Systems and methods for managing and communicating vehicle notifications for various circumstances

• US 10,366,370 B1
• Filed: 08/04/2014
• Issued: 07/30/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 06/12/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (State Farm)
• Original Assignee: State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (State Farm)
• Inventors: Binion, Todd, Rhoades, Andrea Lee, Cielocha, Steven C., Shull, Jessica, Fields, Brian Mark, Cecil, Wayne Louis, Schmidt, Steven, Bryant, Ronny S., Weidmann, Ed, Hayward, Gregory, Gorsuch, Stacey, Argenziano, John Anthony, Csanda, Carol Marie, Schwamberger, Catherine Sue, Clarke, Courtney, Mullen, Christina P.
• Primary Examiner(s): Berona, Kimberly S
• Assistant Examiner(s): King, Rodney P
• Application Number:
  US14/451,059
• Time in Patent Office: 1,821 Days
• Field of Search: 701 1, 701 294, 701 314, 701 325, 701117, 701118, 340 582, 3404574, 3406866
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/20 Administration of product repair or maintenance
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/014 Providing recall services for goods or products
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/08 Insurance
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/008 communicating information to a remotely located station transmission systems for measured values G08C
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/0808 Diagnosing performance data testing of vehicles G01M17/00; testing of electrical installation on vehicles G01R31/005
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/085 using electronic data carriers

Abstract

Methods and systems for retrieving and compiling vehicle information from a variety of sources, and assessing circumstances or events based upon the vehicle information. A central entity, such as an insurance provider, may receive the vehicle information and avail information related to a plurality of vehicles to vehicle owners or operators in a single source dashboard. The central entity may assess the vehicle circumstances to determine whether to notify the individuals of an event, such as a vehicle recall or upcoming maintenance, and then generate notifications and communicate the notifications to the individuals. The notifications may enable the individuals to take maintenance, repair, update, and/or other actions to manage the circumstances and potentially avoid situations that may cause unnecessary financial commitments or vehicle damage. The insurance provider may adjust auto insurance premiums, discounts, rewards, or rebates based upon the type or usage of the dashboard functionality utilized by an insured.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method of compiling vehicle information, the method comprising:

receiving maintenance information associated with a vehicle at a central server from a service shop that serviced the vehicle, wherein the maintenance information at least indicates that a software update to an on-board operating system installed on the vehicle is available, and wherein the software update is from a manufacturer of the vehicle;

identifying, based upon the maintenance information, (i) the vehicle, and (ii) an individual associated with the vehicle, wherein the individual has a dashboard account with the vehicle associated therewith;

determining, by a processor of the central server, a subsequent maintenance condition for the vehicle based at least in part upon the maintenance information;

subsequently receiving, from the vehicle remote from the central server, telematics data indicating operation information of the vehicle;

determining, by the processor of the central server based upon the telematics data, that the subsequent maintenance condition has not been met;

generating a notification associated with the subsequent maintenance condition, the notification indicating a set of location-based service providers and at least one review for each of the set of location-based service providers;

wirelessly communicating the notification to an electronic device associated with the individual;

identifying (i) an insurance policy associated with the vehicle, and (ii) an additional vehicle that shares the insurance policy with the vehicle;

associating the subsequent maintenance condition with the dashboard account including the vehicle and the additional vehicle that share the insurance policy; and

enabling the individual to access, via a user interface associated with the electronic device, the dashboard account to review information associated with the vehicle and the additional vehicle, wherein the user interface associated with the electronic device concurrently indicates (i) at least one vehicle health metric, (ii) warranty information, (iii) at least one vehicle service timeline, and (iv) at least one status trend for at least one of the vehicle and the additional vehicle.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein identifying the vehicle and the individual associated with the vehicle comprises:

comparing the maintenance information to a listing of specific vehicles to identify the vehicle and the individual associated with the vehicle.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein wirelessly communicating the notification to the electronic device comprises:

receiving, from the electronic device, an update request for the vehicle; and

responsive to receiving the update request, wirelessly communicating the notification to the electronic device.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein determining that the subsequent maintenance condition has not been met comprises:

determining that the subsequent maintenance condition is either approaching or has passed or otherwise expired.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein identifying the vehicle comprises:

identifying, from the vehicle information, a vehicle identification number (VIN) of the vehicle.

6. A system for compiling vehicle information, comprising:

a communication module adapted to communicate data;

a memory adapted to store non-transitory computer executable instructions; and

a processor adapted to interface with the communication module, wherein the processor is (i) implemented in a central server remote from a vehicle and (ii) configured to execute the non-transitory computer executable instructions to cause the processor to;

receive, via the communication module, maintenance information associated with the vehicle at the central server from a service shop that serviced the vehicle, wherein the maintenance information at least indicates that a software update to an on-board operating system installed on the vehicle is available, and wherein the software update is from a manufacturer of the vehicle,

identify, based upon the maintenance information, (i) the vehicle, and (ii) an individual associated with the vehicle, wherein the individual has a dashboard account with the vehicle associated therewith,

determine a subsequent maintenance condition for the vehicle based upon the maintenance information,

subsequently receive, from the vehicle remote from the central server, telematics data indicating operation information of the vehicle,

determine, based upon the telematics data, that the subsequent maintenance condition has not been met,

generate a notification associated with the subsequent maintenance condition, the notification indicating a set of location-based service providers and at least one review for each of the set of location-based service providers,

wirelessly communicate, via the communication module, the notification to an electronic device associated with the individual,

identify (i) an insurance policy associated with the vehicle, and (ii) an additional vehicle that shares the insurance policy with the vehicle,

associate the subsequent maintenance condition with the dashboard account including the vehicle and the additional vehicle that share the insurance policy, and

enable the individual to access, via a user interface associated with the electronic device, the dashboard account to review information associated with the vehicle and the additional vehicle, wherein the user interface associated with the electronic device concurrently indicates (i) at least one vehicle health metric, (ii) warranty information, (iii) at least one vehicle service timeline, and (iv) at least one status trend for at least one of the vehicle and the additional vehicle.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein to identify the vehicle and the individual associated with the vehicle, the processor is configured to:

compare the maintenance information to a listing of specific vehicles to identify the vehicle and the individual associated with the vehicle.

8. The system of claim 6, wherein to wirelessly communicate the notification to the electronic device, the processor is configured to:

receive, from the electronic device via the communication module, an update request for the vehicle, and

wirelessly communicate, via the communication module, the notification to the electronic device in response to receiving the update request.

9. The system of claim 6, wherein to determine that the subsequent maintenance condition has not been met, the processor is configured to:

determine that the subsequent maintenance condition is either approaching or has passed or otherwise expired.