Systems and methods for allocating vehicle costs between vehicle users using pre-paid accounts

Abstract

Vehicle costs may be allocated between users of a vehicle, including autonomous vehicles. A vehicle cost allocation (VCA) computing device receives vehicle telematics data associated with trips performed by vehicle users using a vehicle. The VCA computing device is also configured to determine one or more vehicle costs associated with the trip based upon the vehicle telematics data. The vehicle costs may include usage-based or trip-based insurance. The VCA computing device is also configured to determine a respective portion of the vehicle cost to each of the one or more vehicle users, access a respective pre-paid account associated with each vehicle user, and transmit instructions to a respective financial institution associated with each pre-paid account to withdraw funds corresponding to the respective portion of the total vehicle cost.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application claims the benefit of priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62 / 334,803, filed May 11, 2016, entitled “SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR ALLOCATING VEHICLE COSTS BETWEEN VEHICLE USERS” and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62 / 345,445, filed Jun. 3, 2016, entitled “SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR ALLOCATING VEHICLE COSTS BETWEEN VEHICLE USERS”, U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62 / 418,611, filed Nov. 7, 2016, entitled “SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR ALLOCATING VEHICLE COSTS BETWEEN VEHICLE USERS”, U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62 / 436,194, filed Dec. 19, 2016, entitled “SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR ALLOCATING VEHICLE COSTS BETWEEN VEHICLE USERS,” and U.S. Provisional Patent Application 62 / 438,193, filed Dec. 22, 2016, entitled “SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR ALLOCATING VEHICLE COSTS BETWEEN VEHICLE USERS,” the entire contents and disclosure of which are hereby incorporated herein in their entirety.FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE[0002...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The present invention relates to a system and method for allocating costs between multiple users of a vehicle. The system includes a vehicle cost allocation (VCA) computing device that receives trip reports from each user and retrieves insurance policy information associated with the users. The VCA computing device calculates the insurance costs based on the policies and the distance of the trip. The system then allocates the insurance costs to each user based on their usage of the vehicle. The technical effect of the invention is to provide a more efficient and effective way to allocate costs between multiple vehicle users.

Problems solved by technology

However, these new options also present issues for these vehicle users in how they will split those vehicle costs—including insurance, fuel, and maintenance costs, among others—in the manner they find most equitable and fair.

Even if these vehicle users can agree on one or more of these cost-sharing issues, even more problems arise when considering how to manage the actual allocation and subsequent payment of those costs.

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