One of the best kept consumer secrets out there is the little-known CLUE report, which is made available to insurance companies on every single insurance consumer. The CLUE report is the insurance-world equivalent of a credit report on insurance consumers and can have a profound impact on your personal property and auto insurance rates. However, despite its importance, very few consumers said they were very familiar with the CLUE report and only 14% had heard of it. If you don’t know what a CLUE report is and how it can be used against you – I strongly recommend you read on.
Crusading for vulnerable consumers has become a deeply passionate pursuit of mine, so I decided to dig in to and find out answers to the following questions (and even ordered my own report in the process):
- what is a CLUE report?
- what information is reported?
- when is information reported?
- can your CLUE report be used against you to charge higher rates?
- how far back do CLUE report claims and inquiries go?
- when should you check your CLUE report?
- how can you dispute any incorrect information?
- how can you get a free CLUE report?
Hopefully you find this CLUE report overview helpful.
What is a CLUE Report?
CLUE is an acronym for the Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange database, where insurers provide and obtain information regarding your insurance claims history. A CLUE report is a registered trademark of and generated by LexisNexis, an insurance consumer reporting agency (similar to credit reporting agencies like TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian, but for insurance instead).
There are actually 2 types of CLUE reports:
- CLUE Property Claims Report (i.e. for homeowner insurance claims)
- CLUE Auto Claims Report
The reports cover your personal property and personal auto claims history and are used by insurers to document your claims and inquiries and determine your risk profile, which impacts your insurance premiums.
What Information is Included in CLUE Reports?
The following information is contained in CLUE reports for each insurance consumer:
- name
- date of birth (partially edited out for security reasons)
- Social Security Number (completely edited out for security reasons)
- policy holder
- policy number
- gender
- claim number
- claim date
- driver’s license, vehicle make and model, VIN# in the CLUE Auto Claims Report
- description of the covered property and/or address of property in the CLUE Property Claims Report
- type of claim
- amount of claim
- loss status
- possible related claims
- list or record of companies that have inquired about your loss history in the last two 2 years
- your inquiry history (if submitted by insurer)
When Does an Insurer Contribute to a CLUE Report?
Insurers report to LexisNexis in the following scenarios:
- when they pay a claim
- when they set up a possible claim
- when they formally deny a claim
- when they receive an inquiry into a possible claim (not all submit this)
Inquiry history is key. If you call your insurer merely to inquire about damage and whether you should file a claim, a notation will get made. LexisNexis advises insurance companies not to report claims information when you contact them to simply ask a question about coverage or your deductible. However, they often do. This could come back to haunt you if someone asks you for a copy of your report later, you want to change policies, or have another claim later on.
Can your CLUE Report be Used Against you to Charge Higher Rates?
Unfortunately, yes. Insurers will typically request a CLUE report when you apply for new coverage or request a quote. The company will use your claim history and/or the history of claims at a specific property to decide if they will offer you coverage and how much in premiums you’ll pay for that coverage. Past claims are used as an indicator of future claims and to determine your risk profile. If you’ve had auto or personal property claims, you will typically pay more for future coverage.
Here are just a few of the ways your CLUE reports can be used against you:
- Inaccurate information can be included in the report.
- Fraudulent insurance claims made by others in your name may be included in your report.
- Any recent claims against the property that you are purchasing can increase your rates on that property.
- A report may use information other than claims data to rate you as a risk – even if the company doesn’t pay a claim. For example, a loss may fall below your deductible and the claim is denied or you are advised not to submit a claim. Even simple phone calls to inquire can be used against you.
- Even when repairs are made and the property is restored to the original condition or you are not at fault in an accident, the CLUE report can include information about the claim.
All of this information in the report can affect the premiums you pay as well as whether you are insured at all if you are deemed to be a high enough risk. Scary, right?
How Far Back do CLUE Report Histories go?
Given the impact on insurance premium rates, one would naturally wonder how far back CLUE report claims and inquiries go. In other words, what is the historical lookback period for CLUE reports? CLUE reports typically contain up to seven years of claim history. According to LexisNexis,
“If you have not filed a claim against your auto or property insurance policy in the last 7 years, you will likely receive a clear report.”
