User devices in claims damage estimation

Abstract

Systems and methods provide for an automated system for analyzing damage to process claims and pre-claim consultations 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. In addition, the server may interface with third party entities such as repair shops and may generate a payment for compensating a claimant for repair of the insured item.

1 . A method comprising:
 transmitting, by an enhanced claims processing server and to a user computing device, an Internet link to a web site displaying one or more images;   receiving, from the user computing device and responsive to transmitting the Internet link, data related to damage of an insured item, wherein the data comprises a first image depicting the damage of the insured item and wherein the data is part of an insurance claim;   determining a type of insurance claim associated with the first image;   responsive to determining that the type of insurance claim is not excluded from an automated processing system, applying, by the enhanced claims processing server, an automated damage assessment process to the image, the automated damage assessment process comprising:
 transmitting, in real-time and to a third party entity, the data related to the damage of the insured item; 
 determining a damaged portion of the insured item, comprising:
 generating a grayscale version of the first image; 
 applying a blur filter to the grayscale version of the first image; and 
 determining the damaged portion of the insured item from the grayscale version of the first image with the blur filter applied thereto, comprising executing an edge detection algorithm on a portion of the grayscale version of the first image identified by the blur filter; 
 
 generating a first damage estimate based on an analysis of one or more characteristics of the damaged portion; 
 retrieving, from a database storing historical damage estimate data, a second set of images; 
 selecting, from the second set of images and using an object recognition algorithm, a set of reference images depicting damage related to the damaged portion depicted in the first image; 
 transmitting, to the user computing device, the set of reference images; 
 receiving, from the user computing device, a user-selected reference image from the set of reference images; 
 retrieving, from the database, a damage template associated with the user-selected reference image, wherein the damage template comprises damage estimate data associated with the damage; and 
 generating a second damage estimate based on the first damage estimate and the damage estimate data from the damage template; 
   receiving a cost estimate for repairing the damage to the insured item from the third party entity;   determining a final estimate based on the second damage estimate and the cost estimate; and   transmitting the final estimate to the user computing device.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising: receiving a request for additional data related to the damage of the insured item from the third party entity. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising: transmitting the request to the user computing device. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , further comprising: receiving the additional data from the user computing device. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , further comprising: transmitting the additional data to the third party entity. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the insured item comprises a vehicle. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the third party entity comprises a repair shop. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising: receiving, from the third party entity, information regarding a strategy to repair the damage to the insured item. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 transmitting the data related to the damage of the insured item to an additional third party entity; and   receiving a third cost estimate for repairing the damage to the insured item from the additional third party entity.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the data further includes video related to the damage to the insured item. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the third party entity is a preferred partner of an entity managing the enhanced claims processing server. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the determining the final estimate comprises adjusting the second damage estimate based on the cost estimate. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising: based on the second damage estimate and the cost estimate, determining, at the enhanced claims processor, a projected settlement amount for settling the insurance claim. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising: transmitting the data related to the insured item to a governmental agency. 
     
     
         15 . A system comprising:
 an insured item, wherein the insured item comprises at least one damaged portion;   a server configured to:   transmit, to a user computing device, an Internet link to a web site displaying one or more images;
 receive, from the user computing device and responsive to transmitting the Internet link, a first image depicting the at least one damaged portion of the insured item; 
 determine a type of insurance claim associated with the first image; 
 responsive to determining that the type of insurance claim is not excluded from an automated processing system, apply an automated damage assessment process to the image, the automated damage assessment process comprising:
 transmitting, in real-time, the first image to a third party entity; 
 identifying, within the first image, the at least one damaged portion of the insured item, comprising:
 generating a grayscale version of the first image; 
 applying a blur filter to the grayscale version of the first image; and 
 determining the at least one damaged portion of the insured item from the grayscale version of the first image with the blur filter applied thereto, comprising executing an edge detection algorithm on a portion of the grayscale version of the first image identified by the blur filter; 
 
 generating a first damage estimate based on an analysis of one or more characteristics of at least one damaged portion; 
 retrieving, from a database storing historical damage estimate data, a second set of images; 
 selecting, from the second set of images and using an object recognition algorithm, a set of reference images depicting damage related to the at least one damaged portion of the insured item; 
 transmitting, to the user computing device, the set of reference images; 
 receiving, from the user computing device, a user-selected reference image from the set of reference images; 
 retrieving, from the database, a damage template associated with the user-selected reference image, wherein the damage template comprises damage estimate data associated with the damage; and 
 generating a second damage estimate based on the first damage estimate and the damage estimate data in the damage template; 
 
 receiving, from the third party entity, a cost estimate for repairing the at least one damaged portion of the insured item; 
 determining a final damage estimate based on the second damage estimate and the cost estimate; and 
 transmitting the final damage estimate to the user computing device. 
   
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the server is further configured to: generate a settlement amount for settling an insurance claim for the insured item based on the final damage estimate. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the insured item comprises a vehicle. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the settlement amount is further based on the cost estimate. 
     
     
         19 . An apparatus comprising:
 a processor; and   a memory storing computer-readable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the apparatus at least to:
 transmit, to a user computing device, an Internet link to a web site displaying one or more images; 
 receive, from the user computing device and responsive to transmitting the Internet link, a first image depicting damage to an insured vehicle; 
 determine a type of insurance claim associated with the first image; and 
 responsive to determining that the type of insurance claim is not excluded from an automated processing system, apply an automated damage assessment process to the image, the automated damage assessment process comprising:
 transmitting the first image to a repair shop in real-time as the first image is received; 
 identifying, within the first image, at least one damaged portion of the insured vehicle, comprising:
 generating a grayscale version of the first image; 
 applying a blur filter to the grayscale version of the first image; and 
 determining the damaged portion of the insured item from the grayscale version of the first image with the blur filter applied thereto, comprising executing an edge detection algorithm on a portion of the grayscale version of the first image identified by the blur filter; 
 
 generating a first damage estimate based on an analysis of one or more characteristics of the at least one damaged portion; 
 retrieving, from a database storing historical damage estimate data, a set of reference images; 
 selecting, from the set of reference images and using an object recognition algorithm, a second set of images depicting first damage related to the damage of the insured vehicle; 
 transmitting, to the user computing device, the set of reference images; 
 receiving, from the user computing device, a user-selected reference image from the set of reference images; 
 retrieving, from the database, a damage template associated with the user-selected reference image, wherein the damage template comprises damage estimate data associated with the first damage; 
 determining a second damage estimate based on the first damage estimate and the damage estimate data in the damage template; 
 receiving, from the repair shop, a cost estimate associated with repairing the damage to the insured vehicle; 
 comparing the cost estimate with the second damage estimate to determine a final cost estimate for repairing the damage to the insured vehicle; and 
 transmitting the final cost estimate to the user computing device. 
 
   
     
     
         20 . The apparatus of  claim 19 , wherein user computing device is associated with a user of the insured vehicle. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining the damaged portion of the insured item further comprises comparing three-dimensional coordinates of the first image to three-dimensional coordinates of one or more images from a first set of images. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising performing optical character recognition on the first image to determine identification data associated with the insured item.