Researchers Submit Patent Application, “Using Historical Data For Subrogation On A Distributed Ledger”, for Approval (USPTO 20220405857): Patent Application

2023 JAN 11 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- From Washington, D.C., NewsRx journalists report that a patent application by the inventors Call, Shawn M. (Bloomington, IL, US); Clayton, Wendy H. (Franklin, TN, US); Flesher, Kim E. (Normal, IL, US); Graff, Douglas A. (Mountain View, MO, US); Leise, William J. (Normal, IL, US); Magerkurth, Melinda Teresa (Utica, IL, US); McCoy, Anthony (Normal, IL, US); McCullough, Stacie A. (Bloomington, IL, US); Runge, Travis Charles (Heyworth, IL, US); Skaggs, Jaime (Chenoa, IL, US), filed on August 19, 2022, was made available online on December 22, 2022.

No assignee for this patent application has been made.

News editors obtained the following quote from the background information supplied by the inventors: “The insurance claim process may involve a tremendous number of communications and interactions between parties involved in the process. Potential parties to the claim process may be insurance companies, repair shops, lawyers, arbitrators, government agencies, hospitals, drivers, and collection/collections agency. Sometimes the costs of repairs may be disputed and parties may pursue subrogation for particular charges. As an example, when an insured person suffers a covered loss, an insurer may pay costs to the insured person and pursue subrogation from another party involved in the loss. If an insured vehicle is involved in a collision and suffers a loss, the insurer may compensate the vehicle owner according to an insurance agreement. If, for example, the vehicle owner was not at fault in the collision, the insurer may pursue damages from another party, such as the insurer of the party who was at fault in the collision. An insurance agreement may include an obligation of an insured to assign the insured’s claim against a party at fault to the insurer, who may then collect on the claim on the insured’s behalf.

“Settling a subrogation payment may be a lengthy, complicated process. The various parties (e.g., parties at fault in a vehicle collision, owners of the vehicles, insurers, etc.) may need to exchange information relating to the collision to determine which party was at fault. Sources of information relevant to a fault information and/or subrogation payment may include information regarding parties involved in a loss, forensic data regarding the loss, vehicle data regarding a loss, etc. The various parties may verify and share information from a variety of sources, including information held by parties involved in a loss and their insurers, and information obtained from third parties (e.g., governmental entities, independent contractors, etc.).

“The parties to a subrogation payment (e.g., insurers) may make proposals to one another to settle the subrogation claim. A proposal may include an accounting of damages, such as the costs to a vehicle owner whose vehicle was damaged. If an insured person suffered an injury in a collision, the injured person’s health care costs may be included in the accounting of damages. One or both of the parties to a subrogation claim may rely on independent third parties to assess costs, such as a repair cost estimate by an authorized automotive repair services provider for damage incurred in a collision. To settle the subrogation claim, the parties may indicate acceptance or approval of damages calculations, and a payment amount agreed upon between the parties to settle the claim. Parties may rely on a third-party intermediary to handle subrogation negotiations and resolution (e.g., validate information relating to a loss and facilitating communications between the insurers) at added expense.”

As a supplement to the background information on this patent application, NewsRx correspondents also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent application: “Systems and methods are disclosed for utilizing a distributed ledger, or blockchain, to manage an insurance claim process, in particular, a subrogation claim process. The systems and methods disclose using evidence oracles for inputting information into the blockchain, utilizing machine learning to suggest amounts for the subrogation process, a line item dispute mechanism, and creating/managing a distributed ledger in response to a vehicle being in an collision. The methods and systems may make use of secure transactions and smart contracts stored on the blockchain.

“The present embodiments further may relate to insurance and handling insurance claims. Sensor, image, or other data may be collected from various sources, such as mobile devices, one or more vehicles (such as smart or autonomous vehicles, or autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle systems), smart infrastructure, satellites, drones, and/or smart or interconnected homes. The data collected may be analyzed by artificial intelligence or machine learning algorithms to (1) identify whether a vehicle collision occurred; (2) determine a percentage of fault (for the drivers or autonomous vehicles or systems); (3) determine the veracity of an insurance claim or identify potential fraud or buildup; (4) facilitate subrogation or arbitration processes; (5) determine and assign liability to vehicle manufacturers or drivers; (6) create new blockchains and/or individual blocks for blockchains associated with a particular insurance claim, individual, or vehicle; (7) provide payments or e-payments among parties; and/or (8) facilitate other functionality discussed herein.

“In one aspect, a computer-implemented method for handling or processing an insurance claim via a shared ledger may be provided. The method may include, via one or more local or remote processors, servers, sensors, and/or associated transceivers: (1) receiving, at one or more processors, historical sensor data associated with a past vehicle collision; (2) receiving, at the one or more processors, current sensor data associated with a vehicle collision, such as from one or more interconnected sources; (3) determining, at the one or more processors, a percentage of fault of the vehicle collision for one or more vehicles, vehicle systems, and/or drivers based upon, at least in part, analysis of the historical sensor data and the current sensor data; and (4) creating, at the one or more processors, a blockchain for the vehicle collision with one or more links to the sensor data collected, and an indication of the percentage of fault determined to facilitate blockchain-based claim handling. The method may include additional, less, or alternate actions, including those discussed elsewhere herein.

