System of charging for automobile insurance

[0001] The present invention relates to a method of charging for vehicle insurance, and more particularly to a method of using location information to charge for vehicle insurance but restricting access to the location information to add to the privacy of the vehicle owner.

[0002] Most drivers, if not all, have insurance for their motor vehicle(s) (i.e., cars, trucks, motorcycles, etc.). Many states now mandate that vehicle insurance be purchased and maintained by the vehicle owner. Leasing companies also often require that insurance be maintained on a leased vehicle.

[0003] Insurance companies traditionally obtain background information from the driver and about the driver's vehicle through interviews and applications. The background information is compared to information databases that may include actuarial statistics. From the comparison, a total cost is determined and the driver is charged for the vehicle insurance accordingly. It should be appreciated that unless additional information is reported to the insurance company, for example, accidents or other driver information, no further data may be used to revise the cost of the automobile insurance. Because the insurance company uses little to no new data, for revising the cost of a driver's insurance policy, the cost of the policy may become incommensurate with the actual risk presented by a given driver/vehicle combination, and the cost to underwrite that risk.

[0004] The conventional way of charging for vehicle insurance, as noted above, presents very little opportunity for the driver to change his or her driving habits to otherwise affect the cost of the vehicle insurance. While avoiding accidents remains a traditional way to keep the cost of insurance low, accidents are only one input in determining the cost of the vehicle insurance. Notwithstanding, some drivers' activity or lack thereof may not be adequately accounted for when establishing the cost for the vehicle insurance policy. Some aforementioned driver activity may include taking advantage of city mass transportation systems, and otherwise leaving the vehicle parked or garaged for the majority of the day. Other activity may include driving through high risk areas where accidents are more likely to occur in given intersections or where theft may be more prevalent. As a consequence, one driver may be undercharged while another driver may be overcharged for the risk experienced by the driver/vehicle and the cost to underwrite that risk. It is desirable to provide a method of charging for automobile insurance that is more accurate and more efficient than the conventional methods. It is additionally desirable to provide a method for charging for vehicle insurance that takes into account how, when, and where the vehicle is driven to better gauge the actual risk presented to a driver/vehicle and the cost to underwrite that risk.

[0005] Knowledge of the exact whereabouts of the vehicle at a given time allows the insurance company to derive more accurately the costs based on that location information. Consumers, however, are wary of transmitting the exact location of their vehicle on a real-time basis to, among other things, an insurance company. It is desirable to obtain location information to better determine the cost of the vehicle insurance, but otherwise restrict access to the location information and add to the privacy of the operator of the vehicle.

[0006] The present invention is directed to a system and method for providing real time information concerning various factors on the operation and/or location of a motor vehicle, and using the information to determine an incremental vehicle insurance cost. The incremental vehicle insurance cost represents that cost for vehicle insurance for a given time increment, for example, a single day. This information is transmitted by the system to a remotely located contracting company involved with providing insurance to the vehicle operator.

[0007] In one preferred form, the system includes a computation device that is located on the operator's vehicle. The computation device may monitor one or more factors relating to the operation of the vehicle, such as the vehicle's real time geographic location, its speed, acceleration, deceleration, length of time within certain predefined geographic areas, etc. This information is used along with a suitable cost database and a cost calculation system to generate incremental vehicle insurance cost information that is transmitted to the remote contracting company. In another preferred form, only the vehicle operational information is transmitted to the remotely located contracting company and the incremental vehicle insurance cost information is determined by the contracting company or a different entity.

[0008] In a preferred implementation the vehicle's operational information is encrypted and stored in a suitable database. In yet another implementation the encrypted information is only available to the vehicle operation and/or the contracting company if a plurality of passwords are employed, one being known only to the vehicle operator and one being known only to the contracting company. This facilitates access to the encrypted information only when both the operator and the contracting company agree that review of such information is needed, such as in the event of a billing dispute.

[0009] The present invention makes it possible to provide an operator of a motor vehicle with near real time incremental insurance cost information which can help assist the operator in modifying driving habits, if needed, to potentially reduce the overall insurance cost associated with operating the vehicle. The invention also enables insurance companies to even more accurately gauge the risk associated with the operation of vehicles that they are insuring so that insurance premiums assessed to operators of motor vehicles can even more accurately reflect the level of risk associated with the operation of each vehicle.

[0013] The following description of the present invention is merely exemplary in nature and is in no way intended to limit the invention, its application, or uses.

