Homeowners insurance application process using geotagged photos

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9786010-B2
Application number	US-201414259676-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 23, 2014
Priority date	Apr 23, 2014
Publication date	Oct 10, 2017
Grant date	Oct 10, 2017

Abstract

Methods, systems, and computer readable media are disclosed for determining a homeowners insurance quote from a captured image of a dwelling. The captured image includes geotagged information, and the address of the dwelling is determined by reverse geocoding this information. An insurance premium quote may then be generated based on the reverse geocoded address and any additional risk assessment factors, such as the building characteristics. Verification of the address may also be performed by accessing one or more databases, which may store information including addresses, coordinates, and images associated with the address. The building characteristics may be retrieved from one or more of the databases to allow for quote generation with minimal user intervention. Matching properties having comparative quotes near the dwelling address may also be generated.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computer-implemented method for determining an insurance premium quote, comprising:
capturing, by an image capture unit, a first image of a dwelling;
determining, by a location acquisition unit, geographic location data corresponding to a location of the image capture unit;
adding, by the image capture unit, the geographic location data as metadata to the first image of the dwelling such that the first image of the dwelling includes geotagged information;
reverse geocoding, by one or more processors, the geotagged information to determine a reverse geocoded address;
correlating, by one or more processors, the first image of the dwelling to a second image of the dwelling that is stored in a database via execution of an image matching recognition algorithm to match the first image of the dwelling to the second image of the dwelling, the second image of the dwelling being stored in the database and having a database dwelling address and one or more building characteristics associated therewith;
determining, by one or more processors, whether the reverse geocoded address associated with the first image of the dwelling matches the database dwelling address associated with the second image of the dwelling;
verifying, by one or more processors, the reverse geocoded address as the correct dwelling address when the reverse geocoded address matches the database dwelling address,
when there is an inconsistency because the reverse geocoded address does not match the database dwelling address, reconciling, by one or more processors, the inconsistency utilizing a pre-established set of hierarchical prioritization that is based upon data source reliability to establish one of (i) the reverse geocoded address, or (ii) the database dwelling address, as the correct dwelling address;
accessing, by one or more processors, the database storing the second image of the dwelling to identify the one or more building characteristics associated with the correct dwelling address;
calculating, by one or more processors, an insurance premium quote using the correct dwelling address and the one or more building characteristics; and
displaying, by one or more processors, the insurance premium quote.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
identifying, by one or more processors, a plurality of other dwellings within a predetermined distance of the correct dwelling address that have insurance premium quotes matching the insurance premium quote within a threshold amount.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the act of reconciling the inconsistency comprises:
prompting, by one or more processors, a user to verify that the reverse geocoded address matches the database dwelling address; and
establishing the correct dwelling address based upon the user's response to the prompt.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:
calculating, by one or more processors, the insurance premium quote using the reverse geocoded address as the correct dwelling address once the user verifies that the reverse geocoded address matches the database dwelling address.

5. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:
when the database dwelling address is not the correct address, updating, by one or more processors, the database dwelling address with the correct dwelling address based upon the user's response to the prompt.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
when the database dwelling address is not the correct address, updating, by one or more processors, the database dwelling address with the reverse geocoded address.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
transmitting, by one or more processors, the one or more building characteristics to a computing device; and
populating, by the computing device, one or more building characteristic fields within a computer-implemented application executed on the computing device with the one or more respective building characteristics.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the image matching recognition algorithm includes one or more of an edge matching algorithm, a histogram matching algorithm, and a grayscale matching algorithm.

9. A non-transitory, tangible computer-readable medium storing machine readable instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:
capture a first image of a dwelling via an image capture unit;
determine geographic location data corresponding to a location of the image capture unit;
add the geographic location data as metadata to the first image of the dwelling such that the first image includes geotagged information;
reverse geocode the geotagged information to determine a reverse geocoded address;
correlate the first image of the dwelling to a second image of the dwelling that is stored in a database via execution of an image matching recognition algorithm to match the first image of the dwelling to the second image of the dwelling, the second image of the dwelling being stored in the database and having a database dwelling address and one or more building characteristics associated therewith;
determine whether the reverse geocoded address associated with the first image of the dwelling matches the database dwelling address associated with the second image of the dwelling;
verify the reverse geocoded address as the correct dwelling address when the reverse geocoded address matches the database dwelling address;
when there is an inconsistency because the reverse geocoded address does not match the database dwelling address, reconciling the inconsistency utilizing a pre-established set of hierarchical prioritization that is based upon data source reliability to establish one of (i) the reverse geocoded address, or (ii) the database dwelling address, as the correct dwelling address;
accessing the database storing the second image of the dwelling to identify the one or more building characteristics associated with the correct dwelling address;
calculate an insurance premium quote using the correct dwelling address and the one or more building characteristics; and
display the insurance premium quote.

10. The non-transitory, tangible computer-readable medium of claim 9 , further storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:
identify a plurality of other dwellings within a predetermined distance of the correct dwelling address that have insurance premium quotes matching the insurance premium quote within a threshold amount.

11. The non-transitory, tangible computer-readable medium of claim 9 , wherein the instructions to reconcile the inconsistency further include instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:
prompt a user to verify that the reverse geocoded address matches the database dwelling address; and
establish the correct dwelling address based upon the user's response to the prompt.

12. The non-transitory, tangible computer-readable medium of claim 11 , further storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:
calculate the insurance premium quote using the reverse geocoded address as the correct dwelling address once the user verifies that the reverse geocoded address matches the database dwelling address.

13. The non-transitory, tangible computer-readable medium of claim 11 , further storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:
when the database dwelling address is not the correct address, update the database dwelling address with the correct dwelling address based upon the user's response to the prompt.

14. The non-transitory, tangible computer-readable

Assignees

• State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co

Inventors

• Kiper Timothy
• Taylor Dwayne
• Abel Jeffrey Howard
• Engelhorn Amy

Classifications

• G06Q30/0283

  Price estimation or determination · CPC title

• G06Q40/08 Primary

  Insurance · CPC title

• G06F16/5866

  using information manually generated, e.g. tags, keywords, comments, manually generated location and time information · CPC title

• G06F16/2379

  Updates performed during online database operations; commit processing · CPC title

• G06F16/29

  Geographical information databases · CPC title