Systems and methods for performing a risk management assessment of a property

• US 9,953,370 B2
• Filed: 03/11/2014
• Issued: 04/24/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 02/03/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: EagleView Technologies Incorporated (Eagleview Technologies, Inc. /Wa/)
• Original Assignee: EagleView Technologies Incorporated (Eagleview Technologies, Inc. /Wa/)
• Inventors: Pershing, Chris, Ishikawa, Randall
• Primary Examiner(s): Liu, I Jung
• Application Number:
  US14/204,142
• Publication Number:
  US 20140195275A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,505 Days
• Field of Search: 705 4
• CPC Class Codes: C01B 21/28 Apparatus
• CPC Class Codes: G01B 21/28 for measuring areas
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• 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: G06Q 50/16 Real estate

Abstract

System and methods for performing a risk management assessment of a property using at least aerial imagery of the property and additional data about the property that is evaluated against risk management criteria. Data acquired through aerial imagery includes identifying buildings and floor area of the buildings, condition of the buildings including roof and exterior walls, and identifying other property hazards. Additional data may include property information coming from multiple sources including city and County governments, contractors and insurance companies. The resulting risk management assessment may be used to settle insurance claims and to determine insurance products and premium rates offered on the property.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

obtaining a plurality of images for one or more aerial views of a first property from a first source, wherein a first set of images of the plurality of images were taken of the first property and a second set of images of the plurality of images were taken of the first property;

obtaining additional data from a second source, the additional data relating to the first property;

evaluating the obtained plurality of images for the one or more aerial views against risk management criteria, the evaluating including;

employing first computer-aided graphical image processing on the plurality of images to identify one or more features, including a building having a roof, of the first property taken from different angles;

employing second computer-aided graphical image processing on the plurality of images to determine a condition of the roof based on a comparison between images in the first set of images and images in the second set of images, by comparing differences in texture of the roof in images in the first set of images and texture of the roof in the second set of images to identify roof damage; and

comparing the condition of the roof with the risk management criteria;

evaluating the obtained additional data against the risk management criteria;

determining a risk management profile of the first property based on evaluating the obtained plurality of images and the obtained additional data against the risk management criteria;

storing the determined risk management profile of the first property;

generating a risk management report for the first property based on the risk management profile of the first property;

determining a confidence rating of the risk management profile of the first property based on evaluating the obtained plurality of images and the obtained additional data against the risk management criteria;

storing the determined confidence rating of the risk management profile of the first property;

outputting the risk management report for the first property based on the stored risk management profile of the first property; and

outputting the confidence rating for the risk management report of the first property based on the stored confidence rating.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein risk management criteria further comprises building roof condition.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein a second source for obtaining additional data relating to the first property further comprises:

government agencies, county tax records, construction companies, insurance companies, and sources of property description data describing conditions on a second property adjacent to the first property.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving an insurance claim for damage on the first property;

comparing the insurance claim to the stored risk management profile of the first property; and

determining, based on the comparison, whether to pay the insurance claim.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein evaluating the obtained plurality of images for the one or more aerial views against risk management criteria further comprises:

identifying a plurality of individuals, the individuals being part of a crowd source network;

creating a questionnaire, the questionnaire including a plurality of questions based at least in part on the risk management criteria;

sending to the identified plurality of individuals the questionnaire and at least one of the obtained plurality of images; and

receiving from each of the plurality of individuals a questionnaire reply having answers to one or more of the plurality of questions of the sent questionnaire, the answers based on the individual'"'"'s evaluation of the first property using the at least one of the obtained plurality of images.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein evaluating the obtained additional data against risk management criteria further comprises:

identifying a plurality of individuals, the individuals being part of a crowd source network;

creating a questionnaire, the questionnaire including a plurality of questions based at least in part on the risk management criteria;

sending to the identified plurality of individuals the questionnaire and at least a subset of the obtained additional data; and

receiving from each of the plurality of individuals a questionnaire reply having answers to one or more of the plurality of questions of the sent questionnaire, the answers based on the individual'"'"'s evaluation of the first property using the at least a subset of the obtained additional data.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

