2023 JAN 20 (NewsRx) — By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News — According to news reporting originating from Washington, D.C., by NewsRx journalists, a patent application by the inventor Floyd, Matthew L. (Alpharetta, GA, US), filed on September 13, 2022, was made available online on January 5, 2023.
No assignee for this patent application has been made.
Reporters obtained the following quote from the background information supplied by the inventors: “Usage-based insurance contracts (also known as trip based insurance) are short-term contracts that allow a driver to pay for insurance as they need it. In many cases, this insurance is based upon the combination of the user and the vehicle. However, as many drivers are no longer being tied to specific vehicles, it has become more difficult to determine the proper insurance for the individual user on a case by case basis. Furthermore, while the usage-based insurance (UBI) may include restrictions on the user, it is not always possible to determine when the user has complied with these restrictions. In some cases, a user may wish to modify already issued insurance to allow for a detour or side trip. There exists a need to collect and collate data about a user and a trip to allow for proper tracking of insurance policies and individuals.”
In addition to obtaining background information on this patent application, NewsRx editors also obtained the inventor’s summary information for this patent application: “The present embodiments may relate to blockchain based systems and methods for managing usage-based insurance contracts. The platform may include an Insurance Monitoring (IM) computer system associated with a vehicle, a User Based Auto Insurance Management (“UBAIM”) system, a plurality of sensors on the vehicle, a plurality of vehicle computer devices associated with a plurality of vehicles configured to act as nodes for a blockchain ledger, and/or an insurer auction network including a plurality of insurer computer devices associated with a plurality of insurers. The IM computer system may be a mobile device associated with the driver and/or a vehicle computer device associated with the vehicle. In some further embodiments, the IM computer system may be separate from the vehicle and be in communication with the vehicle.
“The IM computer system may be configured to: (i) receive a user request for trip insurance (such as via wireless communication or data transmission over one or more radio links or digital communication channels), where the user request includes a plurality of information about the user (who may or may not be the driver), the vehicle (which may be an autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle), and the trip; (ii) transmit the user request to the insurer auction network, where the insurer auction network transmits the request to the plurality of insurer computer devices, which are configured to generate bids based upon the user request; (iii) receive, from the insurer auction network, a plurality of bids (or a selected winning bid) from the plurality of insurer computer devices for trip insurance based upon the user request; (iv) display the plurality of bids (or selected winning bid) to the user; (v) receive a user selection of a bid of the plurality of bids (or a user approval of the selected winning bid); (vi) transmit the user selection (or user approval) to the insurer auction network, where the insurer auction network notifies the insurer computer device associated with the selected bid (or winning bid), which may be the UBAIM server or may be in communication with the UBAIM server; (vii) store an insurance and/or smart contract that includes one or more terms (the terms may include conditions, clauses, vehicle or driver limitations, premiums, discounts, deductibles, endorsements, duties, obligations, etc.) for the trip using a blockchain structure, where the plurality of nodes store copies of the insurance contract, and where in some embodiments, the blockchain based insurance contract may be generated by the UBAIM server, and in other embodiments, the blockchain based insurance contract may be generated by the IM computer system based off of information from the bid and/or the UBAIM server. The IM computer system may further be configured to: (viii) receive, from the driver and/or a vehicle (such as an autonomous vehicle controller), a requested modification of at least one of the one or more terms of the insurance contract; (ix) transmit the requested modification to the UBAIM server; (x) receive a response to the request from the UBAIM server, where the response may include an approval or one or more additional terms; (xi) if the response includes one or more additional terms, display the one or more additional terms to the driver and/or vehicle for approval and wait to receive approval of the one or more additional terms from the driver; (xii) store the modification, the response, the approval, and/or the one or more additional terms in the insurance contract (which may be a virtual or electronic smart contract), in some embodiments, the IM computer system may (a) generate a new block for the insurance contract based upon the requested modification and the response, (b) update the insurance contract with the new block, and/or © transmit the new block with the plurality of nodes, where each the plurality of nodes are configured to update their stored copies of the insurance contract with the new block. In other embodiments, the IM computer system may transmit the requested modification and the response to the plurality of nodes, where each of the plurality of nodes