Guide to the insurance claims history report (CLUE) - Insure.com (2024)

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

The information held 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 to avoid surprises when you try to buy home insurance.

What is a CLUE report?

A CLUE report — Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange — is a record of all of the claims reported by an insurance company on a particular property over the past seven years. Insurance companies review this information when deciding on whether to give you a homeowners policy and when setting your rates.

How does a CLUE report work?

Owned and operated by LEXIS-NEXIS, CLUE is a way for insurers to track auto, home and renters claims.

It’s important to remember that the report, while helpful, isn’t universal. While it’s 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
• 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: consumer.documents@lexisnexisrisk.com
• You could also request a copy from a homeowner

There are a host of security questions that you must answer to confirm your identity.

You can order a report for yourself/your property or someone over whom you have legal authority, such as a minor.

Thanks to the Fair And Accurate Credit Transaction 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 can I check my 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 before you owned the home.

Claims going back up to seven years will be on the CLUE report. Keep in mind 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.

Buying a house with an open insurance claim

You can buy a home with an open claim. Having an outstanding claim shouldn’t stop you from selling your house, nor should it stop anyone from buying it.

Here are two options if you want to buy a home with an open insurance claim.

The first option — and the easiest — 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 to have 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 was lowered on the house. They would still have to get a reputable professional to give a quote to reflect 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 really they have to put up money out of their own pocket to get the damages fixed.

Another, more complicated, option is to assign the benefits of the claim to the new homeowner. In that case,all hassle is removed from the seller, which is a bonus for that party. The pro for the new homeowner is that they can find their own contractors and feel comfortable with the work.

A con in either scenario is that there’s still an insurance claims history on the house that will go on the CLUE report and likely increase home insurance rates temporarily.

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 simply unaffordable. Obtain insurance quotes from at least three other insurers so you can 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.”

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. The database is extensive, containing 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.

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. And if you need a CLUE report on a property you are planning to buy, you’ll have to ask the owner to request it.

Susan Manning contributed to this story.

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