When Should you Check your CLUE Report?
After researching CLUE reports in depth, here is when I plan to review mine (and others) for accuracy (note: you’re entitled to one of each report for free once per year):
- Once a year prior to policy renewals.
- Whenever I go shopping for a new insurance plan.
- Whenever I am in a car accident and make a claim.
- Whenever I look to purchase a new home, I will check my CLUE Property Claims Report and ask for a copy from the property owner of the property I am looking to purchase. In some states, sellers are legally required to disclose any damage or repairs – but that doesn’t mean they will. And getting a report from a third party to confirm is a smart move in case they are withholding information.
- Whenever I sell a home (if I have a good record to show, this can be a selling point).
How to Dispute your CLUE Report
CLUE report errors are possible can have a costly negative impact on your insurance rates. Errors can range from a simple error in data entry or information reported by insurer to fraudulent claims made in your name. You shouldn’t have to pay for someone’s mistake or fraudulent activities. Thankfully, there is a means to dispute incorrect information in your CLUE report. LexisNexis has the following to say about filing CLUE report disputes:
Upon receipt of your dispute, LNRS has 30 days to conduct a reinvestigation of the information disputed. LNRS will provide you with notice of the results of the reinvestigation no later than 5 business days after the completion of the reinvestigation. This notice will be provided to you by mail.
You can dispute by contacting LexisNexis by phone at 888-497-0011 or mail at LexisNexis Consumer Center, P.O. Box 105108, Atlanta, GA, 30348.
If the matter isn’t resolved to your satisfaction, you have the right to add a statement summarizing the nature of the dispute, which will appear in future CLUE reports. If you still don’t get results, you can contact your state insurance commissioner or file a complaint with the FTC.
In my CLUE Property Claims Report I found the following “Mysterious Disappearance” claim from 6 years ago and I have no idea what it is in regards to, since I’ve never made a personal property claim. I’m going to submit a dispute to have this removed:
Unfortunately, I’ve probably been paying higher rates for this for the past six years already!
How to Get a Free CLUE Report
Similar to how you can get one free credit report per year from each of the major credit bureaus (tip: you can also get free updated TransUnion and Equifax credit reports from Credit Karma any time) – you can click here to order your free CLUE report online, which is probably the easiest way to obtain your CLUE report.
You can also order by mail, or call LexisNexis toll free: 866-312-8076, Monday – Saturday, 24 hours/day, Sunday: 10:00 am to midnight EST. Ordering online is easiest.
You can get one free CLUE Property Claims Report and one free CLUE Auto Claims Report per year – and they can be ordered separately or together at the same time.
Do you have any experiences with incorrect CLUE report information and a dispute? Share in the comments.
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Thanks G.E. This is very useful information indeed.
BTW, both of my reports came up clean. :)
Thanks for the info! I have never heard of the CLUE Report.
I checked it out and they both came back all clear, which is interesting because I was in a no-fault accident 2 years ago and it does not show up. Guess my insurance company decided to be kind.
Nice. Don’t remind them!
Very informative post. I ordered my reports as well. Keep up the good work!
No problem, Rich. Glad it was helpful.
Thanks so much for this post! I accessed my CLUE reports yesterday, and the property report came back clean, but the auto did not. One of the claims was correct, but the two claims listed under the “possible related claims” section were for someone else. The individual’s apartment number was one number off from my previous address, and they have filed two claims since 2014. Both of the claims are still open, which I’m sure does not look good to an insurance company.
I called the Lexis Nexis number you provided and explained the incorrect address situation. I told them I wanted to dispute the two claims in the possible related claims section. Lexis Nexis will contact the insurance company that provided the information and Lexis Nexis will send a report with the results in the mail. If this is not resolved, I will definitely add a statement to my CLUE report, as this is a mistake.
Thank you, G.E. I never would have known about the mistake on my auto report if it weren’t for this article!
I’m glad this was helpful and your situation is a very poignant real-life case study of why EVERYONE should review these reports.
Please report back how it goes and what you learned. Thanks for sharing!
I received the results of my dispute in the mail a few days ago (it took about 30 days), and everything I disputed was removed from my CLUE report. They included a copy of the new report and everything is correct.
Thanks again for this very helpful and informative post!
Excellent! Congrats.
Hey Travis,Found your blog, now I’m suscribed!Female: Though I hate what she represents, I have to go with Barbara Streisand. No offense to anyone, but when she and Celine did the duet together, there was no comparison. Whitney was tempting because when Sonya and I started dating “The Body Guard” had just come out and “I have Nothing” was our song. And Sonya has always loved Patsy Cline, but I gotta stick with Barbara.Male: I don’t know. For once, I don’t really have an opinion.
I was involved in a car accident in Dec. 2017, were I barely rear ended the car in front of my car. There were no damage to both cars, but we still exchanged license and insurance info. I called my insurance company and explained to them the situation. They advised me to go to their website and file a claim and upload the pictures I took showing no damage to both cars, just in case the other drivers files a claim. They assured if the other party doesn’t file any claim, then nothing will count against me. So I did.
Five months pass and the other driver never filed a claim. Now it’s time to renew my auto insurance (6-months) and noticed the premium went up by $60. This is the second increase in a year, where the first increase for $55 was 6-months ago (two months before the accident). I wasn’t happy with that, so I went to the website of another (XYZ) auto insurance company to get a quote. The quote was about 40% lesser than my current insurance company. So, I called XYZ and confirmed everything. Everything was great and as they were processing my order, they received a report from LexisNexis claiming that I was involved in a car accident in Dec 2017 and it was my fault.. This increased my premium by $160.00 (6-months). My question is , the other driver never filed a claim, there were no damages to the cars. Is there a way I can remove this off my LexisNexis report since there was no official claim and the insurance company didn’t pay anything . Please help.
Thank you
My spouse recently passed away. For the majority of our marriage I held our insurance policies, and he accumulated a few accidents in a short amount of time. Our cost is through the roof. Can accidents involving my spouse be removed from my CLUE report now?
In 2016 my husband and I were going thru a divorce. He tried to say the car was stolen and then turned it in on our ins. Unfortunately I just found out about this when our divorce was final and I went to get ins. It shows up on C.L.U.E. as me as the vehicle owner. Never had it in my name. Says it was totaled. Car still sitting in same place it has since April if 2017. Also says payout was paid. Called our ins co. Informed them that I had no idea what was going on. An proceeded to set the story straight. Contacted C.L.U.E. and disputed and ins co refused to take it off of my record. I’m trying to straighten out what my ex so obviously thought would be a way to get the car back. My question is what happens if I opt out of C.L.U.E. how will that count against me?
8JUN19… SUCCESSFUL SATURDAY AM
Peace GE:
I appreciate your overview.
It is very helpful indeed.
However, my inquiry too you is as follows;
Are named drivers versus policyholders/policy owners able too get a CLUE REPORT?
Just went into my bank account and it was nearly empty! Thanks to Progressive!
Our rate for 2 cars is $270/month, they helped themselves to almost a Grand.
What? Log in to my acct., says an Underwriter looked at it, 2 months ago. We received NO phone call, email, text or letter in the mail. Nothing. They quadrupled our rates!
Here’s what they did: Added we were BOTH in an accident on the same date in 2013, on both our records, when neither was in any accident.
Added another accident for me from 2 months ago. Again, no accident.
Stated I have FOUR POINTS on my license! I have never had a single point, and I don’t have any now.
Bonus! They ADDED A 3RD DRIVER onto our Policy. The driver’s name is my SO’s name, but instead of being an adult, it’s the same name born in 2003.
So suddenly we’ve acquired a 16 year old kid with his same name who is now driving. We have no kids. No one else lives here w/ his name.
Contacted Progressive, after they STOLE our money out of the bank. They said go after these reporting agencies. OK, fill out to request our reports, unlike the Big 3 Credit Reporting, Lexis Nexis snail mail it to you!
It’s 15 days to get your report. After because of their report, my bank acct. is almost empty, I supposedly have 4 points on my record, had 2 accidents, and there’s a teenager living in our house w/ the same name as my partner. Makes total sense!!!
Thank you so much. I had never heard of this before. I just ordered my free reports.