Systems and methods for automatically mitigating risk of property damage

• US 10,846,800 B1
• Filed: 07/18/2018
• Issued: 11/24/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 04/25/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (State Farm)
• Original Assignee: State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (State Farm)
• Inventors: Bryant, Ronny S., Call, Shawn M., Hakimi-Boushehri, Daryoush, Weekes, John H., Criswell, Jennifer, Binion, Todd, Jordan, II, Jackie O., McDermeit, Elisabeth, Donovan, John
• Primary Examiner(s): Trotter, Scott S
• Application Number:
  US16/038,310
• Time in Patent Office: 860 Days
• CPC Class Codes: E03B 7/071 Arrangement of safety devices in domestic pipe systems, e.g. devices for automatic shut-off
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 15/02 electric
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/163 Domotique, domestic, home control, automation, smart, intelligent house
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/2642 Domotique, domestic, home control, automation, smart house
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0278 Product appraisal
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/08 Insurance
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/16 Real estate
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/163 Real estate management
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/043 detecting an emergency event, e.g. a fall
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/20 responsive to moisture
• CPC Class Codes: G16Y 10/50 Finance; Insurance
• CPC Class Codes: G16Y 40/10 Detection; Monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2803 Home automation networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2823 Reporting information sensed by appliance or service execution status of appliance services in a home automation network device-related reporting H04L43/065; arrangements in telecontrol or telemetry systems for selectively calling a substation from a main station, in which substation desired apparatus is selected for applying a control signal thereto or for obtaining measured values therefrom H04Q9/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2827 Reporting to a device within the home network; wherein the reception of the information reported automatically triggers the execution of a home appliance functionality

Abstract

Methods and systems for automatically mitigating risks of insurance-related events to a property are provided. According to certain aspects, a smart home controller or insurance provider remote processor may analyze data received from a plurality of smart devices disposed on, within, or proximate to a property, as well as data received from an insurance provider. If it is determined that an actual or potential risk of property damage exists, the smart home controller or insurance provider remote processor may automatically issue commands to one or more smart devices to take actions that mitigate the risk. The smart home controller may also transmit information about the actual or potential risks and any mitigative actions to an insurance provider. The insurance provider remote processor may interpret the transmitted data to perform insurance activities, such as providing a discount and/or adjusting an insurance premium or policy associated with the property.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method of limiting damage to a property populated with a plurality of devices on the property, each of the plurality of devices configured to monitor various conditions associated with the property, the method comprising:

receiving, at a smart home controller via a first wired or wireless communication network, sensor data from a first device of the plurality of devices, the sensor data indicative of at least one potential change in at least one of the various conditions associated with the property;

detecting, by one or more processors of the smart home controller, a potential insurance-related event associated with the property through analyzing the sensor data;

determining, by the one or more processors, a first corrective action to be performed by a second device of the plurality of devices to mitigate or prevent a first cause of damage associated with the potential insurance-related event, wherein determining the first corrective action further comprises analyzing the functionality of two or more devices of the plurality of devices including the second device and detecting that the second device is capable of mitigating or preventing the first cause of damage associated with the potential insurance-related event;

determining, by the one or more processors, a second corrective action to be performed by a third device of the plurality of devices to mitigate or prevent a second cause damage associated with the potential insurance-related event, wherein determining the second corrective action further comprises analyzing the functionality of two or more devices of the plurality of devices including the third device and detecting that the third device is capable of mitigating or preventing the second cause of damage associated with the potential insurance-related event;

transmitting, from the smart home controller to the second device of the plurality of devices via the first wired or wireless communication network, a first command that is executed by the second device of the plurality of devices, and causes the second device of the plurality of devices to perform the first corrective action such that the first cause of damage associated with the potential insurance-related event is mitigated or prevented; and

transmitting, from the smart home controller to the third device of the plurality of devices via the first wired or wireless communication network, a second command that is executed by the third device of the plurality of devices, and causes the third device of the plurality of devices to perform the second corrective action such that the second cause of damage associated with the potential insurance-related event is mitigated or prevented.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, the method further comprising:

receiving, via the first wired or wireless communication network, a confirmation that the first command has been executed.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein the corrective action to be performed by the second device of the plurality of devices comprises:

shutting off a water or gas supply.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein the corrective action to be performed by the second device of the plurality of devices comprises:

closing a door, window or shutter.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein the corrective action to be performed by the second device of the plurality of devices comprises:

turning off an appliance that has failed or is about to fail.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein the corrective action to be performed by the second device of the plurality of devices comprises:

turning on a sump pump, de-watering equipment, or fire sprinklers.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, the method further comprising:

transmitting, to at least one of an individual associated with the property and an insurance provider associated with the property via a second wired or wireless communication network, an alert indicating that the first corrective action to mitigate or prevent the potential insurance-related event has been performed.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 4, the method further comprising:

receiving, from the insurance provider via the second wired or wireless communication network, a notification that at least one insurance-related activity has occurred, wherein the insurance-related activity is at least one of;