are configured to generate a new block based upon the requested modification and the response and update their stored copies of the insurance contract with the generated block. The IM computer system may further be configured to: (xiii) receive sensor information from the one or more sensors associated with the vehicle; (xiv) with customer permission or affirmative consent, compare the received sensor information with the one or more terms (conditions, limitations, clauses, duties, obligations, etc.) of the (electronic and/or smart) insurance contract; (xv) determine whether the driver and/or the vehicle (such as autonomous vehicle) complied with the one or more terms based upon the comparison; (xvi) if the determination is that the driver or autonomous vehicle complied with the one or more terms, the computer device may be further configured to: (a) transmit a notification of driver or autonomous vehicle compliance to an insurance server associated with the insurance contract; (b) generate a new block for the insurance contract based upon the notification of driver or autonomous vehicle compliance; © store the notification of driver or autonomous vehicle compliance in the insurance contract; (d) receive an indication of a discount and/or lower premium for the insurance contract from the insurance server; (e) generate a new block for the insurance contract based upon the indication of the discount and/or lower premium; (f) store the indication in the insurance contract; (g) display the indication of the discount and/or lower premium of the insurance contract to the driver including an acknowledgement request; (h) receive the acknowledgement from the driver and/or vehicle; (i) generate a new block for the insurance contract based upon the acknowledgement; (j) store the acknowledgement in the insurance contract; and/or (k) generate a new block for the insurance contract based upon the notification, the indication, and/or the acknowledgement; and/or (xvii) generate a new block for the (electronic or smart) insurance contract that includes sensor information on a periodic basis.
“The present embodiments may relate to systems and methods for managing usage-based insurance. A computer system, as described herein, may include a vehicle controller or a mobile computer device. The computer device may be configured to (i) receive a user request for trip insurance, where the user request includes a plurality of information about the user, the vehicle (which may be an autonomous vehicle), and the trip (such as an upcoming, approaching, or impending trip using the vehicle); (ii) transmit the user request to an insurer auction network, where the insurer auction network includes a plurality of insurers; (iii) receive, from the insurer auction network, a plurality of bids from a plurality of insurers for insurance for the trip (or a winning bid); (iv) display the plurality of bids (or winning bid) to the user; (v) receive a user selection of a bid of the plurality of bids (or approval of the winning bid); (vi) transmit the user selection (or user approval) to the insurer auction network; (vii) generate an insurance contract (such as a virtual or electronic insurance and/or smart contract) based upon the user request and the selected bid (or user approval of the winning bid); (viii) receive the insurance contract from an insurance server associated with the selected bid (or winning bid); (ix) store the insurance contract based upon the selected bid (or winning bid), where the insurance contract is in a blockchain structure, where a plurality of nodes store copies of the insurance contract in the blockchain structure. The plurality of nodes may include a plurality of computer devices each associated with one of a plurality of vehicles, and the insurance server may be one of the plurality of nodes, and may include one or more terms (the terms may include conditions, obligations, duties, limitations (including driver or vehicle limitations associated with a specific trip or usage-based insurance contract), premiums, discounts, deductibles, clauses, and/or other terms); (x) receive, from the driver and/or vehicle, a requested modification of at least one of the one or more terms of the insurance contract; (xi) transmit the requested modification to an insurance server associated with the insurance contract; (xii) receive a response to the request from the insurance server, where the response includes one or more additional terms; (xiii) display the one or more additional terms to the driver for approval; (xiv) receive approval of the one or more additional terms from the driver or vehicle; (xv) store the one or more additional terms and the response in the insurance contract; (xvi) generate a new block for the insurance contract based upon the requested modification and the response; (xvii) update the insurance contract with the new block; (xviii) transmit the new block the plurality of nodes, where each the plurality of nodes are configured to update their stored copies of the insurance contract with the new block; (xix) transmit the requested modification and the response to the plurality of nodes, where each of the plurality of nodes are configured to generate a new block based upon the requested modification and the response and update their stored copies of the insurance contract with the generated block; (xx) receive sensor information from one or more sensors associated with the vehicle or user mobile device; and/or (xxi) with the driver’s or vehicle owner’s permission or affirmative consent, compare the received sensor information with the one or more terms of the insurance contract.”
