SYSTEMS AND METHODS TO REPORT VEHICLE OWNERSHIP INFORMATION

• US 20150100506A1
• Filed: 10/07/2013
• Published: 04/09/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 10/07/2013
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (State Farm)
• Original Assignee: State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (State Farm)
• Inventors: Binion, Todd, Minter, Kelly S., Myers, Jeremy, Fields, Brian, Harr, Joe, Brown-McCreery, Heidi, Harris, Michael
• Application Number:
  US14/047,268
• Publication Number:
  US 20150100506A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/306
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0278 Product appraisal

Abstract

A method for reporting vehicle ownership information includes receiving an enrollment from a customer, wherein the enrollment includes information identifying a vehicle and retrieving a plurality of condition data corresponding to the vehicle from one or more databases. The method further includes analyzing the existing condition data and the additional condition data to establish a vehicle condition trend. The vehicle condition trend reflects changes in a condition of the vehicle, wherein the condition of the vehicle relates to at least one of a quality or a value of the vehicle. Still further, the method includes generating a vehicle ownership report, wherein the vehicle ownership report includes indications of the vehicle condition trend, and communicating the vehicle ownership report to a remote computing device for presentation to the customer.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for reporting vehicle ownership information comprising:

receiving, via a computer network, an enrollment from a customer, wherein the enrollment includes information identifying a vehicle owned or operated by the customer;

retrieving existing condition data corresponding to the vehicle from a condition database,

wherein the existing condition data was generated while the vehicle was being operated prior to the receiving of the enrollment, and

wherein a plurality of devices inside the vehicle generated at least some of the existing condition data, the plurality of devices including at least three or more of a mobile device temporarily disposed in the operated vehicle, a geopositioning receiver, a motion sensor, a camera, or an audio sensor;

gathering, via the computer network, additional condition data corresponding to the vehicle,

wherein at least some of the additional condition data is generated while the vehicle is operated by the customer after the receiving of the enrollment, and

wherein the plurality of devices inside the vehicle generates at least some of the additional condition data;

analyzing, by one or more processors, the existing condition data and the additional condition data to generate a vehicle condition trend, wherein the vehicle condition trend reflects changes in a condition of the vehicle, and wherein the condition of the vehicle includes one of a market value or trade-in value of the vehicle and an overall quality level of the vehicle;

generating, by the one or more processors, a vehicle ownership report, wherein the vehicle ownership report includes one or more visual descriptors of the vehicle condition trend; and

communicating, via the computer network, the vehicle ownership report to a remote computing device for presentation to the customer.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the information identifying the vehicle includes at least one of a license plate number, license plate state, manufacturer name, year of manufacture, name of insurance company, model name or number, color, vehicle identification number (VIN), registered owner name, owner contact information, or insurance policy number.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the condition of the vehicle further includes a state of mechanical operation of the vehicle.

4. The computer implemented method of claim 3, wherein the additional condition data includes one or more of indications of current or prior geographic locations, mileages of the vehicle, times, dates, behaviors of the customer while operating the vehicle, collisions in which the vehicle was involved, repairs of the vehicle, information from a vehicle title corresponding to the vehicle, usage patterns of the vehicle, recalls corresponding to the vehicle, preferences of the customer, or driving violations.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the plurality of devices inside the vehicle that generates the additional condition data also generated at least some of the existing condition data.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising storing, by the one or more processors, the additional condition data in the condition database.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, wherein the additional condition data is stored in the condition database along with the existing condition data as a current condition data set.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, wherein one or more timestamps are stored with the additional condition data identifying the time at which the additional condition data was gathered.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein analyzing, with one or more processors, the existing condition data and the additional condition data to establish the vehicle condition trend includes:

determining, by the one or more processors, the condition of the vehicle based on at least some of the existing condition data or the additional condition data; and

predicting at least one of a current or future market value of the vehicle or a current or future need for maintenance or repair of the vehicle.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the one or more visual descriptors include one of text, image, graph, plot, chart, or table based representations of the vehicle condition trend.

