Systems and methods for processing trip-based insurance policies
View Patent ↗Methods and systems for processing trip-based insurance policies for vehicles. According to aspects, a trip-based insurance policy of a vehicle specifies an amount of trip units for insured vehicle travel and has an associated policy term. In certain cases, a customer may exhaust trip units before an expiration of the policy term. The methods and systems therefore enable the purchase of additional trip units so that the customer remains insured. In other cases, upon expiration of the policy term, an insurance provider may calculate an amount of unused trip units. The insurance provider may determine one or more types of credit that are based on the amount of unused trip units. The insurance provider may also apply the one or more types of credit to an account of the customer.
1. A computer-implemented method in a server of processing a trip-based vehicle insurance policy, the computer-implemented method comprising:
facilitating, by at least one processor of the server, a purchase transaction with a customer for the trip-based insurance policy associated with a vehicle, a coverage provided by the trip-based insurance policy (1) is based on an amount of trip units, and (2) expires at a pre-determined time, wherein usage of the amount of trip units is detected by an ignition sensor located within the vehicle that detects an initiation and a termination of a given trip, and a system clock located within the vehicle that records a set of timing parameters for the initiation and the termination of the given trip; and
responsive to the pre-determined time expiring:
automatically retrieving, by the at least one processor via a network connection from a memory device associated with the vehicle, a current trip unit reading, of the amount of trip units specified by the trip-based insurance policy, used by the vehicle at a time when the pre-determined time expires, wherein the memory device maintains the current trip unit reading based on sensor data retrieved from the ignition sensor and the system clock,
determining, by the at least one processor based on the current trip unit reading, that none of the amount of trip units remain, and
in response to determining that none of the amount of trip units remain, enabling the customer to complete an additional purchase transaction.
2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein enabling the customer to complete the additional purchase transaction comprises:
notifying, via a device associated with the customer, the customer of a repurchase option.
3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2 , wherein enabling the customer to complete the additional purchase transaction comprises:
after notifying the customer of the repurchase option, enabling the customer to complete the additional purchase transaction.
4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein enabling the customer to complete the additional purchase transaction comprises:
notifying, via a device associated with the customer, the customer of a renewal option.
5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein determining that none of the amount of trip units remain comprises:
determining, by the at least one processor based on the current trip unit reading, that there is no difference between the current trip unit reading and the amount of trip units.
6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the trip-based vehicle insurance policy has an initial trip counter of zero.
7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:
recording an expiration trip value that is based on the amount of trip units.
8. A system for processing a trip-based vehicle insurance policy, comprising:
a communication module;
a memory storing non-transitory computer executable instructions; and
at least one processor interfacing with the communication module and the memory, wherein the at least one processor is configured to execute the non-transitory computer executable instructions to cause the at least one processor to:
facilitate a purchase transaction with a customer for the trip-based insurance policy associated with a vehicle, a coverage provided by the trip-based insurance policy (1) is based on an amount of trip units, and (2) expires at a pre-determined time, wherein usage of the amount of trip units is detected by an ignition sensor located within the vehicle that detects an initiation and a termination of a given trip, and a system clock located within the vehicle that records a set of timing parameters for the initiation and the termination of the given trip, and
responsive to the pre-determined time expiring:
automatically retrieve, via the communication module from a memory device associated with the vehicle, a current trip unit reading, of the amount of trip units specified by the trip-based insurance policy, used by the vehicle at a time when the pre-determined time expires, wherein the memory device maintains the current trip unit reading based on sensor data retrieved from the ignition sensor and the system clock,
determine, based on the current trip unit reading, that none of the amount of trip units remain, and
in response to determining that none of the amount of trip units remain, enable the customer to complete an additional purchase transaction.
9. The system of claim 8 , wherein to enable the customer to complete the additional purchase transaction, the at least one processor is configured to:
notify, via a device associated with the customer, the customer of a repurchase option.
10. The system of claim 9 , wherein to enable the customer to complete the additional purchase transaction, the at least one processor is configured to:
after notifying the customer of the repurchase option, enable the customer to complete the additional purchase transaction.
11. The system of claim 8 , wherein to enable the customer to complete the additional purchase transaction, the at least one processor is configured to:
notify, via a device associated with the customer, the customer of a renewal option.
12. The system of claim 8 , wherein to determine that none of the amount of trip units remain, the at least one processor is configured to:
determine, based on the current trip unit reading, that there is no difference between the current trip unit reading and the amount of trip units.
13. The system of claim 8 , wherein the trip-based vehicle insurance policy has an initial trip counter of zero.
14. The system of claim 8 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to execute the non-transitory computer executable instructions to further cause the at least one processor to:
record an expiration trip value that is based on the amount of trip units.
15. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon a set of instructions, executable by a processor of a processing server, for processing a trip-based vehicle insurance policy, the instructions comprising:
instructions for facilitating a purchase transaction with a customer for the trip-based insurance policy associated with a vehicle, a coverage provided by the trip-based insurance policy (1) is based on an amount of trip units, and (2) expires at a pre-determined time, wherein usage of the amount of trip units is detected by an ignition sensor located within the vehicle that detects an initiation and a termination of a given trip, and a system clock located within the vehicle that records a set of timing parameters for the initiation and the termination of the given trip; and
instructions for, responsive to the pre-determined time expiring:
automatically retrieving, by the at least one processor via a network connection from a memory device associated with the vehicle, a current trip unit reading, of the amount of trip units specified by the trip-based insurance policy, used by the vehicle at a time when the pre-determined time expires, wherein the memory device maintains the current trip unit reading based on sensor data retrieved from the ignition sensor and the system clock,
determining, by the at least one processor based on the current trip unit reading, that none of the amount of trip units remain, and
in response to determining that none of the amount of trip units remain, enabling the customer to complete an additional purchase transaction.
16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the instructions for enabling the customer to complete the additional purchase transaction comprise:
instructions for notifying, via a device associated with the customer, the customer of a repurchase option.
17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16 , wherein the instructions for enabling the customer to complete the additional purchase transaction comprise:
instructions for after notifying the customer of the repurchase option, enabling the customer to complete the additional purchase transaction.
18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the instructions for enabling the customer to complete the additional purchase transaction comprise:
instructions for notifying, via a device associated with the customer, the customer of a renewal option.
19. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the instructions for determining that none of the amount of trip units remain comprise:
instructions for determining, by the at least one processor based on the current trip unit reading, that there is no difference between the current trip unit reading and the amount of trip units.
20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the trip-based vehicle insurance policy has an initial trip counter of zero.