Home device sensing

• US 10,380,692 B1
• Filed: 02/21/2014
• Issued: 08/13/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 02/21/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Allstate Insurance Company (Allstate Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Allstate Insurance Company (Allstate Corporation)
• Inventors: Parker, Carolyn, Johnson, Robert H., Suizzo, Nicholas A., Srey, Rothana, Willett, Sean P., Madigan, Regina, Zhang, Nan
• Primary Examiner(s): Campen, Kelly S
• Application Number:
  US14/186,187
• Time in Patent Office: 1,999 Days
• Field of Search: 705 4, 705 35, 705 36 R, 705 728
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/08 Insurance
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0817 by checking functioning

Abstract

Systems, methods, apparatuses and computer-readable media for receiving data from one or more sensors associated with one or more home devices, such as appliances, home systems, etc. are presented. In some examples, the data may be used to determine whether the home device is operating within an expected range. The data may also be used to determine an insurance rate or premium for a user associated with the home device(s). In some arrangements, the data may be used to determine an age of a home device, as well as a likelihood of failure of that device. This information may be used to determine or adjust insurance premiums or rates and/or provide incentives to users to repair or replace the home device(s).

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

a processing unit comprising a processor; and

a memory unit storing computer-executable instructions, which when executed by the processing unit, cause the system to;

establish, with one or more sensing devices associated with a home device, a first wireless connection;

receive, while the first wireless connection is established and via the first wireless connection, and from the one or more sensing devices associated with the home device, one or more signals;

process the one or more received signals to determine one or more operating characteristics of the home device associated with the sensing device;

determine, based on the one or more operating characteristics, a level of wear of the home device;

generate, based on the level of wear, an offer of an insurance incentive to replace the home device;

establish, with a mobile device, a second wireless connection, wherein the mobile device is different than the one or more sensing devices; and

send, while the second wireless connection is established, via the second wireless connection, and to the mobile device, the offer of the insurance incentive to replace the home device, wherein sending the offer of the insurance incentive to replace the home device causes the mobile device to cause display of the insurance incentive to replace the home device.

2. The system of claim 1, further including instructions that, when executed, cause the system to:

receive data associated with an identification of the home device; and

determine an age of the home device wherein determining the age of the home device is based on the one or more operating characteristics and the received data associated with the home device.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the data associated with the home device includes at least one of:

a manufacturer of the home device, a model of the home device, a serial number of the home device, and a year of manufacture of the home device.

4. The system of claim 2, further including instructions that, when executed, cause the system to determine, based on the one or more operating characteristics, the determined age, and a determined likelihood of failure, an insurance rate for a user associated with the home device.

5. The system of claim 4, further including instructions that, when executed, cause the system to determine an age of the home device and a likelihood of failure of the home device, and wherein the determined likelihood of failure is determined based on the determined age of the home device and historical information associated with home devices of a type similar to a type of the home device.

6. The system of claim 1, further including instructions that, when executed, cause the system to determine an age of the home device and a likelihood of failure of the home device, wherein the determined likelihood of failure is determined based on the determined age of the home device and additional information associated with a similar home device associated with a second user.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein each of the one or more sensing devices associated with the home device comprise at least one of:

a moisture sensor, a temperature sensor, a heat/smoke sensor, a motion sensor, an open/close sensor, a presence sensor, or a power consumption sensor;

wherein the home device comprises at least one of;

a hot water heater, a refrigerator, a washing machine, a dryer, or an air conditioner; and

wherein the one or more sensing devices are integrated into the home device.

8. The system of claim 1, further including instructions that,

when executed, cause the system to:

determine that the one or more operating characteristics are outside of a predefined range; and

transmit, in response to determining that the one or more operating characteristics are outside of the predefined range, an alert.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the operating characteristics comprise a sewage level in a sewage pipe and wherein the alert indicates that the sewage level exceeds a predetermined threshold and is backing up.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein the operating characteristics comprise motion data associated with a home foundation and wherein the alert indicates that the home foundation should be repaired.

11. The system of claim 8, wherein the operating characteristics comprise moisture data from a wall and the alert indicates that a moisture level exceeds a predetermined threshold and that mold growth is predicted, and wherein the transmitting the alert comprises transmitting, before a visual indication of mold occurs, the alert.

12. The system of claim 8, wherein the operating characteristics comprise a temperature of a water heater and wherein the alert indicates that the water heater has failed.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more sensing devices do not comprise vehicle based sensors.

14. A method, comprising:

establishing, with a sensing device associated with a home device, a first wireless connection;

receiving, while the first wireless connection is established, via the first wireless connection, and from the sensing device associated with the home device, a data signal;

processing, by a sensing system having at least one processor and located remotely from the home device, the received data signal to determine operating characteristics of the home device associated with the sensing device;

determining, by the sensing system and based at least in part on a comparison of the operating characteristics to a predefined range of operating characteristics, an age of the home device;

generating, based on the age, an offer of an insurance-based incentive to perform maintenance on the home device;

establishing, with a mobile device, a second wireless connection; and

sending, while the second wireless connection is established, via the second wireless connection, and to the mobile device, the offer of the insurance-based incentive to perform maintenance on the home device, wherein sending the insurance-based incentive to perform maintenance on the home device causes the mobile device to cause display of the insurance-based incentive to perform maintenance on the home device.

15. The method of claim 14, further including receiving data associated with the home device and wherein determining the age of the home device is based on the operating characteristics and the received data associated with the home device.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the determining the age of the home device further comprises determining, the age of the home device based on at least one of:

historical data associated with the home device, the data, or the operating characteristics.

17. The method of claim 14, further including determining, based on the operating characteristics, the determined age, and a determined likelihood of failure, an insurance rate for a user associated with the home device.

18. The method of claim 14, further including determining a likelihood of failure of the home device, wherein the determined likelihood of failure is determined based on the determined age of the home device and historical information associated with home devices of a type similar to a type of the home device.

19. The method of claim 14, wherein the predefined range of operating characteristics is determined based on historical data of devices with a same model number as the home device.

20. A system, comprising:

a processing unit comprising a processor; and

a memory unit storing computer-executable instructions, which when executed by the processing unit, cause the system to;

establish, with a sensor integrated into a home device, a first wireless connection;

receive, while the first wireless connection is established, via the first wireless connection, and from the sensor integrated into the home device, one or more signals;

process the one or more received signals to determine one or more operating characteristics of the home device associated with the sensor;

receive additional data associated with the home device;

determine, based on the one or more operating characteristics and the additional data, a likelihood of failure of the home device;

generate, based on the likelihood of failure, an offer of an insurance incentive to replace the home device;

establish, with a mobile device of a user associated with the home device, a second wireless connection; and

send, while the second wireless connection is established, via the second wireless connection, and to the mobile device, an indication of the offer, wherein sending the indication of the offer causes the mobile device to cause display of the indication of the offer.