Guide to the insurance claims history report (CLUE)

A CLUE report provides information on past claims filed against a particular home, providing insight into what has been damaged and repaired in the past.

This type of report looks back seven years into the past and summarizes all the claims made on a property during that time. Insurers use this information when setting a policy rate for the home.

The information in a CLUE report can affect your ability to get homeowners insurance. You may even find that you have trouble getting a policy when you buy a house simply because the previous owner had a lengthy history of homeowners insurance claims.

Getting a CLUE report before you buy a home can help you avoid surprises when you try to buy home insurance. In addition, there are steps you can take to reduce the risk that a history of claims will negatively impact your ability to secure insurance. 

What is a CLUE report?

A Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange — or CLUE — report is a record of all of the claims reported by an insurance company on a particular property over a period of up to seven years. 

Whenever an insurance company begins the claims process, pays out a claim, or denies a claim, this information is typically submitted in a CLUE report. However, LexisNexus—the company that generates CLUE Reports—tells insurers not to report any information about policyholders asking questions about coverage. 

When you apply for insurance coverage or a quote, the insurer might ask for a CLUE report. Insurance companies review the information in the report when deciding whether to give you a homeowners policy and when setting your rates.

The insurer may examine your personal history of filing claims or the history of claims on the property that you are considering purchasing. 

How do CLUE reports affect insurance rates?

Insurers use CLUE reports to better understand the potential risks they face when insuring a property. When looking at a CLUE report, an insurer can expect to find: 

• A record of the types of losses on the home
• The date of each loss
• The amount of each claim and the status of the claim

The insurance company is likely to charge higher premiums to homeowners who have filed more claims or to those who own properties with a history of claims. 

Insurance company studies have found that a history of past claims raises the risk of more claims being filed in the future. 

If the claims history is too extensive, the insurer may refuse to sell you a policy altogether. 

Most insurance companies do not use CLUE reports when renewing an existing policy because they already know the loss history from the time the homeowner purchased the original policy. 

Keeping your insurance history claim-free — and making sure the home you buy has a clean claims history — are the best ways to avoid being charged higher rates because of information in a CLUE report. 

How does a CLUE report work?

Owned and operated by LexisNexis, CLUE reports allow insurers to track auto, home, and renters claims. 

It’s important to remember that the report is merely a glimpse into a home’s claims history. Insurance companies don’t have to provide the data to CLUE. So, a CLUE report may not include a complete home claims picture. 

Homeowners insurance companies provide the following information for the CLUE report:

• Policy number
• Insurance company’s name
• Date of loss
• Type of loss
• The amount that the homeowners insurance company paid for the loss

Types of claims you may find on a CLUE report:

• Contamination
• Damage to other people’s property
• Dog bite
• Earthquake
• Fire
• Flood
• Freezing water
• Hail
• Liability
• Lightning
• Medical payment
• Slip/fall
• Smoke
• Theft/burglary
• Vandalism
• Water damage
• Wind
• Workers’ compensation

How to get a CLUE report

The claims history report — the CLUE Report — is relatively easy to get. Lexis-Nexis accepts requests for CLUE reports online, via email and snail mail or over the phone.

Here are ways to request a copy:

• Online: https://consumer.risk.lexisnexis.com/
• Call: 888-497-0011
• Email: [email protected]

You could also request a copy from a homeowner.

You can order a report for yourself/your property or someone over whom you have legal authority, such as a minor. When ordering a report, you must answer a host of security questions to confirm your identity.

Thanks to the Fair And Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA), you’re entitled to one free copy of your report per year.

When you apply for homeowners insurance, your insurance company will request a loss history report to determine whether you, the buyer, or the seller have filed any claims during the past seven years. The database also includes damage reports that were later closed when the owner made the repairs.

How to dispute errors in your CLUE report

Sometimes, mistakes might find their way into your CLUE report. 

“Common errors in CLUE reports have to do with your history of insurance claims,” says Paul Traynor, assistant professor of law at the University of North Dakota School of Law. “Like a credit report, CLUE reports may contain errors if it is not an accurate reflection of your individual loss history.” 

Examples of such mistakes might include: 

• Car accidents attributed to the wrong driver
• Mistakenly being designated as responsible for an accident
• Incorrect claim amounts
• Calls requesting information from an insurer that mistakenly are recorded as claims

Sometimes, a claim may mistakenly appear in a CLUE report even if you did not receive a payout from your insurer. 

“A claim for property damage within your deductible resulting in no insurance payments being made should not appear as an insurance claim on your CLUE report,” Traynor says. 

