Processing insured items holistically with mobile damage assessment and claims processing

• US 10,430,885 B1
• Filed: 08/16/2012
• 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:
  US13/587,635
• Time in Patent Office: 2,602 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 method comprising:

executing, by an enhanced claims processing server, an automated claims processing process comprising;

transmitting, by an enhanced claims processing server, instructions to a mobile device to capture image data related to a damage of an insured item;

receiving, by the enhanced claims processing server, from a software application executing on the mobile device, and via a website interface of the enhanced claims processing server, captured image data related to the damage of the insured item;

automatically applying an optical character recognition system to the captured image data to extract data from the captured image data;

automatically determining that the captured image data is acceptable based on the data extracted from captured image data;

automatically identifying one or more edges surrounding a plurality of damaged areas of the insured item by applying one or more edge filters to the captured image data;

automatically extracting the plurality of damaged areas of the insured item from the captured image data based on the one or more edges;

automatically accessing, via a communications link, a database storing a plurality of reference data images related to damaged items similar to the insured item based on the captured image data related to the damage of the insured item;

automatically determining at least one of the plurality of reference data images that depicts a first item most similar to the insured item and that depicts damages most similar to the plurality of damaged areas associated with the insured item, wherein the determining is performed by the enhanced claims processor by using one or more object recognition algorithms to compare the captured image data and the plurality of reference data images;

automatically accessing, within the database, at least one damage template associated with the at least one of the plurality of reference data images, wherein the database stores historical damage estimate data;

automatically retrieving a confidence factor associated with the damage template; and

responsive to a determination that the confidence factor is above a threshold, automatically adjusting, by the enhanced claims processor, at least one damage estimate associated with the at least one damage template to calculate a new damage estimate for the insured item based on a difference between damage to the insured item and damage to the first item.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising transforming the captured image data into a grayscale version of the captured image data.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

based on the new damage estimate, determining, at the enhanced claims processor, a settlement for settling an insurance claim.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

transmitting the settlement to the mobile device.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

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

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

responsive to a determination that the settlement is acceptable, transmitting funds described in the settlement to an account of a user associated with the insured item.

7. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

responsive to a determination the settlement is not acceptable, transmitting the settlement to a claims adjuster for manual processing of the insurance claim.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising annotating, by the enhanced claims processing server, the captured image data.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one damage estimate is adjusted based on an average inflation rate between a first date at which the least one damage estimate was generated and a second date at which the new damage estimate is calculated.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one damage estimate is adjusted based on actual repair cost data.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one damage estimate is adjusted based on terms laid out in an insurance policy related to an insurance claim.

12. A system comprising:

an insured item, wherein the insured item comprises a plurality of damaged areas;

a processor; and

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

execute an automated claims processing process comprising;

transmit instructions to a mobile device to capture image data related to a damage of the insured item;

receive, from a software application executing on the mobile device, and via a website interface, captured image data related to the damage of the insured item;

automatically apply an optical character recognition system to the captured image data to extract data from the captured image data;

automatically determine that the captured image data is acceptable based on the data extracted from captured image data;

automatically identify one or more edges surrounding a plurality of damaged areas of the insured item by applying one or more edge filters to the captured image data;

automatically extract the plurality of damaged areas of the insured item from the captured image data based on the one or more edges;

automatically access, via a communications link, a database storing a plurality of reference data images related to damaged items similar to the insured item based on the captured image data related to the damage of the insured item;

automatically determine at least one of the plurality of reference data images that depicts a first item most similar to the insured item and that depicts damages most similar to the plurality of damaged areas associated with the insured item, wherein the determining is performed by using one or more object recognition algorithms to compare the captured image data and the plurality of reference data images;

automatically access, within the database, at least one damage template associated with the at least one of the plurality of reference data images, wherein the database stores historical damage estimate data;

automatically retrieve a confidence factor associated with the damage template; and

responsive to a determination that the confidence factor is above a threshold, automatically adjust at least one damage estimate associated with the at least one damage template to calculate a new damage estimate for the insured item based on a difference between damage to the insured item and damage to the first item.

13. The system of claim 12, the memory storing computer-readable instructions that, when executed by the processor, further cause the processor to transform the captured image data into a grayscale version of the captured image data.

14. The system of claim 12, the memory storing computer-readable instructions that, when executed by the processor, further cause the processor to determine a settlement for settling an insurance claim based on the new damage estimate.

15. The system of claim 14, the memory storing computer-readable instructions that, when executed by the processor, further cause the processor to transmit the settlement to the mobile device.

16. The system of claim 12 the memory storing computer-readable instructions that, when executed by the processor, further cause the processor to annotate the captured image data.

17. An apparatus comprising:

a processor; and

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

execute an automated claims processing process comprising;

transmit instructions to a mobile device to capture image data related to a damage of an insured item;

receive, from a software application executing on the mobile device, and via a website interface, captured image data related to the damage of the insured item;

automatically apply an optical character recognition system to the captured image data to extract data from the captured image data;

automatically determine that the captured image data is acceptable based on the data extracted from captured image data;

automatically identify one or more edges surrounding a plurality of damaged areas of the insured item by applying one or more edge filters to the captured image data;

automatically access, via a communications link, a database storing a plurality of reference data images related to damaged items similar to the insured item based on the captured image data related to the damage of the insured item;

automatically determine at least one of the plurality of reference data images that depicts a first item most similar to the insured item and depicts damages most similar to the plurality of damaged areas associated with the insured item, wherein the determining is performed by using one or more object recognition algorithms to compare the captured image data and the plurality of reference data images;

automatically access, within the database, at least one damage template associated with the at least one of the plurality of reference data images, wherein the database stores historical damage estimate data;

automatically retrieve a confidence factor associated with the damage template; and

responsive to a determination that the confidence factor is above a threshold, automatically adjust at least one damage estimate associated with the at least one damage template to calculate a new damage estimate for the insured item based on a difference between damage to the insured item and damage to the first item.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, the memory storing computer-readable instructions that, when executed by the processor, further cause the processor to transform the captured image data into a grayscale version of the captured image data.

19. The apparatus of claim 17, the memory storing computer-readable instructions that, when executed by the processor, further cause the processor to determine a settlement for settling an insurance claim based on the new damage estimate.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, the memory storing computer-readable instructions that, when executed by the processor, further cause the processor to transmit the settlement to the mobile device.