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The claims supplied by the inventors are:
“1. An insurance monitoring (“IM”) computer system for managing a usage-based insurance contract for one or more approved entities, the IM computer system including at least one processor in communication with at least one memory device, and at least one vehicle controller associated with a vehicle, the at least one processor programmed to: store, in a first block of a blockchain structure, the insurance contract for a current trip including one or more terms of the insurance contract; retrieve, from a database, a plurality of historical entity driver data, the historical entity driver data including historical sensor data associated with operation of the vehicle by an entity; train a driver model using the plurality of historical entity driver data and a machine learning algorithm, the trained driver model configured to receive sensor information and output an identified driver; receive, via the at least one vehicle controller, sensor information associated with the current trip collected by one or more sensors associated with the vehicle, the sensor information includes data related to operation of the vehicle during the current trip; apply the sensor information to the driver model to obtain an identified driver for the current trip; electronically compare the identified driver to the one or more approved entities to confirm that the identified driver is one of the approved entities, approved for use with the insurance contract to operate the vehicle during the current trip; and store, in the blockchain structure, the identified driver, the identified driver updates the historical entity driver data for the identified driver thereby improving the accuracy of the historical entity driver data for generating a subsequent insurance contract for the identified driver.
“2. The IM computer system of claim 1, wherein the blockchain structure includes a plurality of nodes configured to store copies of the insurance contract in the blockchain structure.
“3. The IM computer system of claim 1, wherein the processor is further programmed to: electronically compare the received sensor information with one or more terms of the insurance contract; determine whether a driver of the vehicle complied with the one or more terms based upon the comparison; and store, in the blockchain structure, the determination of driver compliance in association with the insurance contract.
“4. The IM computer system of claim 1, wherein the processor is further programmed to generate another new block of the blockchain structure for storing the insurance contract and the sensor information on a periodic basis.
“5. The IM computer system of claim 1, wherein the processor is in communication with an insurance server associated with the insurance contract, and wherein the processor is further programmed to: receive an indication of a discount for the insurance contract from the insurance server; and store the indication of the discount with the insurance contract within another new block of the blockchain structure.
“6. The IM computer system of claim 5, wherein the processor is further programmed to generate the other new block of the blockchain structure for storing the insurance contract and the indication of the discount in response to the indication of the discount being generated.
“7. The IM computer system of claim 5, wherein the processor is further programmed to: display the indication of the discount for the insurance contract to the driver including an acknowledgement request; receive an acknowledgement from the driver; and store the acknowledgement with the insurance contract.
“8. The IM computer system of claim 7 wherein the processor is further programmed to generate another new block of the blockchain structure for storing the insurance contract and the acknowledgement in response to the acknowledgement being received.
“9. The IM computer system of claim 7, wherein the processor is further programmed to generate another new block of the blockchain structure for storing the insurance contract, the determination, the indication, and the acknowledgement.
“10. The IM computer system of claim 1, wherein the insurance contract is for the driver of the vehicle to insure the driver during the current trip, wherein the insurance contract includes one or more terms, and wherein the current trip is a currently occurring or an impending trip.