“In another aspect, a computer-implemented method for handling or processing an insurance claim via a shared ledger may be provided. The method may include, via one or more local or remote processors, servers, sensors, and/or associated transceivers: (1) receiving, at one or more processors, historical sensor data associated with a past vehicle collision; (2) inputting, at the one or more processors, the historical sensor data into a machine learning program to determine data relevant to a past vehicle collision; (3) receiving, at the one or more processors, current sensor data associated with a current vehicle collision, such as from one or more interconnected sources; (4) inputting, at the one or more processors, the current sensor data into the machine learning program to determine data relevant to the current vehicle collision; (5) determining, at the one or more processors, a percentage of fault of the vehicle collision for one or more vehicles, vehicle systems, and/or drivers based upon, at least in part, analysis of the historical sensor data and the current sensor data; and (6) creating, at the one or more processors, a blockchain for the vehicle collision with one or more links to the sensor data collected, and an indication of the percentage of fault determined to facilitate blockchain-based claim handling. The method may include additional, less, or alternate actions, including those discussed elsewhere herein.

“In yet another aspect, a computer system configured to handle or process an insurance claim via a shared ledger may be provided. The system may include one or more processors, servers, sensors, and/or associated transceivers configured to: (1) receive historical sensor data associated with a past vehicle collision; (2) input the historical sensor data into a machine learning program to determine data relevant to a past vehicle collision; (3) receive current sensor data associated with a current vehicle collision, such as from one or more sources, such as those shown in FIG. 11; (4) input the current sensor data into the machine learning program to determine data relevant to the current vehicle collision; (5) determine a percentage of fault of the vehicle collision for one or more vehicles, vehicle systems, or drivers based upon, at least in part, analysis of the historical sensor data and the current sensor data; and (6) create a blockchain for the vehicle collision with one or more links to the sensor data collected, and an indication of the percentage of fault determined to facilitate blockchain-based claim handling. The system may include additional, less, or alternate components and actions, including those discussed elsewhere herein.

“The methods may be implemented via computer systems, and may include additional, less, or alternate actions or functionality. Systems or computer-readable media storing instructions for implementing all or part of the method described above may also be provided in some aspects. Systems for implementing such methods may include one or more of the following: a special-purpose computing device, a personal electronic device, a mobile device, a wearable device, a processing unit of a vehicle, a remote server, one or more sensors, one or more communication modules configured to communicate wirelessly via radio links, radio frequency links, and/or wireless communication channels, and/or one or more program memories coupled to one or more processors of the personal electronic device, processing unit of the vehicle, or remote server. Such program memories may store instructions to cause the one or more processors to implement part or all of the method described above. Additional or alternative features described herein below may be included in some aspects.

“This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described in the Detailed Descriptions. This summary 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.

“Advantages will become more apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art from the following description of the preferred aspects, which have been shown and described by way of illustration. As will be realized, the present aspects may be capable of other and different aspects, and their details are capable of modification in various respects. Accordingly, the drawings and description are to be regarded as illustrative in nature and not as restrictive.

“The Figures depict preferred embodiments for purposes of illustration only. One skilled in the art will readily recognize from the following discussion that alternative embodiments of the systems and methods illustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principles of the invention described herein.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A computer-implemented method of handling an insurance claim via a shared ledger, the method comprising: receiving, at one or more processors, historical sensor data associated with a past vehicle collision; inputting, at the one or more processors, the historical sensor data into an algorithm, the algorithm being a machine learning algorithm that is trained by the historical sensor data to determine a percentage of fault for human drivers or self-driving vehicles; receiving, at the one or more processors, current sensor data associated with a vehicle collision; inputting, at the one or more processors, the current sensor data into the machine learning algorithm to determine a percentage of fault of the current vehicle collision for a human driver or a self-driving vehicle; and adding, at the one or more processors, a block to a blockchain with an indication of the determined percentage of fault determined by the trained machine learning algorithm.

“2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving, at the one or more processors, an electronic arbitration demand associated with the vehicle collision; and generating, at the one or more processors, a recommendation based upon, at least in part, analysis of the percentage of fault and the electronic arbitration demand.

“3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, further comprising: generating, at the one or more processors, a new block including the recommendation or a link thereto; and adding, at the one or more processors, the new block to the blockchain.

“4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the sensor data is generated by smart infrastructure or by a vehicle not involved in the vehicle collision.

“5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the sensor data includes telematics data collected by another vehicle in the vicinity of the vehicle collision.

“6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving, at the one or more processors, an electronic notification of the vehicle collision generated by the vehicle from analysis of sensor data generated by one or more vehicle-mounted sensors.

