Processing insured items holistically with mobile damage assessment and claims processing

• US 10,430,886 B1
• Filed: 05/13/2013
• Issued: 10/01/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 08/16/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Allstate Insurance Company (Allstate Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Allstate Insurance Company (Allstate Corporation)
• Inventors: Brandmaier, Jennifer A., Faga, Mark E., Johnson, Robert H., Koza, Daniel, Loo, William, Marlow, Clint J., Stricker, Kurt M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Campen, Kelly S
• Application Number:
  US13/892,598
• Time in Patent Office: 2,332 Days
• Field of Search: 705 4, 703 8, 702108, 707705
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/08 Insurance
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/56 exterior to a vehicle by using sensors mounted on the vehicle

Abstract

Systems and methods provide for an automated system for analyzing damage and processing claims associated with an insured item, such as a vehicle. An enhanced claims processing server may analyze damage associated with the insured item using photos/video transmitted to the server from a user device (e.g., a mobile device). The mobile device may receive feedback from the server regarding the acceptability of submitted photos/video, and if the server determines that any of the submitted photos/video is unacceptable, the mobile device may capture additional photos/video until all of the data are deemed acceptable. To aid in damage analysis, the server may also interface with various internal and external databases storing reference images of undamaged items and cost estimate information for repairing previously analyzed damages to similar items. Further still, the server may generate a payment for compensating a claimant for repair of the insured item.

Claims

1. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable program instructions stored thereon that when executed by a processor, cause the processor at least to:

transmit, to a mobile device, user instructions to capture images depicting damage to an insured item;

receive, from a software application executing on the mobile device, a first plurality of images depicting a plurality of damaged areas of an insured vehicle;

automatically identify the plurality of damaged areas of the insured vehicle within the first plurality of images by applying an object recognition algorithm to the first plurality of images;

access a database storing a plurality of reference images depicting damaged vehicles;

determine at least one reference image that depicts a damaged vehicle most similar to the insured vehicle and depicts damage most similar to damage in a first damaged area of the plurality of damaged areas of the insured vehicle;

access, within the database, a damage template associated with the at least one reference image and comprising a damage estimate associated with the at least one reference image;

compare three-dimensional coordinates of the first plurality of images to three-dimensional coordinates of the at least one reference image;

generate, based on a result of the comparing and the damage estimate, a modified damage estimate;

generate a second damage estimate for a second damaged area of the plurality of damaged areas;

automatically generate a total damage estimate based on the modified damage estimate and the second damage estimate;

generate at least one interaction term that represents a modified cost associated with collectively repairing the first damaged area and the second damaged area;

automatically generate an effective total damage estimate based on the total damage estimate and the at least one interaction term;

determine a settlement based on the effective total damage estimate;

generate a user interface screen comprising the settlement; and

transmit, to the mobile device, the user interface screen.

2. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the at least one interaction term includes an interaction term for each pair of the plurality of damaged areas, and wherein the at least one interaction term is generated based on information stored in the database.

3. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, further comprising one or more additional computer-executable program instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:

receive, from the mobile device, an audio file comprising a narrative of one or more of the plurality of damaged areas of the insured vehicle; and

translate the audio file into a text file.

4. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, further comprising one or more additional computer-executable program instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:

receive, from the mobile device, an image depicting a vehicle identification number (VIN) of the insured vehicle; and

perform optical character recognition on the image depicting the VIN of the insured vehicle.

5. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, further comprising one or more additional computer-executable program instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:

identify an image depicting damage to an exterior of the insured vehicle; and

predict damage to an interior of the insured vehicle based on the damage to the exterior of the insured vehicle.

6. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, further comprising one or more additional computer-executable program instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:

transmit additional instructions to the mobile device about how to capture one or more images depicting the plurality of damaged areas of the insured vehicle.

7. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 6, further comprising one or more additional computer-executable program instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:

in response to transmitting the additional instructions, receive one or more additional images depicting the plurality of damaged areas of the insured vehicle.

8. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 7, further comprising one or more additional computer-executable program instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:

apply a predetermined set of rules to determine whether or not the one or more additional images are acceptable.

9. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, further comprising one or more additional computer-executable program instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:

when the one or more additional images are not acceptable, repeat transmitting the additional instructions, receiving a new image, and applying the predetermined set of rules until the new image is acceptable.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, further comprising one or more additional computer-executable program instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:

transmit, to the mobile device, a notification of when a repair process of the insured vehicle has been completed.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, further comprising one or more additional computer-executable program instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:

receive, from the mobile device, a notification detailing whether or not the settlement is acceptable.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, further comprising one or more additional computer-executable program instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:

when the settlement is acceptable, transmit funds described in the settlement to an account of a user of the mobile device.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, further comprising one or more additional computer-executable program instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:

when the settlement is not acceptable, transmit the settlement to a claims adjuster for manual processing of an associated insurance claim.

14. A method comprising:

transmitting, by an enhanced claims processor to a mobile device, user instructions to capture images depicting damage to an insured item;

receiving, by the enhanced claims processor, from a software application executing on the mobile device, a first plurality of images depicting a plurality of damaged areas of an insured vehicle;

automatically identifying, by the enhanced claims processor, the plurality of damaged areas of the insured vehicle within the first plurality of images by applying an object recognition algorithm to the first plurality of images;

accessing, by the enhanced claims processor, a database storing a plurality of reference images depicting damaged vehicles;

determining at least one reference image that depicts a damaged vehicle most similar to the insured vehicle and depicts damage most similar to damage in a first damaged area of the plurality of damaged areas of the insured vehicle;

accessing, within the database, a damage template associated with the at least one reference image and comprising a damage estimate associated with the at least one reference image;

comparing three-dimensional coordinates of the first plurality of images to three-dimensional coordinates of the at least one reference image;

generating, based on a result of the comparing and the damage estimate, a modified damage estimate;

generating a second damage estimate for a second damaged area of the plurality of damaged areas;

automatically generating, by the enhanced claims processor, a total damage estimate based on the modified damage estimate and the second damage estimate;

generating, by the enhanced claims processor, at least one interaction term that represents a modified cost associated with collectively repairing the first damaged area and the second damaged area;

automatically generating, by the enhanced claims processor, an effective total damage estimate based on the total damage estimate and the at least one interaction term;

determining a settlement based on the effective total damage estimate;

generating a user interface screen comprising the settlement; and

transmitting, by the enhanced claims processor, to the mobile device, the user interface screen.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the at least one interaction term includes an interaction term for each pair of the plurality of damaged areas.

16. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

receiving, by the enhanced claims processor from the mobile device, an audio file comprising a narrative of one or more of the plurality of damaged areas of the insured vehicle; and

translating the audio file into a text file.

17. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

receiving, by the enhanced claims processor from the mobile device, an image depicting a vehicle identification number (VIN) of the insured vehicle; and

performing, by the enhanced claims processor, optical character recognition on the image depicting the VIN of the insured vehicle.

18. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

transmitting additional instructions to the mobile device about how to capture one or more images depicting the plurality of damaged areas of the insured vehicle.

19. An apparatus comprising:

a processor; and

a memory storing computer-readable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the apparatus at least to;

transmit, to a mobile device, user instructions to capture images depicting damage to an insured item;

receive, from a software application executing on the mobile device, a plurality of images depicting a plurality of damaged areas of an insured vehicle;

automatically identify the plurality of damaged areas of the insured vehicle within the plurality of images by applying an object recognition algorithm to the plurality of images;

access a database storing a plurality of reference data related to damaged vehicles;

determine at least one of the plurality of reference data that depicts a damaged vehicle most similar to the insured vehicle and depicts damages most similar to a first damaged area of the plurality of damaged areas associated with the insured vehicle;

access, within the database, at least one damage template associated with at least one reference data and comprising at least one damage estimate associated with the at least one of the plurality of reference data;

compare three-dimensional coordinates of the plurality of images to three-dimensional coordinates of the at least one reference image;

generate, based on a result of the comparing and the damage estimate, a modified damage estimate;

generate a second damage estimate for a second damaged area of the plurality of damaged areas;

automatically generate a total damage estimate based on the modified damage estimate and the second damage estimate;

generate at least one interaction term that represents a modified cost associated with collectively repairing the first damaged area and the second damaged area;

automatically adjust the at least one damage estimate to calculate a new damage estimate for the insured vehicle based on the at least one damage estimate and the at least one interaction term;

determine a settlement based on the new damage estimate;

generate a user interface screen comprising the settlement; and

transmit, to the mobile device, the user interface screen.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the plurality of reference data includes a plurality of images of other damaged vehicles.