US 8,788,300 B1 · Communication of insurance claim data

Abstract

Aspects of the invention include methods and systems for a vehicle insurance claim management application which improves communication and streamline tasks between a vehicle repair shop and an insurance company system in three general task groups: assignment (comprising work requests, estimates/photos, and reinspections), financial management, and performance measurement. Aspects of the invention also provide interoperability with different types of estimating systems that do not necessarily follow an industry standard. This interoperability is provided through an adapter module with a claim processing system to communicate with the insurance company system and the vehicle insurance claim management application. The invention is preferably accessed by a user over a computer network such as the Internet, from a remote location such as a vehicle repair shop.

Claims20

Dependent claims

One or more computer storage media storing computer readable instructions that, when executed, provide a vehicle insurance claim management application, the application comprising:

a first set of instructions defined by the computer readable instructions, wherein the first set of instructions translates a set of assignment data and a set of estimate data between the vehicle insurance claim management application and a vehicle repair estimating system, wherein the set of assignment data includes information about a customer, a corresponding vehicle, and a corresponding loss with the vehicle and the set of estimate data includes information about a repair estimate for the loss of the vehicle, wherein the translating is into a format accepted by the vehicle insurance claim management application, and further wherein the translating includes encrypting the set of assignment data and the set of estimate data;
and
a second set of instructions defined by the computer readable instructions, wherein the second set of instructions:
receives the set of assignment data,
transfers the assignment data to the vehicle repair estimating system,
reviews the estimate data for compliance with a set of contract-based conditions, and
transfers the estimate data.

4 more elements

One or more computer storage media storing computer readable instructions that, when executed, provide a vehicle insurance claim management application, the application comprising:

a first set of instructions defined by the computer readable instructions, wherein the first set of instructions translates a first set of assignment data and a first set of estimate data between the vehicle insurance claim management application and a first vehicle repair estimating system, wherein the first set of assignment data includes information about a first customer, a first corresponding vehicle, and a first corresponding loss with the first vehicle and the first set of estimate data includes information about a first repair estimate for the loss of the first vehicle;
a second set of instructions defined by the computer readable instructions, wherein the second set of instructions translates a second set of assignment data and a second set of estimate data between the vehicle insurance claim management application and a second vehicle repair estimating system different from the first vehicle repair estimating system, wherein the second set of assignment data includes information about a second customer, a second corresponding vehicle, and a second corresponding loss with the second vehicle and the second set of estimate data includes information about a second repair estimate for the loss of the second vehicle,
wherein the first and second sets of instructions translate the first and second sets of assignment data and the first and second sets of estimate data into a format accepted by the vehicle insurance claim management application, and further wherein the translating includes encrypting the first and second sets of assignment data and the first and second sets of estimate data;
a third set of instructions defined by the computer readable instructions, the third set of instructions:
receives the first and second sets of assignment data,
transfers the assignment data to one of the first or second vehicle repair estimating systems,
receives the first and second sets of estimate data from one of the first or second vehicle repair estimating systems,
reviews the estimate data for compliance with a set of contract-based conditions, and
transfers the estimate data.

6 more elements

One or more computer storage media storing computer readable instructions that, when executed, provide a vehicle insurance claim management application, the application comprising:

a first set of instructions defined by the computer readable instructions, wherein the first set of instructions translates a first set of assignment data and a first set of estimate data between the vehicle insurance claim management application and a first vehicle repair estimating system, wherein the first set of assignment data includes information about a first customer, a first corresponding vehicle, and a first corresponding loss with the first vehicle and a first corresponding loss with the first vehicle and the first set of estimate data includes information about a first repair estimate for the loss of the first vehicle;
a second set of instructions defined by the computer readable instructions, wherein the second set of instructions translates a second set of assignment data and a second set of estimate data between the vehicle insurance claim management application and a second vehicle repair estimating system different from the first vehicle repair estimating system, wherein the second set of assignment data includes information about a second customer, a second corresponding vehicle, and a second corresponding loss with the second vehicle and the second set of estimate data includes information about a second repair estimate for the loss of the second vehicle,
wherein the first and second sets of instructions translate the first and second sets of assignment data and the first and second sets of estimate data into a format accepted by the vehicle insurance claim management application, and further wherein the translating includes encrypting the first and second sets of assignment data and the first and second sets of estimate data;
a third set of instructions defined by the computer readable instructions, the third set of instructions:
receives the first and second sets of assignment data,
transfers the assignment data to one of the first or second vehicle repair estimating systems,
receives the first and second sets of estimate data from one of the first or second vehicle repair estimating systems,
reviews the estimate data for compliance with a set of contract-based conditions, and
transfers the estimate data;
receives a set of reinspection data,
reviews the reinspection data,
updates the estimate data based on the reinspection data;
and
a set of performance instructions defined by the computer readable instructions, wherein the set of performance instructions includes storing and providing a performance metric for a vehicle repair shop as compared to other vehicle repair shops.

11 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Communication of insurance claim data

Life of this patent

Communication of insurance claim data

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims20