“User Devices In Claims Damage Estimation” in Patent Application Approval Process (USPTO 20230334589): Allstate Insurance Company

2023 NOV 03 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- A patent application by the inventors Faga, Mark E. (Evanston, IL, US); Johnson, Robert H. (Hoffman Estates, IL, US); Marlow, Clint J. (Barrington, IL, US); Stricker, Kurt M. (Northfield, IL, US), filed on April 25, 2023, was made available online on October 19, 2023, according to news reporting originating from Washington, D.C., by NewsRx correspondents.

This patent application is assigned to Allstate Insurance Company (Northbrook, Illinois, United States).

The following quote was obtained by the news editors from the background information supplied by the inventors: “Conventional insurance claims processing is a complex process that starts with a first notification of loss related to an insured item. Upon notification of loss, the claim may be routed to multiple claims adjusters that analyze different aspects of the damage associated with the insured item in order to determine whether compensation for the loss is appropriate.

“In general, conventional claims adjustment can involve paperwork processing, telephone calls, and potentially face-to-face meetings between claimant and adjuster. In addition, a significant amount of time can elapse between a first notice of loss from the claimant and the final settlement of the claim.

“In addition, while consumers may take advantage of conventional claims processing to determine if they will receive any compensation for loss associated with an item, consumers have traditionally had very few options for obtaining advice associated with loss prior to submission of an insurance claim.”

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

“Aspects of the disclosure involve a streamlined and efficient process for claims management and disclose methods, computer-readable media, and apparatuses for automating the processing and settling of claims related to an insured item. A mobile device may transmit data (e.g., images, video, etc.) related to damage associated with an insured item to an enhanced claims processing server. The enhanced claims processing server may manage analysis of damage associated with the insured item and settlement of a claim related to the damage.

“In another aspect of the disclosure, an enhanced claims processing server may analyze damage data received from a mobile device to generate a repair cost estimate for repairing the insured item.

“In another aspect of the disclosure, an enhanced claims processing server may receive damage data associated with damage to an insured item, prior to submission of a claim for the damage. This data may be analyzed along with other data related to terms of an insurance policy that insures the insured item to provide advice to insurance consumers on the overall monetary valuation of submitting an insurance claim for damage to the insured item.

“In another aspect of the disclosure, a user device may be used as a portal that enables a third party entity such as a repair agency to view and learn more about damage associated with an insured item while the damage is still being assessed through a claims adjustment process.

“Further aspects of the disclosure may be provided in a computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions that, when executed, cause a computer, user terminal, or other apparatus to at least perform one or more of the processes described herein.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1-20. (canceled)

“21. An enhanced claims processing system comprising: an enhanced claims processing data server comprising at least one processor and a memory storing computer-executable instructions, which when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to: receive damage data related to damage to an insured item; evaluate information related to an insurance policy associated with the insured item; analyze the damage data related to the damage to the insured item and the information related to the insurance policy; calculate an overall monetary valuation of submitting an insurance claim; transmit, based on the overall monetary valuation, a suggestion of whether to submit an insurance claim for the insured item; and transmit incentives based on one or more of the damage data, the information related to the insurance policy, the overall monetary valuation, or the suggestion of whether to submit the insurance claim.

“22. The enhanced claims processing system of claim 21, wherein the damage data comprises a first image depicting the damage to the insured item.

“23. The enhanced claims processing system of claim 21, wherein the damage data comprises video related to the damage to the insured item.

“24. The enhanced claims processing system of claim 21, wherein the insured item is a vehicle.

“25. The enhanced claims processing system of claim 24, wherein the damage data comprises one or more of photos depicting the damage to the vehicle, a vehicle identification number (VIN) associated with the vehicle, or a current odometer reading of the vehicle.

“26. The enhanced claims processing system of claim 21, wherein analyzing the damage data related to the damage to the insured item and the information related to the insurance policy and calculating the overall monetary valuation comprises accessing a historical database of damage templates and costs for repairing damages associated with the damage templates.

“27. The enhanced claims processing system of claim 21, wherein calculating the overall monetary valuation comprises examining one or more of a projected increase in premium, a projected settlement amount, an effect on rewards, a surcharge, or a probability of renewal.

“28. The enhanced claims processing system of claim 21, wherein transmitting the suggestion and the incentives comprises transmitting one or more notifications to a mobile device of a consumer.

“29. The enhanced claims processing system of claim 27, wherein the incentives comprise one or more of an offer to pay for an assessed loss associated with the damage to the insured item if the consumer will agree to become a customer or an offer of a customized insurance product.

“30. A method of providing a pre-claim consultation, the method comprising: receiving damage data related to damage to an insured item; evaluating information related to an insurance policy associated with the insured item; analyzing the damage data related to the damage to the insured item and the information related to the insurance policy; calculating an overall monetary valuation of submitting an insurance claim; transmitting, based on the overall monetary valuation, a suggestion of whether to submit an insurance claim for the insured item; and transmitting incentives based on one or more of the damage data, the information related to the insurance policy, the overall monetary valuation, or the suggestion of whether to submit the insurance claim.

“31. The method of claim 30, wherein the insured item is a vehicle.

“32. The method of claim 31, wherein the damage data comprises one or more of a first image depicting the damage to the insured item, a vehicle identification number (VIN) associated with the vehicle, or a current odometer reading of the vehicle.

“33. The method of claim 30, wherein the method further comprises accessing a historical database of damage templates and costs for repairing damages associated with the damage templates.

“34. The method of claim 30, wherein calculating the overall monetary valuation comprises examining one or more of a projected increase in premium, a projected settlement amount, an effect on rewards, a surcharge, or a probability of renewal.

“35. The method of claim 30, wherein the method further comprises transmitting one or more notifications to a mobile device of a consumer.

“36. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions, that when executed by one or more processors of an enhanced claims processing data server of an enhanced claims processing system, cause the enhanced claims processing system to: receive damage data related to damage to an insured item; evaluate information related to an insurance policy associated with the insured item; analyze the damage data related to the damage to the insured item and the information related to the insurance policy; calculate an overall monetary valuation of submitting an insurance claim; transmit, based on the overall monetary valuation, a suggestion of whether to submit an insurance claim for the insured item; and transmit incentives based on one or more of the damage data, the information related to the insurance policy, the overall monetary valuation, or the suggestion of whether to submit the insurance claim.

“37. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 36, wherein the insured item is a vehicle.

“38. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 37, wherein the damage data comprises one or more of a first image depicting the damage to the insured item, a vehicle identification number (VIN) associated with the vehicle, or a current odometer reading of the vehicle.

“39. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 36, further causing the enhanced claims processing system to access a historical database of damage templates and costs for repairing damages associated with the damage templates.

“40. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 36, further causing the enhanced claims processing system to calculating the overall monetary valuation comprises examining one or more of a projected increase in premium, a projected settlement amount, an effect on rewards, a surcharge, or a probability of renewal.”

URL and more information on this patent application, see: Faga, Mark E.; Johnson, Robert H.; Marlow, Clint J.; Stricker, Kurt M. User Devices In Claims Damage Estimation. U.S. Patent Application Number 20230334589, filed April 25, 2023 and posted October 19, 2023. Patent URL (for desktop use only): https://ppubs.uspto.gov/pubwebapp/external.html?q=(20230334589)&db=US-PGPUB&type=ids

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