver of the vehicle, determining that the second traveler is a driver of the vehicle is based on the traveler information including identification of the second traveler as a holder of a first insurance policy, the first insurance policy insuring the vehicle, and sensor data indicating a seating position within the vehicle; determine a level of usage of the mobile device by the passenger by detecting push notifications, phone calls, and data usage; receive, from one of: the first plurality of sensors or the second plurality of sensors, real-time travelling data of the vehicle; compare one or more values of the travelling data to one or more predetermined ranges; responsive to determining, based on the comparing, that the one or more values are within a first predetermined range, identify the travelling data as associated with a first type of transportation and classifying the travelling data as a trip of the passenger, the passenger being a holder of a second insurance policy, different from the first insurance policy; responsive to determining that the travelling data is associated with a first type of transportation: based on the travelling data of the trip, determine one or more driving behaviors of the driver of the vehicle for the trip; calculate an insurance rating for the passenger of the vehicle based on the one or more driving behaviors of the driver for the trip and the level of usage of the mobile device based on the detecting of the push notifications, phone calls, and data usage, wherein calculating the insurance rating for the passenger includes: calculating a score for each of the one or more driving behaviors of the driver for the trip; assigning a weight to each score for each of the one or more driving behaviors of the driver for the trip; calculating an overall driving score based on the assigned weights and the scores of each of the one or more driving behaviors of the driver for the trip; and calculating an insurance rating for the passenger, wherein the insurance rating corresponds to the overall driving score of the driver; transmit, in real time, the insurance rating for the passenger to the mobile device; cause, in real time, display of at least one of the push notifications on a first digital page that is output on the mobile device, the at least one push notification including at least a travelling data interactive icon; cause, in real time, display of the insurance rating and the traveling data on a second digital page that is output on the mobile device responsive to a selection of the travelling data interactive icon; and responsive to determining, based on the comparing, that the one or more values are not within the first predetermined range, identify the travelling data as associated with another type of transportation different from the first type of transportation and discarding the travelling data.

“2. The system of claim 1, wherein the first plurality of sensors comprises at least one of an accelerometer, speedometer, gyroscope, and GPS, and wherein the travelling data comprises at least one of data indicating acceleration, speed, angular momentum, and location of the vehicle.

“3. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more predetermined ranges each indicate a range of values of for at least one of vehicle speeds, vehicle locations, vehicle mileage, and average time driven.

“4. The system of claim 1, wherein the server computer is further configured to: calculate the insurance rating for the passenger of the vehicle further based on the data regarding the level of sound in the vehicle and the one or more driving behaviors of the driver for the trip.

“5. The system of claim 1, wherein the server computer is further configured to: calculate the insurance rating for the passenger of the vehicle further based on the level of usage.

“6. The system of claim 1, wherein the telematics device and the mobile device associated with the passenger of the vehicle are a same device.

“7. The system of claim 1, wherein the server computer is further configured to: execute the rating manager application to: access a webpage providing a user interface to request confirmation that the travelling data is associated with the first type of transportation.

“8. The system of claim 1, wherein discarding the travelling data includes deleting the travelling data.

“9. An apparatus comprising: at least one processor; a network interface configured to communicate, via a network, with a telematics device associated with a vehicle having a first plurality of sensors arranged therein and a mobile device associated with a first traveler in the vehicle, the mobile device including a second plurality of sensors; and a memory storing computer-readable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to: receive, from at least one of: the first plurality of sensors or the second plurality of sensors, data regarding a level of sound in the vehicle; receive, from the mobile device associated with the first traveler, traveler information associated with the first traveler and a second traveler in the vehicle; determine, from the received traveler information, that the first traveler is a passenger in the vehicle and the second traveler is a driver of the vehicle, determining that the second traveler is a driver of the vehicle is based on the traveler information including identification of the second traveler as a holder of a first insurance policy, the first insurance policy insuring the vehicle, and sensor data related to a seating position within the vehicle; determine a level of usage of the mobile device by the passenger by detecting push notifications, phone calls, and data usage; receive, from one of: the first plurality of sensors or the second plurality of sensors, real-time travelling data of the vehicle; compare one or more values of the travelling data to one or more predetermined ranges; responsive to determining, based on the comparing, that the one or more values are within a first predetermined range, identify the travelling data as associated with a first type of transportation and classifying the travelling data as a trip of the passenger, the passenger being a holder of a second insurance policy, different from the first insurance policy; responsive to determining that the travelling data is associated with the first type of transportation: based on the travelling data from the trip, determine one or more driving behaviors of the driver of the vehicle for the trip; calculate an insurance rating for the passenger of the vehicle based on the one or more driving behaviors of the driver for the trip and the level of usage of the mobile device based on the detecting of the push notifications, phone calls, and data usage, wherein calculating the insurance rating for the passenger includes: calculating a score for each of the one or more driving behaviors of the driver for the trip; assigning a weight to each score for each of the one or more driving behaviors of the driver for the trip; calculating an overall driving score based on the assigned weights and the scores for each of the one or more driving behaviors of the driver for the trip; and calculating an insurance rating for the passenger, wherein the insurance rating corresponds to the overall driving score of the driver; transmit, in real time, the insurance rating for the passenger to the mobile device; cause, in real time, display of at least one of the push notifications on a first digital page that is output on the mobile device, the at least one push notification including at least a travelling data interactive icon; cause, in real time, display of the insurance rating and the travelling data on a second digital page that is output on the mobile device responsive to a selection of the travelling data interactive icon; and responsive to determining, based on the comparing, that the one or more values are not within the first predetermined range, identify the travelling data as associated with another type of transportation different from the first type of transportation and discarding the travelling data.

“10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the telematics device and the mobile device associated with the passenger of the vehicle are a same device.

“11. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the first plurality of sensors comprises at least one of an accelerometer, speedometer, gyroscope, and GPS, and wherein the travelling data comprises at least one of data indicating acceleration, speed, angular momentum, and location of the vehicle.

“12. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the one or more predetermined ranges each indicate a range of values for at least one of vehicle speeds, vehicle locations, vehicle mileage, and average time driven.”

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

For additional information on this patent, see: Huls, Eric D. Traveling-based insurance ratings. U.S. Patent Number 11783421, filed June 16, 2016, and published online on October 10, 2023. Patent URL (for desktop use only): https://ppubs.uspto.gov/pubwebapp/external.html?q=(11783421)&db=USPAT&type=ids

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