“11. A computer-implemented method for generating and managing usage-based contracts using blockchains, the method implemented on an insurance monitoring (“IM”) computer system including at least one processor in communication with at least one memory device, at least one vehicle controller associated with a vehicle, and an insurance server associated with an insurance contract, the method comprising: storing, in a first block of a blockchain structure, the insurance contract for a current trip including one or more terms of the insurance contract; retrieving, from a database by the IM computer system, a plurality of historical entity driver data, the historical entity driver data including historical sensor data associated with operation of the vehicle by an entity; training, by the IM computer system, a driver model using the plurality of historical entity driver data and a machine learning algorithm, the trained driver model configured to receive sensor information and output an identified driver; receiving, at the IM computer system via the at least one vehicle controller, sensor information associated with the current trip collected by one or more sensors associated with the vehicle, the sensor information includes data related to operation of the vehicle during the current trip; applying, by the IM computer system, the sensor information to the driver model to obtain an identified driver for the current trip; electronically comparing, by the IM computer system, the identified driver to the one or more approved entities to confirm that the identified driver is one of the approved entities, approved for use with the insurance contract to operate the vehicle during the current trip; and storing, in the blockchain structure, the identified driver, the identified driver updates the historical entity driver data for the identified driver thereby improving the accuracy of the historical entity driver data for generating a subsequent insurance contract for the identified driver.
“12. The method of claim 11, wherein the blockchain structure includes a plurality of nodes store copies of the insurance contract in the blockchain structure.
“13. The method of claim 11 further comprising generating a new block of the blockchain structure for storing the insurance contract and the determination of driver compliance in response to the determination of driver compliance being generated.
“14. The method of claim 11 further comprising generating a new block of the blockchain structure for storing the insurance contract and the sensor information on a periodic basis.
“15. The method of claim 11 further comprising: receiving an indication of a discount for the insurance contract from the insurance server; and storing the indication with the insurance contract within a new block of the blockchain structure.
“16. The method of claim 15 further comprising generating a new block of the blockchain structure for storing the insurance contract and the indication of the discount in response to the indication of the discount being generated.
“17. The method of claim 15 further comprising: displaying the indication of the discount of the insurance contract to the driver including an acknowledgement request; receiving the acknowledgement from the driver; and storing the acknowledgement with the insurance contract.
“18. The method of claim 17 further comprising generating a new block of the blockchain structure for storing the insurance contract and the acknowledgement in response to the acknowledgement being received.
“19. The method of claim 17 further comprising generating a new block of the blockchain structure for storing the insurance contract, the determination, the indication, and the acknowledgement.
“20. At least one non-transitory computer-readable storage media having computer-executable instructions embodied thereon, wherein when executed by at least one processor, the computer-executable instructions cause the processor to: store, in a first block of a blockchain structure, an insurance contract for a current trip of a vehicle including one or more terms of the insurance contract; retrieve, from a database, a plurality of historical entity driver data, the historical entity driver data including historical sensor data associated with operation of the vehicle by an entity; train a driver model using the plurality of historical entity driver data and a machine learning algorithm, the trained driver model configured to receive sensor information and output an identified driver; receive, via at least one vehicle controller, sensor information associated with the current trip collected by one or more sensors associated with the vehicle, the sensor information includes data related to operation of the vehicle during the current trip; apply the sensor information to the driver model to obtain an identified driver for the current trip; electronically compare the identified driver to the one or more approved entities to confirm that the identified driver is one of the approved entities, approved for use with the insurance contract to operate the vehicle during the current trip; and store, in the blockchain structure, the identified driver, the identified driver updates the historical entity driver data for the identified driver thereby improving the accuracy of the historical entity driver data for generating a subsequent insurance contract for the identified driver.”
For more information, see this patent application: Floyd, Matthew L. Blockchain Controlled Multi-Carrier Auction System For Usage-Based Auto Insurance. U.S. Patent Application Number 20230005074, filed September 13, 2022 and posted January 5, 2023. Patent URL (for desktop use only): https://ppubs.uspto.gov/pubwebapp/external.html?q=(20230005074)&db=US-PGPUB&type=ids
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