Insurance visibility

• US 8,620,692 B2
• Filed: 11/05/2009
• Issued: 12/31/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 11/26/2008
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Great Lakes Incubator, LLC, RCK-IP, LLC
• Original Assignee: Great Lakes Incubator, LLC
• Inventors: Amin, Himanshu S., Turocy, Gregory, Takieh, Seyed Vahid Sharifi, Krosky, Ronald Charles, Noonan, David, Narvaez, Gustavo Arnaldo, Asquith, Brian, Collopy, Fred, Nard, Craig Allen
• Primary Examiner(s): Chang, Edward
• Application Number:
  US12/612,958
• Publication Number:
  US 20100131305A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,517 Days
• Field of Search: 705/4, 705/35
• US Class Current: 705/4
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0201 Market modelling; Market analysis; Collecting market data
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0224 based on user history
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0251 Targeted advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0265 Vehicular advertisement
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0269 based on user profile or attribute
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0273 Determination of fees for advertising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 Billing or invoicing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/08 Insurance

Abstract

Dynamic insurance rate adjustments are communicated to a vehicle operator in order to allow the vehicle operator to adjust various parameters before an actual change to an insurance rate is communicated to a service provider or trusted third party. The various parameters can be external parameters and/or internal parameters and further can include historical information, current information, and/or predicted information. Communicating the insurance rate adjustments provides for insurance visibility for both the operator and passengers of the vehicle. The insurance rate adjustment is communicated though a device located within a vehicle to enable perception by a vehicle occupant.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory that stores computer-executable components, the computer-executable components comprising;

a monitoring component that gathers one or more parameters related to a current operation of a vehicle and at least one biofeedback data related to a current state of an operator of the vehicle;

an adjustment component that selectively modifies, in real-time, a base rate of insurance to produce a surcharge or a discount based on the one or more parameters related to the current operation of the vehicle and the at least one biofeedback data; and

a render component that dynamically outputs the surcharge or the discount and the one or more parameters that influenced the surcharge or the discount to the operator of the vehicle in real-time while the vehicle is in operation, wherein the render component outputs, in real-time, a visual representation of the surcharge or the discount, wherein a change to the surcharge or the discount is automatically applied to the visual representation, and wherein the render component performs a function related to the vehicle or the operator of the vehicle that is different from dynamically outputting the surcharge or the discount and wherein the render component is selectively removable from the vehicle.

2. The system of claim 1, the render component comprises a color element that varies in color across a spectrum to represent the surcharge or the discount, wherein a midpoint of the spectrum represents a current insurance cost and a change of color across the spectrum in a first direction indicates the surcharge and in a second direction indicates the discount.

3. The system of claim 1, further comprising an interface component that engages the operator in an interchange during the current operation of the vehicle, wherein the interchange is related to the surcharge, the discount, the one or more parameters, the at least one biofeedback data, or combinations thereof.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the adjustment component produces the discount if the one or more parameters and the at least one biofeedback data tend to decrease an amount of insurance claims or produces the surcharge if the one or more parameters and the at least one biofeedback data tend to increase the amount of insurance claims.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the render component is located within the vehicle as a dashboard mounted display or a heads-up display to enable perception by a vehicle passenger.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the adjustment component selectively produces the discount or the surcharge in real-time to enable near instantaneous feedback to the operator as the vehicle is in operation.

7. The system of claim 1, further comprising a notification component that conveys information related to the one or more parameters related to the vehicle, the at least one biofeedback data, the discount, the surcharge, or combinations thereof, to a service provider or a trusted third party, wherein the information is conveyed to the service provider or the trusted third party less often than the render component dynamically outputs the surcharge or the discount to the operator of the vehicle.

15. The system of claim 1, wherein the render component is a key fob and wherein the function is a selection of one or more options associated with the vehicle.

16. The system of claim 7, wherein the render component delays conveying the information to the service provider or the trusted third party until an event occurs that negates a previous change resulting in the surcharge or the discount.

18. The system of claim 1, wherein the render component is integrated in a vehicle dashboard.

19. The system of claim 2, wherein the color element comprises at least one color from a different spectrum to indicate a condition when a modified cost of insurance is not available.

8. A method that facilitates providing visibility of a cost of insurance, comprising:

employing a processor to execute computer executable instructions stored in memory to perform the following acts;

gathering one or more parameters related to a vehicle covered by an insurance policy and one or more parameters related to a vehicle operator while the vehicle is being operated;

selectively creating, while the vehicle is being operated, a modified cost of the insurance policy as a function of the one or more parameters related to the vehicle and the one or more parameters related to the vehicle operator; and

presenting the modified cost of the insurance policy to the vehicle operator while the vehicle is being operated, wherein the modified cost is presented in real-time in a manner that does not cause operator distraction while the vehicle is being operated,

wherein the presenting the modified cost of the insurance policy comprises;

outputting a plurality of lights that vary in intensity across a color spectrum, wherein a midpoint of the color spectrum represents the current cost of the insurance;

changing an illumination of the plurality of lights in a first direction to represent a surcharge; and

changing the illumination of the plurality of lights in a second direction to represent a discount.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein selectively modifying the cost of the insurance policy comprises applying a discount if the one or more parameters decreases a number of insurance claims or applying a surcharge if the one or more parameters increases the number of insurance claims, wherein the discount or the surcharge is represented on a sliding scale relative to the base cost of the insurance policy.

10. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

prompting the vehicle operator for feedback related to the modified cost of the insurance policy, the one or more parameters related to the vehicle, the one or more parameters related to the vehicle operator, or combinations thereof, wherein the prompting occurs at about the same time as the gathering;

receiving a response from the vehicle operator while the vehicle is being operated; and

utilizing the response to further modify the cost of the insurance policy, wherein the further modified cost is presented in real-time while the vehicle is being operated.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

notifying an insurance provider or a trusted third party of the modified cost of the insurance policy, the one or more parameters, the response from the operator of the vehicle, or combinations thereof, wherein the notifying is independent from the presenting the modified cost of the insurance policy to the vehicle operator.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein the gathering the one or more parameters comprises gathering historical information, current information, predicted information, or combinations thereof.

13. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

monitoring the one or more parameters related to the vehicle and the vehicle operator, or additional parameters related to the vehicle and the vehicle operator, over time; and

providing a further modification to the cost of the insurance policy based on the monitoring over time, wherein the further modification can negate a previous modification.

14. The method of claim 8, wherein presenting the modified cost of the insurance policy to the operator of the vehicle comprises displaying the modified cost of the insurance policy in a dashboard-mounted display that is selectively removable from the vehicle.

17. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

assigning a weight to each of the gathered one or more parameters related to the vehicle and each of the one or more parameters related to the vehicle operator; and

using the assigned weight to create the modified cost of the insurance policy.