“7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving, at the one or more processors, an electronic notification of the vehicle collision generated by the vehicle from analysis of image data generated by one or more vehicle-mounted sensors or cameras.

“8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving, at the one or more processors, an electronic notification of the vehicle collision generated by the vehicle from analysis of telematics data generated by one or more vehicle-mounted sensors.

“9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving, at the one or more processors, an electronic notification of the vehicle collision generated by the vehicle from analysis of sensor data generated by one or more vehicle-mounted sensors, and sensor or other data, such as telematics data, received from the vehicle and one or more nearby vehicles in the vicinity of the vehicle collision location.

“10. A computer-implemented method of handling an insurance claim via a shared ledger, the method comprising: receiving, at one or more processors, historical sensor data associated with a past vehicle collision; inputting, at the one or more processors, the historical sensor data into an algorithm, the algorithm being a machine learning algorithm that is trained by the historical sensor data to: (i) determine a percentage of fault for human drivers or self-driving vehicles, and (ii) determine data relevant to a past vehicle collision; receiving, at the one or more processors, current sensor data associated with a current vehicle collision; inputting, at the one or more processors, the current sensor data into the machine learning algorithm to determine: (i) that a vehicle was under autonomous control before, during, and/or after the current vehicle collision, and (ii) a percentage of fault for the vehicle determined to be under autonomous control; and adding, at the one or more processors, a block to a blockchain with an indication of the determined percentage of fault for the vehicle determined to be under autonomous control.

“11. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, further comprising: receiving, at the one or more processors, an electronic arbitration demand associated with the vehicle collision; and generating, at the one or more processors, a recommendation based upon, at least in part, analysis of the percentage of fault and the electronic arbitration demand.

“12. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, further comprising: generating, at the one or more processors, a new block including the recommendation or a link thereto; and adding, at the one or more processors, the new block to the blockchain.

“13. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, wherein the sensor data is generated by smart infrastructure or by a vehicle not involved in the vehicle collision.

“14. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, wherein the sensor data includes telematics data collected by the vehicle, a mobile device traveling within the vehicle, another vehicle in the vicinity of the vehicle collision, or combinations thereof.

“15. A computer system for providing data relevant to collisions and subrogation claims by interacting with a distributed ledger maintained by a plurality of participants, the system comprising: a network interface configured to interface with one or more processors; one or more sensors; a memory configured to store non-transitory computer executable instructions and configured to interface with the one or more processors; and the one or more processors configured to interface with the memory, wherein the one or more processors are configured to execute the non-transitory computer executable instructions to cause the one or more processors to: receive historical sensor data associated with a past vehicle collision; input the historical sensor data into a machine learning algorithm to train the machine learning algorithm to determine a percentage of fault for human drivers or self-driving vehicles; receive current sensor data associated with a current vehicle collision; input the current sensor data into the machine learning algorithm to determine a percentage of fault of the current vehicle collision for a human driver or a self-driving vehicle; and add a block to a blockchain with an indication of the determined percentage of fault determined by the trained machine learning algorithm.

“16. The system of claim 15, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to execute the non-transitory computer executable instructions to cause the one or more processors to: receive an electronic arbitration demand associated with the vehicle collision; and generate a recommendation based upon, at least in part, analysis of the percentage of fault and the electronic arbitration demand.

“17. The system of claim 16, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to execute the non-transitory computer executable instructions to cause the one or more processors to: generate a new block including the recommendation or a link thereto; and add the new block to the blockchain.

“18. The system of claim 15, wherein the sensor data is generated by smart infrastructure or by a vehicle not involved in the vehicle collision.

“19. The system of claim 15, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to execute the non-transitory computer executable instructions to cause the one or more processors to: receive an electronic notification of the vehicle collision generated by the vehicle from analysis of sensor data generated by one or more vehicle-mounted sensors.

“20. The system of claim 15, wherein: the processor is further configured to execute the non-transitory computer executable instructions to cause the processor to add, to the blockchain, an additional block including an electronic subrogation demand; the electronic subrogation demand is based on the determined percentage of fault, and wherein the electronic subrogation demand includes one or more line items directed to medical expenses; and the processor is further configured to execute the non-transitory computer executable instructions to cause the processor to add, to the blockchain, a block including a hash of the electronic subrogation demand.”

For additional information on this patent application, see: Call, Shawn M.; Clayton, Wendy H.; Flesher, Kim E.; Graff, Douglas A.; Leise, William J.; Magerkurth, Melinda Teresa; McCoy, Anthony; McCullough, Stacie A.; Runge, Travis Charles; Skaggs, Jaime. Using Historical Data For Subrogation On A Distributed Ledger. U.S. Patent Application Number 20220405857, filed August 19, 2022 and posted December 22, 2022. Patent URL (for desktop use only): https://ppubs.uspto.gov/pubwebapp/external.html?q=(20220405857)&db=US-PGPUB&type=ids

(Our reports deliver fact-based news of research and discoveries from around the world.)