Smart Home Event Sequencing for Accurate Cause of Loss Allocation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current insurance claim processing systems face challenges in accurately determining the sequence of events leading to property damage, especially when multiple potential causes are involved, leading to inefficiencies and inaccuracies in claim generation and processing.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of smart home technology that monitors and records data from various sensors before, during, and after an insurance-related event, allowing for the generation of a time-sequence of events and the assignment of damage portions to specific causes, facilitating the automatic generation and adjustment of insurance claims.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If traditional insurance claim processing methods are used, then manual determination of damage cause is performed, but accuracy and efficiency of claim processing deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by deploying sensors and monitoring devices at properties before insurance events occur. These devices continuously collect data about environmental conditions, property status, and potential risk factors, so that when an insurance event happens, the cause determination can be made quickly and accurately based on pre-collected evidence rather than post-event investigation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces smart home controllers and sensor networks as intermediaries between the insurance event and the claims processing system. These intermediaries automatically detect, record, and transmit data about the event sequence, property conditions, and damage causes to the insurance provider, eliminating the need for manual investigation and accelerating claim processing while improving accuracy.
2Measurement precision
If detailed monitoring of all properties is implemented, then accuracy of cause of loss determination is improved, but device complexity and cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system employs universal smart home controllers that can perform multiple functions: they serve as central processing units for local sensor data, communication hubs for transmitting information to insurance providers, and coordination centers for managing various types of sensors (environmental, structural, security). This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate specialized devices, thereby lowering overall system complexity while maintaining comprehensive monitoring capabilities.
3Measurement precision
If community-based data comparison is implemented, then accuracy of cause of loss determination is improved, but loss of time in data collection and processing increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by continuously collecting and pre-processing data from sensors across the community before insurance events occur. This pre-collected baseline data about normal conditions, environmental patterns, and property-specific characteristics is stored and ready for immediate comparison when an event happens, enabling rapid accurate determination without time-consuming post-event data collection.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods and systems for determining a cause of loss to a property for damage associated with an insurance-related event based upon data received from a second property. A smart home (or other building) controller and/or an insurance provider remote processor may generate a time sequence of events for damage associated with an insure-related event. The smart home controller or remote processor may also receive a time-sequence of events generated by a smart home controller associated with a second property. The smart home controller or remote processor may compare the two time-sequences of events to determine causes of loss associated with damage to the property. The compared data may be further used to assign a portion of the overall damage to each cause of loss. Subsequently, the smart home controller or remote processor may automatically generate an insurance claim for damage to the property associated with the insurance-related event.