[0014] With reference to FIG. 1, an insurance cost computation system is generally indicated by reference numeral 10. A user 12 operates a vehicle 14 that is either required to be covered by insurance, or for which the user has chosen to purchase insurance coverage. The user 12 contacts a contracting company 16 for example, an automobile insurance company, and elects a pay as you go insurance plan. It should be appreciated that there are many ways to implement the pay as you go insurance plan; however, the present invention, in one preferred form, involves installation of a computation device 18 in the vehicle 14. The computation device 18 may establish a communication link with the contracting company 16, and with an external location identification system 20. The computation device 18 monitors the real time location of the vehicle 14 and determines a cost for the vehicle insurance. This cost is transmitted to the contracting company 16 for later billing to the user 12.

[0015] The computation device 18 may transmit cost information to the contracting company 16 for later billing to the user 12 at various time increments. In one preferred implementation, the computation device 18 contacts the contracting company 16 on a daily basis to transmit cost information. A user interface 22 is available for the user 12 to contact the contracting company 16 and monitor the cost of the vehicle insurance whenever needed. The computation device 18 only transmits the cost information to the contracting company 16; as such, the user interface 22 will only display the cost of the automobile insurance for the given time increment. As noted earlier, if the given time increment is one day, the user 12 may retrieve from the user interface 22 the daily cost of the automobile insurance.

[0016] The computation device 18 may also establish communication with the external location identification system 20. The external location identification system 20 transmits information to the computation device 18 from which the computation device 18 may determine the location of the vehicle 14. The location of the vehicle 14, among other factors, is used to compute the cost of the automobile insurance for the given time increment.

[0017] With reference to FIG. 2, a more detailed view of the computation device 18 is shown along with the various systems that may communicate with the computation device 18. The computation device 18 includes an internal location identification system 24 that receives information from the external location identification system 20 via electromagnetic wave signals. In one preferred implementation, the external location identification system 20 comprises a plurality of global positioning system satellites. The internal location identification system 24 may also comprise a modified global positioning system receiver. The internal location identification system 24 determines the geographical location of the car and correlates that information with a cost lookup database 26. The location information is then encrypted and stored in an encrypted location data system 32. Cost information is tallied by a cost calculation system 28, and then sent to a billing transmission system 30 for eventual transmission of the cost information or a cost increment to the contracting company 16.

[0018] The internal location identification system 24 may provide many features to the computation device 18. For example, the internal location identification system 24 may provide location information and vehicle information. The location information preferably includes one or more pieces of information including a geographical location of the vehicle, a duration of time the vehicle is located within a given geographical location, a vehicle speed, an applicable speed limit, or combinations and derivations thereof. The vehicle information may also include a vehicle acceleration rate, a vehicle deceleration rate, a vehicle maintenance status, an engine speed, a brake force, a vehicle payload, or combinations and derivations thereof.

[0019] The location information and the vehicle information are then evaluated relative to the cost lookup database 26. The cost lookup database 26 may include actuarial statistics and may also include additional information to make the determination of risk for the contracting company 16 more accurate. The additional information in the cost lookup database 26 may include crime statistics, accident statistics, traffic congestion information, weather information, or combinations and derivations thereof. In one preferred form, the information contained within the cost lookup database 26 is resident within the computation device 18. Additionally, the information contained within the cost lookup database 26 may be updated by the contracting company 16.

[0020] The cost increment is determined by evaluating the location information and the vehicle information along with the cost lookup database 26. The location information and the vehicle information may take the form of a single variable or a plurality of variables with certain values determined by the vehicle and where the vehicle travels. The plurality of variables are ultimately correlated with the cost lookup database 26. In addition, the plurality of variables may comprise absolute mileage, hours driven, multipliers associated with geographic indicators, vehicle indicators, or combinations and derivations thereof.

[0021] The plurality of variables are then associated with the cost lookup database 26, which may comprise multipliers based on mileage or duration, fixed costs associated with the plurality of variables, or combinations or derivations thereof. After the plurality of variables from the location information and the vehicle information are correlated with the cost lookup database 26, a cost increment is produced.

[0022] The cost increment is sent to the cost calculation system 28. The cost increment, therefore, is defined as an amount of money or, put another way, contains only monetary information. More notably, the cost increment excludes any of the location information or the vehicle information. It should be appreciated that the cost increment need only be derived from location information or vehicle information. As such, the computation device 18 can accommodate one or more inputs into the determination of the cost increment.

[0023] The location information and the vehicle information, which are used to derive the cost increment, are saved in the encrypted location data system 32. The cost increment, being only a dollar amount, is passed to the billing transmission system 30, which sends the cost increment to the contracting company 16. The billing transmission system 30 may be configured in many different ways to transmit the cost increment to the contracting company 16. One such configuration is a cellular transmission system using cell phone service. Other exemplary configurations include contacting the contracting company 16 using various forms of electromagnetic wave communication, a phone connection, an internet connection, and combinations thereof.