If you find a mistake in your CLUE report, dispute it. 

“If you think you have an error on your CLUE report, it helps if you’ve retained the records of the claim that you question, such as damage estimates, copies of correspondence and personal payments to repair the damage,” Traynor says.

He adds that you should work with a licensed insurance agent to correct any history you believe to be in error.

If you file a dispute with LexisNexis, the company will engage with the source of the source of the data that led to the dispute and will reinvestigate. Once the investigation is complete, you will receive a mailing with the findings. 

Once LexisNexis hears back from the data source, you should receive a notice of the results within 30 days.

To dispute the information on your file, contact LexisNexis by mail at: 

LexisNexis Risk Solutions Consumer Center

P.O. Box 105108

Atlanta, GA, 30348-5108

You can also phone the company at 1-866-897-8126.

How to check your home insurance claims history

You can request a copy of the claims history with your current home insurance company by simply requesting it or logging into your account online or in the app.

However, to obtain a copy of claims filed on your home by previous owners, the CLUE report is your best option.

Do home insurance claims follow you?

Yes, most home insurance companies provide information to the CLUE report, so your claims history follows you. Your home’s claims history also influences rates, even if the claims were made before you owned the home. 

Claims going back up to seven years will be on the CLUE report. Remember that while the CLUE report won’t contain inquiries to a home insurance company, insurers may have their own records. 

So, if you called a home insurance company about a potential claim but wound up handling the issue yourself, an insurer may still have that communication on your records. 

How to buy a house with an open insurance claim

Having an open insurance claim won’t prevent you from selling your home or stop a potential buyer from purchasing it. You can still complete the transaction despite the outstanding claim.

Here are two options for buying a home with an open insurance claim. 

The first and easiest option is to lower the selling price and sell it “as is.” This is a pro for both parties:

• The seller gets out of the hassle of having any damage repaired. 
• The buyer gets a deal on the property.

In this situation, the house seller would keep the insurance claim money because the price of the house was lowered. They would still have to get a reputable professional to give a quote reflecting the actual cost to fix the issues.

One con in that scenario is that the new homeowner may appear to be getting a deal, but they will have to pay out of their own pocket to get the damages fixed.

Assigning the claim’s benefits to the new homeowner is a more complicated option. In that case, the seller is relieved of all hassle, which is a bonus for that party. The new homeowner can find their own contractors and feel comfortable with the work.

A con in either scenario is that the house still has an insurance claims history, which will appear on the CLUE report and likely temporarily increase home insurance rates. 

How to make sure you can insure your home

It pays to educate yourself about home insurance. Here are some ways you can ensure that claims don’t affect your ability to get coverage:

• Consider paying for small losses out of your own pocket. Insurers take notice of customers who submit many small claims. If someone breaks into your house and steals your new TV, it might be better to buy a new one at your own expense. That’s especially true if you’ve had a claim or two within the past three years.
• Think twice before you call your agent or insurance company. If you’re considering filing a claim but aren’t sure, wait to make that call. The minute your insurer’s customer service representative logs your call, the insurer opens a file on that issue that it will track through its computer system.
• Shop around for coverage. Don’t get discouraged if your insurer denies a policy based on previous claims or the rates are unaffordable. Obtain insurance quotes from at least three other insurers to compare premiums and coverage options. Insure.com provides an annual ranking of the best home insurance companies.
• See if your state has a Fair Access to Insurance Requirements (FAIR) Plan if you can’t get a home insurance policy. FAIR plans were created in the late 1960s to make property insurance more readily available to people who can’t obtain it from private insurers because their property is considered “high risk.”

Do home insurance companies share claims history?

Yes, insurance companies share any information related to insurance claims on your CLUE report. Insurers use this information to assess the risk when someone applies for an insurance policy. 

Specialty consumer reporting agencies collect such information, which insurers then access when deciding whether to offer coverage and how much to charge you in premiums. 

The extensive database contains information about all the claims you’ve made in the past seven years and claims that were filed on the property even before you lived there.

According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, you can get free copies of reports from many of the specialty consumer reporting agencies. However, others have the right to charge you for such reports. 

The CFPB maintains a list of these specialty consumer reporting agencies along with information about how you can request copies of your reports and other information. 

Although these companies must follow some legal restrictions, they generally have the right to provide consumer reports and risk scores based on your data to a number of different types of businesses, including lenders, employers, government agencies, landlords, banks and more. 

How much does a CLUE report cost?

The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act allows consumers to get a free copy of the CLUE report every year upon request.  If you need a CLUE report on a property you are planning to buy, you’ll have to ask the owner to request it. 

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