10. (canceled)

12. A computer-implemented method for reporting vehicle condition information on a computing device including a display device and a user interface, the method comprising:

receiving, from a customer via the user interface, a vehicle enrollment, wherein the enrollment includes information identifying a vehicle owned or operated by the customer;

generating, by one or more processors, a vehicle condition query, wherein the vehicle condition query includes the information identifying the vehicle;

sending, via a network interface at the computing device, the vehicle condition query to a server;

receiving, via the network interface at the computing device, information indicative of a vehicle condition trend,

wherein the vehicle condition trend reflects changes in a condition of the vehicle,

wherein the condition of the vehicle includes one of a market value or trade-in value of the vehicle and an overall quality level of the vehicle, and

wherein the condition of the vehicle is based on a collective analysis of existing condition data generated by a plurality of devices inside the vehicle while the vehicle was being operated prior to receiving the vehicle enrollment and additional condition data generated by the plurality of devices inside the vehicle while the vehicle is operated after receiving the vehicle enrollment, and

wherein the plurality of devices inside the vehicle includes at least three or more of a mobile device temporarily disposed in the operated vehicle, a geopositioning receiver, a motion sensor, a camera, or an audio sensor;

rendering, by the one or more processors, an image representing of at least some of the information indicative of the vehicle condition trend; and

presenting, via the display device, the image of at least some of the information indicative of the vehicle condition trend.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 12, wherein the information identifying the vehicle includes at least one of a license plate number, license plate state, manufacturer name, year of manufacture, name of insurance company, model name or number, color, vehicle identification number (VIN), registered owner name, owner contact information, or insurance policy number.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 12, wherein the condition of the vehicle further includes a state of mechanical operation of the vehicle.

15. The computer implemented method of claim 14, wherein the condition data includes one or more of indications of current or prior geographic locations, mileages of the vehicle, times, dates, behaviors of the customer while operating the vehicle, collisions in which the vehicle was involved, repairs of the vehicle, information from a vehicle title corresponding to the vehicle, usage patterns of the vehicle, recalls corresponding to the vehicle, preferences of the customer, or driving violations.

16. The computer-implemented method of claim 12, wherein the information indicative of the vehicle condition trend includes at least one of:

(i) a prediction of a current or future market value of the vehicle,

(ii) a prediction of a current or future need for maintenance or repair of the vehicle,

(iii) an indication of one or more recommended points in time to buy or sell the vehicle, or

(iv) a suggestion for improving the quality or value of the vehicle.

17. A computer device for reporting vehicle ownership information, the computer device comprising:

one or more processors; and

one or more non-transitory memories coupled to the one or more processors;

wherein the one or more memories include computer executable instructions stored therein that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to;

receive, via a computer network, an enrollment from a customer, wherein the enrollment includes information identifying a vehicle owned or operated by the customer;

retrieve existing condition data corresponding to the vehicle from a condition database,

wherein the existing condition data was generated while the vehicle was being operated prior to the receiving of the enrollment, and

wherein a plurality of devices inside the vehicle generated at least some of the existing condition data, the plurality of devices including at least three or more of a mobile device temporarily disposed in the operated vehicle, a geopositioning receiver, a motion sensor, a camera, or an audio sensor;

gather, via the computer network, additional condition data corresponding to the vehicle,

wherein at least some of the additional condition data is generated while the vehicle is operated by the customer after the receiving of the enrollment, and

wherein the plurality of devices inside the vehicle generates at least some of the additional condition data;

analyze the existing condition data and the additional condition data to generate a vehicle condition trend, wherein the vehicle condition trend reflects changes in a condition of the vehicle, and wherein the condition of the vehicle includes one of a market value or trade-in value of the vehicle and an overall quality level of the vehicle;

generate a vehicle ownership report, wherein the vehicle ownership report includes one or more visual descriptors of the vehicle condition trend; and

communicate, via the computer network, the vehicle ownership report to a remote computing device for presentation to the customer.

18. The computer device of claim 17, wherein the condition of the vehicle further includes a state of mechanical operation of the vehicle.

19. The computer device of claim 17, wherein the computer executable instruction further cause the one or more processors to store the additional condition data in a database.

20. The computer device of claim 18, wherein the database storing the additional condition data is separate from the condition database storing the existing condition data.