if the confidence rating for the risk management profile of the first property is less than a threshold level, sending a person to a location of the first property to acquire additional data.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

comparing the risk management report for the first property to underwriting criteria to generate a comparison result the underwriting criteria including at least a plurality of insurance products each including a plurality of premium amounts;

storing the comparison result;

identifying, from the stored comparison result, the insurance products and premium amounts available for the first property that satisfy the underwriting criteria;

storing the insurance products and premium amounts available for the first property that meet the underwriting criteria; and

outputting the stored insurance products and premium amounts available for the first property that meet the underwriting criteria.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

if the confidence level for the risk management report is above a threshold level, sending the stored insurance products and premium amounts to an owner of the first property.

10. The risk method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining that at least one of the additional data is incorrect data; and

sending one or more electronic data to at least one entity that provided the incorrect data to cause the entity to update its records with correct data.

11. A risk management computer device, comprising:

a memory that stores instructions; and

a processor that executes the instructions to perform actions, including;

obtaining a plurality of images for one or more aerial views of a property having a plurality of property features, wherein a first set of images of the plurality of images were taken of the property and a second set of images of the plurality of images were taken of the property;

obtaining additional data relating to the property;

generating a risk management profile for the property from a comparison of the plurality of property features identifiable in the plurality of images and the additional data with a plurality of risk management criteria, the generating including;

employing first computer-aided graphical image processing on the plurality of images to identify the plurality of property features, including a building having a roof, including comparing multiple lower-resolution images taken from different angles;

employing second computer-aided graphical image processing on the plurality of images to determine a condition of the roof based on a comparison between the first set of images and the second set of images, by comparing differences in texture of the roof in images in the first set of images and texture of the roof in the second set of images to identify roof damage; and

comparing the plurality of property features and the condition of the roof with the plurality of risk management criteria;

generating a confidence rating of the risk management profile based on a statistical analysis of the comparison of the plurality of property features and the additional data with the plurality of risk management criteria; and

generating a risk management report for the property based on the risk management profile and the confidence rating for the risk management profile of the property.

12. The risk management computer device of claim 11, wherein the risk management criteria further comprises building roof condition.

13. The risk management computer device of claim 11 wherein the additional data is obtained from a plurality of entities, including at least one of government agencies, county tax records, construction companies, and insurance companies.

14. The risk management computer device of claim 11 wherein the processor executes the instructions to perform further actions, comprising:

receiving an insurance claim for damage on the property;

comparing the insurance claim to the risk management profile of the property; and

determining, based on the comparison, whether to pay the insurance claim.

15. The risk management computer device of claim 11 wherein the processor executes the instructions to perform further actions, comprising:

determining the plurality of risk management criteria from a larger set of risk management criteria that are obtained from a plurality of sources, the plurality of risk management criteria being common among the plurality of sources.

16. The risk management computer device of claim 11 wherein the processor executes the instructions to perform further actions, comprising:

determining that at least one of the additional data is incorrect data; and

sending one or more electronic data to at least one entity that provided the incorrect data to cause the entity to update its records with correct data.

17. A computer-readable non-transitory storage medium having stored contents that cause a processor of a risk management computer device to perform actions, comprising:

obtaining a plurality of images for one or more aerial views of a property having a plurality of property features including a building having a roof, wherein the plurality of images includes a first set of images and a second set of images;

obtaining additional data relating to the property;

employing first computer-aided graphical image processing on the plurality of images to identify the plurality of property features, including the roof, including comparing multiple lower-resolution images taken from different angles;

employing second computer-aided graphical image processing on the plurality of images to determine a condition of the roof based on a comparison between the first set of images and the second set of images, by comparing differences in texture of the roof in images in the first set of images and texture of the roof in the second set of images to identify roof damage; and

evaluating the plurality of property features, the condition of the at least one feature, and the additional data relative to a plurality of risk management criteria;

determining a risk management profile and confidence rating for the risk management profile based the evaluation;

generating a risk management report for the property based on the risk management profile and the confidence rating; and

outputting the risk management report of the property.