System and method for computing and sorting trip similarities using geo-spatial information

1. A system for pricing an insurance premium based on vehicle trip similarities, the system comprising:

a computer memory for storing data indicative of telematics data received from a sensor within a vehicle, the telematics data being associated with a plurality of trips and comprising at least one of geo-position information of the vehicle and vehicle kinematics data; and

a processor in communication with the memory, wherein the processor is configured for:

retrieving information related to an automobile insurance policy;

retrieving at least a portion of the stored telematics data from the computer memory;

computing a similarities score for routes traversed in the plurality of trips based on similarity of location data points along the routes traversed, determined from the retrieved telematics data;

storing the computed similarities score;

calculating a price adjustment for the insurance premium for the automobile insurance policy based on the retrieved information related to the policy and the similarities score;

applying the price adjustment to the insurance premium; and

outputting the adjusted price for the insurance premium for the automobile insurance policy.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein said computing is based on at least one of: (i) a sequence alignment technique, (ii) a Smith-Waterman algorithm technique, and (iii) a Needleman-Wunsch algorithm technique.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the technique used to compute the similarities score analyzes a plurality of route segments comprising each of the trips.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein said computing includes a removal process to remove duplicate information from the stored telematics data.

5. The system of claim 4 , wherein the duplicate information that is removed is associated with a stationary vehicle.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the data indicative of telematics data is received by an insurance company from a third party service.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein said computing is further associated with at least one of: (i) trip origins, and (ii) trip destinations.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured for identifying safety events and determining, by the processor, a severity estimation of the safety events.

9. A system for pricing an insurance premium based on vehicle trip similarities, the system comprising:

a computer memory for storing telematics data received from a sensor within a vehicle, the telematics data being associated with a plurality of trips and comprising at least one of geo-position information of the vehicle and vehicle kinematics data; and

a processor in communication with the memory, wherein the processor is configured for:

computing a similarities score for routes traversed in the plurality of trips based on similarity of location data points along the routes traversed, determined from the telematics data received from the computer memory; and

determining a price, adjustment, or other benefit for automobile insurance for the driver based on the similarities score.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the processor is further configured for:

automatically sending a notice of adjustment to the driver based on the determined price, price adjustment, or other benefit.

11. The system of claim 9 , wherein the telematics data is associated with a sequence of latitude and longitude data pairs.

12. The system of claim 9 , wherein the similarities score is further associated with at least one of: (i) multiple drivers, (ii) multiple vehicles, (iii) time of day information, (iv) day of week information, and (v) trip clusters.

13. The system of claim 9 , wherein said determining is performed at least one of: (i) on an annual basis, and (ii) on a substantially real-time basis.

14. The system of claim 9 , wherein said computing is based on at least one of: (i) a sequence alignment technique, (ii) a Smith-Waterman algorithm technique, and (iii) a Needleman-Wunsch algorithm technique.

15. The system of claim 9 , wherein said computing includes a removal process to remove duplicate information from the stored telematics data.

16. The system of claim 9 , wherein said computing is further associated with at least one of: (i) trip origins, and (ii) trip destinations.

17. The system of claim 9 , wherein the processor is further configured for identifying safety events and determining, by the processor, a severity estimation of the safety events.

18. The system of claim 9 , wherein determining the price for automobile insurance comprises determining a retroactive adjustment to be applied to a price of an automobile insurance premium for the period during which the telematics data was collected.

19. The system of claim 9 , wherein determining the price for automobile insurance comprises determining an adjustment to be prospectively applied to a price of an automobile insurance premium for a future period.

20. The system of claim 9 , wherein determining a price for automobile insurance comprises setting a price for a previously presented automobile insurance plan.

21. A method for pricing an insurance premium based on vehicle trip similarities, the method comprising:

receiving, by a processor, data indicative of telematics data collected from a sensor coupled to at least one vehicle during a plurality of trips, wherein the telematics data includes at least one of geo-position information and kinematics data;

computing, by the processor, a similarities score for routes traversed in the plurality of trips based on similarity of location data points along the routes traversed, determined from the telematics data; and

determining, by the processor, a price for automobile insurance for a driver based on the similarities score.

22. The method of claim 21 , wherein said computing is based on at least one of: (i) a sequence alignment technique, (ii) a Smith-Waterman algorithm technique, and (iii) a Needleman-Wunsch algorithm technique.

23. The method of claim 21 , wherein said computing includes a removal process to remove duplicate information from the stored telematics data.

24. The method of claim 21 , wherein said computing is further associated with at least one of: (i) trip origins, and (ii) trip destinations.

25. A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored therein instructions for, upon execution, causing a computer to implement a method for pricing an insurance premium based on vehicle trip similarities, the method comprising:

receiving, by a processor, telematics data collected from a sensor coupled to a vehicle throughout a plurality of trips taken by the vehicle, wherein the telematics data includes at least one of geo-position information of the vehicle and vehicle kinematics data;

computing, by the processor, a similarities score for routes traversed in the plurality of trips based on similarity of location data points along the routes traversed, determined from the telematics data; and

determining, by the processor, a price for automobile insurance for a driver based on the similarities score.

26. The medium of claim 25 , wherein said computing is based on at least one of: (i) a sequence alignment technique, (ii) a Smith-Waterman algorithm technique, and (iii) a Needleman-Wunsch algorithm technique.

27. The medium of claim 25 , wherein said computing includes a removal process to remove duplicate information from the stored telematics data.

28. The medium of claim 25 , wherein said computing is further associated with at least one of: (i) trip origins, and (ii) trip destinations.

29. The system of claim 1 , wherein the computing the similarities score comprises:

determining a similarity value for each of a plurality of pairs of routes of the plurality of trips; and

determining the similarities score based on the determined similarity values.