How to Get Your CLUE Report (and Fix Errors in Your Claims History)

You can get your CLUE report for free, directly from LexisNexis, by requesting it online, by phone, or by mail. CLUE stands for Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange, and Washington's insurance commissioner describes it as a claims-information report generated by LexisNexis, a consumer-reporting agency. The report generally contains up to seven years of personal-auto and personal-property claims history. The Fair Credit Reporting Act entitles you to a free copy, and Texas's insurance department says you can get a free copy of your report each year. If you are about to shop for coverage, have just been through a claim, or were surprised by a quote, pulling the report first tells you what every insurer is about to see.

What a CLUE report shows

A CLUE entry is created when an insurer reports a claim. Washington's regulator says that if your insurance company starts, denies, or pays out a claim, it will submit a CLUE report. An entry generally identifies the date and type of loss and the insurer, and shows whether and how much was paid, for both auto and home claims. Because most companies contribute to and pull from the same database, Texas notes that an insurer can learn about home or auto claims you have filed even if the claim was with another insurance company.

What should not be on it is a phone call. Washington's commissioner notes that LexisNexis advises insurers not to report claims information when you only ask a coverage or deductible question, and Texas says companies cannot charge you more for calling your company or agent to ask questions about your policy or the claims process. If a question you asked shows up as a claim, that is an error worth disputing.

Why it matters

Insurers use the report at the front door. Washington says an insurer may request a CLUE report when you apply for coverage or request a quote. Texas's auto insurance guide puts the consequence plainly: a company can charge you more or refuse to sell you a policy based on the information in your CLUE report. A single wrong entry, a claim that was denied but recorded as paid, or a claim that belongs to a previous owner of your address can follow you through every quote for years.

How to request it

• Online: LexisNexis provides an online request form for its consumer disclosure report, which includes your CLUE history. After it verifies your identity, it mails a letter with instructions for accessing the report online.
• By phone: LexisNexis's consumer page lists 1-866-897-8126 for requesting a report by phone. Washington's regulator and Texas's insurance department both list 866-312-8076 for the free CLUE copy; either route reaches the LexisNexis Consumer Center.
• By mail: download and print the request form from the LexisNexis consumer site, complete every section, and mail it to LexisNexis Risk Solutions Consumer Center, P.O. Box 105108, Atlanta, GA 30348-5108.

You will be asked to verify your identity before anything is released, which is normal for a consumer report. Request it under your own name; a CLUE report is tied to the person and to the property or vehicle, so a report on a house you are buying has to be requested by its current owner.

How to read it

Go line by line. For each claim, check that the date of loss, the type of loss, the insurer, and the amount paid match what actually happened. Pay particular attention to three things: claims you do not recognize, claims that were denied or withdrawn but show an amount paid, and inquiries that were recorded as claims. A claim that was opened and closed with no payment is not necessarily an error, since Washington notes insurers report claims they start or deny as well as ones they pay, but the entry should reflect that nothing was paid.

How to dispute an error

Disputes go to LexisNexis, not to the insurer. Washington's regulator says that if you find mistakes, you should contact the LexisNexis Consumer Center at 888-497-0011; LexisNexis will verify your information with the reporting insurance company and notify you of the results within 30 days. Gather what you have first: the claim number, the insurer's closing letter, and any correspondence showing the claim was denied, withdrawn, or paid a different amount. If the dispute does not resolve the way you expect, Washington notes you can also add an explanation to an item in the report that will show in all future reports, which lets a prospective insurer see your side of a disputed entry.

What a clean report does and does not do

A correct report does not erase legitimate claims; it just makes sure you are judged on what actually happened. Texas says insurers can raise premiums for filing most types of claims and that you could lose claim-free discounts, so a paid claim that is accurately reported will still count. What you are protecting against is paying for someone else's loss, for a question you asked, or for a claim that was never paid. Texas lists claims the company did not pay, including claims denied because the policy does not cover the damage, among the things home and auto companies cannot charge you more for.

When to pull it

• Before shopping for a new policy, so quotes are not thrown off by an entry you could have corrected.
• After any claim closes, to confirm it was reported accurately, especially if it was denied or withdrawn.
• Before buying a home, by asking the seller for the property's CLUE report, since prior claims on the address can affect your quote.
• Once a year as a routine check, since the free copy is annual and errors are easier to fix close to the date of loss.

The bottom line

Your CLUE report is the claims history every insurer sees, it generally covers up to seven years, and you are entitled to a free copy. Request it from LexisNexis online, by phone, or by mail, check every entry against your own records, and dispute anything that is wrong through the LexisNexis Consumer Center, which verifies the entry and responds within 30 days. Doing this before you shop is the cheapest claims-aftermath step there is.