[0024] It will be appreciated that the billing transmission system 30 may contact the contracting company at various times. In one preferred form the billing transmission system 30 contacts the contracting company 16 to transmit the cost increment on a daily basis. The billing transmission system 30, however, may contact the contracting company 16 at any time or simply store the billing information until contact is possible.

[0025] As noted earlier, no location information is transmitted to the contracting company 16 on a regular basis. Situations may arise, however, where review of the location information is necessary, such as for billing disputes. Access to the encrypted location data system 32 and subsequent decryption is possible through a dispute access system 36. It should be appreciated that the dispute access system 36 may be configured in many different ways. Preferably, however, access to the dispute access system 36 only provides access to unencrypted location information when a user password 38 from the user 12 is combined with a contracting company password 34 from the contracting company 16. As such, the only way to decrypt or gain access to the stored location information in the encrypted location data system 32 is with access by a passkey containing at least both passwords 38 and 34. It will be appreciated that both passwords 38 and 34 must be used to access the dispute access system 36.

[0026] It will be appreciated that access to the dispute access system 36 is not unlike conventional safe deposit boxes found at banking institutions. Traditional safe deposit boxes require key access with two keys simultaneously. The first key is held by the safety deposit box holder usually a customer of the bank. The second key is held by the bank. Only when the bank confirms the identity of the customer are both keys used simultaneously to open the safety deposit box. It will be appreciated that the dispute access system 36 may be configured in many different ways, but it is envisioned that the dual password system or dual passkey system may have similarities to systems of accessing a conventional safety deposit vault.

[0027] The dispute access system 36 may be further configured to allow the user 12 to access encrypted location information from the encrypted location data system 32. The user interface 22 may be configured to permit the user 12 to access location information to monitor use and cost associated with driving the vehicle 14. The dispute access system 36 may also be configured to allow access only to unencrypted location information and only in the event of a dispute where access is obtained by the user 12 and the contracting company 16 simultaneously to reveal the unencrypted location information. The dispute access system 36 may be additionally configured to erase the location information every two months or at any suitable, periodic time increment unless established otherwise, such as in the event of a billing dispute. It should be appreciated that only the user 12 has access to the unencrypted location information. The user 12 may also grant access to the contracting company 16 by combining the user password 38 with the contracting company password 34, thus utilizing the two password or passkey system.

[0028] Because the user 12 is able to access the cost increment or cost information through the user interface 22, the user is able to alter use and activity of the vehicle 14 to possibly reduce the cost of the vehicle insurance. The ability to access the cost of the vehicle insurance on a daily basis empowers the vehicle owner to alter driving habits accordingly, which may result in a savings due to changes in vehicle insurance cost. Furthermore, the contracting company 16 receives much more data about vehicle use over time. The additional data received from the insurance cost computation system 10 may be used to streamline and improve the efficiency of the automobile insurance business to the betterment of the automobile insurance customers as well as to stockholders of insurance companies.

[0029] It will be appreciated that the computation device 18 has a single input which may take the form of information from the external location identification system 20, and a single output which is cost information transmitted from the billing transmission system 30 to the contracting company 16. Only when the user 12 and the contracting company 16 utilize the dispute access system 36 with both passwords 38 and 34 is additional communication with the computation device 18 realized.

[0030] As noted above, access to the computation device through the dispute access system 36 is the only way to obtain unencrypted location information from the computation device 18. Because only cost information is transmitted from computation device 18, privacy concerns surrounding real time location of the vehicle are accommodated as the computation device 18 only transmits a dollar amount.

[0031] In an alternative implementation, the insurance cost computation system 10 may broadcast raw location information and vehicle information to the contracting company 16, for subsequent cost calculation at the contracting company 16. Further, the plurality of variables derived from the location information and the vehicle information may be transmitted to the contracting company 16. The cost increment could then be determined at the contracting company 16. Notwithstanding the various alternative implementations of the present invention, the preferred implementation only transmits a cost increment to the contracting company 16 and retains and encrypts privacy sensitive information.

[0032] Also, while the computation device 18 is depicted in FIG. 2 as a single unit that can be installed, replaced, or swapped accordingly, it will be appreciated that the computation device 18 may be what is conventionally known as a line replaceable unit (LRU). Configuration as an LRU enables the computation device to be quickly and easily removed from a vehicle should the need arise.

[0033] While various embodiments of the present invention have been described, those skilled in the art will recognize modifications or variations which might be made without departing from the inventive concept. The examples illustrate the invention and are not intended to limit it. Therefore, the description and claims should be interpreted liberally with only such limitation as is necessary in view of the pertinent prior art.