Dynamic usage-based policies

• US 10,430,883 B1
• Filed: 02/13/2017
• Issued: 10/01/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 02/12/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Allstate Insurance Company (Allstate Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Allstate Insurance Company (Allstate Corporation)
• Inventors: Bischoff, Christine L., Ferguson, Dana, Huls, Eric D., Irey, Grady, Polisson, William, Styrsky, Caryl M., Tyner, Ralph Adam Benjamin, Walters, Meg G.
• Primary Examiner(s): Rankins, William E
• Application Number:
  US15/430,963
• Time in Patent Office: 960 Days
• Field of Search: 705 4
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/10 specially adapted for electronic funds transfer [EFT] systems; specially adapted for home banking systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/102 Bill distribution or payments
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/14 specially adapted for billing systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/04 Trading; Exchange, e.g. stocks, commodities, derivatives or currency exchange

Abstract

Methods, computer-readable media, systems and apparatuses for determining and implementing dynamic usage-based insurance policies are presented. A cost per day and a cost per mile associated with the dynamic usage-based insurance policy may be determined. The cost per mile may be computed independently for each of a plurality of road segments comprising a trip based on a time of day that the vehicle traveled each road segment, a road type associated with each road segment. The cost per mile of each road segment of the driving trip may further include whether or not hard braking or hard cornering events were encountered during a specified cumulative driving distance that may include, at least a portion, of a plurality of driving trips. The cost per mile for each of the plurality of driving trips may be adjusted once a threshold distance has been traveled by the vehicle based on the number of hard braking events and hard cornering events occurred during that distance.

Claims

1. A usage-based insurance system, comprising:

a telematics computing device located within a vehicle and communicatively coupled to a plurality of sensors associated with the vehicle, the telematics computing device including at least one first processor and at least one first memory storing computer readable instructions that, when executed by the at least one first processor, cause the telematics computing device to;

receive, from the plurality of sensors in near real-time, driving data associated with operation of the vehicle during a first driving trip, the driving data including at least location information captured during the first driving trip, velocity information captured during the first driving trip, and acceleration information captured during the first driving trip, wherein the driving data is received periodically, and wherein time information is associated with the driving data; and

send, to an insurance system server, the driving data; and

the insurance system server including one or more second processors and at least one second memory storing second computer-readable instructions that, when executed by the one or more second processors, cause the insurance system server to;

retrieve, from one or more insurance system databases, insurance information associated with the vehicle or a driver of the vehicle, the insurance information corresponding to a usage-based insurance policy comprising a cost per day and a cost per mile;

determine, based on the insurance information, the cost per day for insuring the vehicle based on the usage-based insurance policy;

determine, based on the insurance information and the usage-based insurance policy, a plurality of rates for calculating the cost per mile for insuring for the vehicle, wherein the cost per mile is calculated based on at least a time duration of a given driving trip, a road type of a road traveled during the given driving trip, and a driving behavior identified from at least the acceleration information;

receive, from a user associated with the vehicle, a predetermined amount of funds for a premium for the usage-based insurance policy;

store the predetermined amount of funds in a first account;

receive, from the telematics computing device, the driving data for the first driving trip;

analyze the driving data to determine, for a plurality of segments of the first driving trip, a time of day that the vehicle traveled each of the plurality of segments, a first road type upon which the vehicle traveled during each of the plurality of segments, and whether one or more driving behaviors occurred;

determine, based on the analyzed driving data, a cost of the first driving trip based on a cost calculated for each of the plurality of segments; and

reduce a balance of the premium in the first account by the cost of the first driving trip.

2. The usage-based insurance system of claim 1, wherein the driving behavior comprises hard braking.

3. The usage-based insurance system of claim 1, wherein the driving behavior comprises hard cornering.

4. The usage-based insurance system of claim 1, wherein the at least one first memory of the telematics computing device further stores additional computer readable instructions that, when executed by the at least one first processor, cause the telematics computing device to:

transmit, via wireless communications and upon completion of the first driving trip, the driving data to the insurance system server.

5. The usage-based insurance system of claim 1, the insurance system server further including instructions that, when executed by the one or more second processors, cause the insurance system server to:

receive environmental condition data for the first driving trip.

6. The usage-based insurance system of claim 5, wherein the environmental condition data includes at least one of:

inclement weather, precipitation, heavy traffic volume, or night driving.

7. The usage-based insurance system of claim 1, the insurance system server further including instructions that, when executed by the one or more second processors, cause the insurance system server to:

determine whether the balance is below a predetermined threshold; and

responsive to determining that the balance is below the predetermined threshold, automatically attempt to transfer funds from a payment account to the first account.

8. The usage-based insurance system of claim 6, wherein night driving is identified based on driving information captured between 9 PM and 5 AM.

9. The usage-based insurance system of claim 6, wherein night driving is identified based on driving information captured during vehicle operation during hours identified as night based on a location of the vehicle and a date on which the vehicle was driven.

10. The usage-based insurance system of claim 6, wherein a cost per segment of night driving is 3 times a cost of day driving.

11. The usage-based insurance system of claim 1, further comprising:

a global positioning system (GPS) location computing system comprising road information indicating, for a particular road segment, at least a respective road type and a respective speed limit, wherein the insurance system server identifies, for each of the plurality of segments of the trip, a particular road type, and wherein a first premium associated with non-highway driving is greater than a second premium associated with highway driving.

12. The usage-based insurance system of claim 11, wherein the premium associated with non-highway driving is 3 times the second premium associated with highway driving.

13. The usage-based insurance system of claim 1, wherein the at least one second memory stores additional computer-readable instructions that, when executed by the one or more second processors, cause the insurance system server to:

calculate a cumulative distance traveled by the vehicle during the first driving trip and one or more subsequent driving trips;

responsive to the cumulative distance meeting a threshold distance, determine a first number of hard braking events that occurred while traveling before the cumulative distance met the threshold distance and a second number of hard cornering events that occurred while traveling before the cumulative distance met the threshold distance;

calculate, based on whether the first number of hard braking events meets a hard braking threshold, a first premium associated with hard braking;

calculate, based and whether the second number of hard cornering events meets a hard cornering threshold, a second premium associated with hard cornering; and

adjust, for each driving trip contributing distance towards the cumulative distance, the balance of the first account based on the first premium associated with hard braking and the second premium associated with hard cornering.

14. The usage-based insurance system of claim 1, wherein reducing the balance of the premium in the first account comprises transferring an amount of funds associated with the cost of the first driving trip from the first account to a second account.

15. A system comprising:

a plurality of sensors arranged in a vehicle;

an on-board vehicle computing device including at least one first processor and at least one first memory storing first computer readable instructions that, when executed by the at least one first processor, cause the on-board vehicle computing device to;

receive, from the plurality of sensors arranged in the vehicle, and in near real time, driving data associated with operation of the vehicle during a first driving trip, the driving data including location information, velocity information, and acceleration information including a timestamp for each of a plurality of road segments of the first driving trip; and

transmit, upon completion of the first driving trip to an insurance system server via a wireless communications network, the driving data for the first driving trip; and

the insurance system server including one or more second processors and at least one second memory storing second computer-readable instructions that, when executed by the one or more second processors, cause the insurance system server to;

receive a premium for a dynamic usage-based insurance policy, the premium including an amount of funds provided by a user and stored in an account associated with at least one of;

the user or the vehicle;

receive, from an insurance system database, insurance information including a first cost per day and a first cost per mile for the dynamic usage-based insurance policy, wherein the first cost per mile comprises a road type cost, a driving time cost, a hard braking event cost, and a hard turning event cost;

receive, from the on-board vehicle computing device, the driving data for the first driving trip, wherein the driving data comprises location information, acceleration information, velocity information, and time information for each of the plurality of road segments, and wherein each road segment comprises 0.1 miles;

receive environmental condition data for the first driving trip;

determine whether a hard braking event or a hard cornering event occurred during the first driving trip based, at least in part, on the acceleration information and the velocity information, wherein the hard braking event comprises an acceleration change of at least 0.3 g, and wherein the hard cornering event comprises a velocity vector change of at least 9 miles per hour over a 1 second interval from side to side;

determine whether a cumulative vehicle mileage traveled parameter has met a threshold of 150 miles, and if not, use an estimated cost per mile associated with driving behaviors;

determine, based on the insurance information, a plurality of rates for calculating a cost per road segment for a plurality of different road segments comprising the first driving trip for insuring for the vehicle based on the dynamic usage-based insurance policy, wherein the cost per road segment is calculated based on at least the time of the first driving trip, a road type of a road traveled during the first driving trip, and the estimated cost per mile associated with the driving behaviors, and wherein the cost for each road segment is computed independently;

reduce the amount of funds associated with the premium and stored in the account by the cost of the first driving trip determined as a sum of costs for each of the plurality of road segments;

receive, from the on-board vehicle computing device, the driving data for a second driving trip, wherein the driving data comprises location information, acceleration information, velocity information, and time information for each of a second plurality of road segments on the second driving trip, and wherein each road segment comprises 0.1 miles;

determine a cost of the second driving trip as a second sum of costs associated with each of the second plurality of road segments based on the driving data for the second driving trip, a road type of a road traveled during the second driving trip, a time of day associated with each of the second plurality of road segments and the estimated costs per mile associated with the driving behaviors, wherein the cost for each road segment is computed independently; and

reduce a balance of the funds in the account by the cost of the second driving trip.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the insurance system server further includes additional instructions that, when executed by the one or more second processors, cause the insurance system server to:

responsive to determining that a distance of the first driving trip is not greater than 150 miles per day, determine the cost of the first driving trip based on the distance of the first driving trip; and

responsive to determining that the distance of the first driving trip is equal to or greater than 150 miles per day, determine the cost of the first driving trip as if the first driving trip were equal to 150 miles per day.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein the insurance system server further includes additional instructions that, when executed by the one or more second processors, cause the insurance system server to:

responsive to determining that the balance of the funds is below a predetermined threshold, automatically attempt to transfer funds from a payment account to the account.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the payment account is a credit card of the user.

19. The system of claim 15, further including a display of the on-board vehicle computing device, wherein the on-board vehicle computing device further includes additional instructions that, when executed by the at least one first processor, cause the on-board vehicle computing device to:

display at least one of;

costs associated with the first driving trip, costs associated with the second driving trip, a number of driving behaviors captured during the first driving trip or captured during the second driving trip, or a remaining balance of the account.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the on-board vehicle computing device comprises at least one of a mobile device or a vehicle computing system.