an update of an insurance policy or premium,

an adjustment of an insurance discount, rebate or award,

a processing of an insurance claim, or

a recommendation to purchase at least one additional device or insurance product.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, the method further comprising:

retrieving, by the one or more processors, data from an archival database;

examining, by the one or more processors, the data from the archival database to generate a baseline model;

comparing, by the one or more processors, the sensor data to the baseline model to identify variations from normal operation; and

storing, by the one or more processors, the operating data in the archival database.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 9, wherein comparing the sensor data to the baseline model comprises:

calculating, by the one or more processors, a variance between the sensor data and the baseline model; and

determining, by the one or more processors, whether the variance is indicative of at least one of;

a device of the plurality of devices is failing or the device is about to fail.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, the method further comprising:

receiving, via a second communication network, insurance-related data from at least one of an insurance provider associated with the property and a third party agency that gathers and reports data relevant to insurance risk.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 8, wherein the third party agency is at least one of:

a weather agency, a crime reporting agency, a traffic reporting agency, a pollution monitoring agency or an insect control agency.

13. A system for limiting damage to a property populated with a plurality of devices on the property, each of the plurality of devices configured to monitor various conditions associated with the property, the system comprising:

a communication module adapted to communicate data;

a memory adapted to store non-transitory computer executable instructions; and

one or more processors associated with a smart home controller and adapted to interface with the communication module, wherein the one or more processors are configured to execute the non-transitory computer executable instructions to cause the one or more processors to;

receive, via the communication module, sensor data from a first device of the plurality of devices, the sensor data indicative of at least one potential change in at least one of the various conditions associated with the property;

detect, by the one or more processors, a potential insurance-related event associated with the property through analyzing the sensor data;

determine, by the one or more processors, a first corrective action to be performed by a second device of the plurality of devices to mitigate or prevent a first cause of damage associated with the potential insurance-related event, wherein determining the first corrective action further comprises analyzing the functionality of two or more devices of the plurality of devices including the second device and detecting that the second device is capable of mitigating or preventing the first cause of damage associated with the potential insurance-related event;

determine, by the one or more processors, a second corrective action to be performed by a third device of the plurality of devices to mitigate or prevent a second cause of damage associated with the potential insurance-related event, wherein determining the second corrective action further comprises analyzing the functionality of two or more devices of the plurality of devices including the third device and detecting that the third device is capable of mitigating or preventing the second cause of damage associated with the potential insurance-related event;

transmit, from the smart home controller to the second device of the plurality of devices, a first command that is executed by the second device of the plurality of devices to perform the first corrective action such that the first cause of damage associated with the potential insurance-related event is mitigated or prevented; and

transmit, from the smart home controller to the third device of the plurality of devices, a second command that is executed by the third device of the plurality of devices to perform the second corrective action such that the second cause of damage associated with the potential insurance-related event is mitigated or prevented.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the communication module is configured to:

receive a confirmation that the first command has been executed.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the corrective action to be performed by the second device of the plurality of devices comprises:

shutting off a water or gas supply.

16. The system of claim 13, wherein the corrective action to be performed by the second device of the plurality of devices comprises:

closing a door, window or shutter.

17. The system of claim 13, wherein the corrective action to be performed by the second device of the plurality of devices comprises:

turning off an appliance that has failed or is about to fail.

18. The system of claim 13, wherein the corrective action to be performed by the second device of the plurality of devices comprises:

turning on a sump pump, de-watering equipment or fire sprinklers.

19. The system of claim 13, wherein the communication module is further configured to:

transmit, to at least one of an individual associated with the property and an insurance provider associated with the property, an alert indicating that the corrective action to mitigate or prevent the potential insurance-related event has been performed.

20. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing processor-executable instructions, that when executed cause one or more processors to:

receive, at a smart home controller via a communication network, sensor data from a first device of a plurality of devices, the sensor data indicative of at least one potential change in at least one of various conditions associated with a property;

detect, by the one or more processors of the smart home controller, a potential insurance-related event associated with the property through analyzing the sensor data;

determine, by the one or more processors, a first corrective action to take to mitigate or prevent a first cause of damage associated with the potential insurance-related event, wherein determining the first corrective action further comprises analyzing the functionality of two or more devices of the plurality of devices including a second device and detecting that the second device is capable of mitigating or preventing the first cause of damage associated with the potential insurance-related event;

determine, by the one or more processors, a second corrective action to take to mitigate or prevent a second cause of damage associated with the potential insurance-related event, wherein determining the second corrective action further comprises analyzing the functionality of two or more devices of the plurality of devices including a third device and detecting that the third device is capable of mitigating or preventing the second cause of damage associated with the potential insurance-related event;

transmit, by the one or more processor, a first command from the smart home controller to the second device of the plurality of devices that is executed by the second device of the plurality of devices and causes the first corrective action to be performed such that the first cause of damage associated with the potential insurance-related event is mitigated or prevented; and

transmit, by the one or more processor, a second command from the smart home controller to the third device of the plurality of devices that is executed by the third device of the plurality of devices and causes the second corrective action to be performed such that the second cause of damage associated with the potential insurance-related event is mitigated or prevented.