CLUE stands for Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange. It is a database of insurance claims history that insurers contribute to and consult when quoting and renewing policies.
It is a consumer report under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, which means you have rights over it — including the right to see it and to dispute what is wrong.
What it contains
Typically for each claim: the date, the type of loss, the amount paid, the status, the insurer, and the policy or property involved. Claims history is generally retained for a period of several years.
Two versions matter. A personal auto report follows you as an individual. A personal property report follows the address, which is why it matters when buying a house.
The property report attaches to the property, not to you. Claims made by previous owners can appear and affect what you are quoted. Requesting the CLUE report for a property you are buying — which the current owner can obtain — tells you about its claims history before you commit.
What frequently appears that should not
- Inquiries recorded as claims. Calling to ask whether something would be covered, without filing, is sometimes logged in a way that looks like a claim.
- Claims closed with no payment, which still appear and can still affect pricing.
- Claims at a wrong address or attributed to the wrong person.
- Duplicates of the same event.
- Amounts that do not match what was actually paid.
How to get yours
The report is maintained by LexisNexis. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act you are entitled to a free copy annually, and to another free copy after any adverse action based on it.
Request it directly from the reporting agency rather than through a third-party service. There is no reason to pay.
Disputing an entry
- Get the report and read every entry against your own recollection.
- Identify what is wrong and gather what proves it — correspondence, claim numbers, closure letters.
- File a dispute with the reporting agency in writing. They are required to investigate.
- Contact the insurer that furnished the entry as well. The furnisher is who corrects the source data.
- Get the corrected report once resolved, and keep it.
- Ask for a re-quote if the error affected your pricing.
Why an inquiry can matter
This is the part worth knowing before you pick up the phone. In some cases, asking an insurer whether a loss would be covered can be recorded, and the record can be read later as claims activity.
If you want to understand your coverage without creating a record, reading your policy or asking a general question that does not reference a specific incident are alternatives. Once a specific loss is reported, the record generally exists whether or not a payment follows.
What it is not
It is not a credit report and it is not a credit-based insurance score. Those are separate, drawn from different data, and governed by their own rules — though all three are consumer reports with FCRA rights attached.
What we are not saying
We are not telling you to avoid filing claims. Insurance exists to be used, and a legitimate claim is what you paid for.
What we are saying is that a file about your claims history exists, that you are entitled to see it free, that errors in it are common enough to be worth checking, and that on a property purchase it tells you something the seller may not.
Where to verify this yourself
What a CLUE report actually contains
| Field | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Date of loss | Determines whether it falls inside an insurer's look-back period |
| Type of loss | Water, fire, theft, liability, collision. Categories are weighted very differently |
| Amount paid | A large paid claim weighs differently from a small one |
| Claim status | Whether it was paid, denied, or closed without payment |
| The insurer involved | Identifies where to go if the entry is wrong |
| Property address or vehicle | Property entries follow the address, not the person |
| Policy number | Ties the entry to a specific policy period |
There are two separate reports. A personal report covering claims you filed, and a property report covering claims at an address. The second follows the building, which means a buyer inherits the claims history of everyone who lived there before — and can be quoted a higher price, or declined, for something a previous owner did.
How to get yours
Your rights under federal credit law
- A free copy annually from the reporting agency, on request
- Another free copy after any adverse action based on it — a higher price, a declination, a non-renewal
- The name of the agency whose report was used, stated in the adverse action notice
- The right to dispute anything inaccurate, with the agency required to investigate
- Correction or deletion of information found to be inaccurate
Request it directly from the reporting agency rather than through a paid service. The annual copy is a statutory right, and services charging for it are charging for something free.
One limitation worth knowing: you can generally obtain the report for a property you own or occupy. A prospective buyer usually cannot request the report for a property they do not yet own — which is why asking the seller to obtain and share it is the practical route.
The errors that actually appear
| Error | How it happens |
|---|---|
| An inquiry recorded as a claim | You rang to ask whether something would be covered and never filed |
| The wrong amount | A reserve figure rather than what was actually paid |
| A duplicate | The same event entered twice, sometimes by two insurers |
| Wrong address attribution | Similar street numbers, or a unit number omitted |
| A claim that was not yours | A previous occupant, or a name confusion |
| An entry past its retention period | Should have aged off and did not |
| Wrong loss type | A weather claim recorded as water damage, which is weighted more heavily |
The last row is worth checking specifically. Water damage weighs heavily in property rating, and a storm-related claim miscategorised as a plumbing loss can cost real money for years.
Disputing an entry
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Step 1
Identify exactly what is wrong
The specific field, not a general objection. "The amount shown is $14,000; the settlement was $4,200" is actionable.
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Step 2
Gather the evidence
Settlement documents, correspondence from the insurer, a closing statement, anything showing what actually happened.
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Step 3
Dispute in writing with the agency
They are required to investigate and to contact the insurer that supplied the information.
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Step 4
Contact the insurer directly as well
They are the source. A correction at source is what actually changes the record.
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Step 5
Get an updated report
Confirming the change was made rather than assuming.
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Step 6
Ask your insurer to re-rate
A correction does not trigger a re-rate automatically. You have to ask.
If the agency and the insurer disagree with you and the entry stands, you generally have the right to add a brief statement to the file explaining your position. It is not as good as a correction, but it is visible to anyone who pulls the report.
Using it before you buy a property
During the inspection period
- Ask the seller to obtain the property CLUE report and share it
- Look for water damage claims specifically — they affect availability, not just price
- Ask what was repaired after each claim, and how
- Ask for documentation of any remediation, which you can give a future insurer
- Get an actual insurance quote before your contingencies expire
- Ask each insurer whether the history affects eligibility, not only premium
A property with repeated water claims can be difficult to insure regardless of who caused them. Discovering that during the inspection period leaves you options; discovering it at closing does not.
Before you shop for insurance
Pull the report first. Insurers check it when they quote, so knowing what it says means you are not surprised by a price that reflects something you could have corrected.
Pull your motor vehicle record at the same time, from your state agency. Between the two, you know almost everything a new insurer will see about you before they see it.
What we are not saying
We are not saying claims records are generally wrong, or that pulling the report will lower your premium. Most entries are accurate and most corrections change nothing.
What we are saying is that the report exists whether you look at it or not, that you are entitled to a free copy annually, that the property version follows the address rather than the owner, and that the specific errors listed above are common enough to be worth twenty minutes checking for.
How long entries stay
Retention on the report and the period an insurer uses when rating are two different things, and confusing them causes unnecessary worry.
| Typical period | Set by | |
|---|---|---|
| How long an entry appears on the report | Commonly around five to seven years | The reporting agency, subject to federal credit law |
| How far back an insurer looks when rating | Commonly three to five years | Each insurer's own filed rating rules |
The gap between the two rows is where the opportunity sits. An entry can still be visible on the report while already sitting outside the period an insurer uses to rate you — and because look-back periods differ by carrier, an event that still counts at one company may not at another.
That is the practical reason to shop the market as claims age. Nothing about your record changes on the day it passes a threshold; what changes is which insurers are still counting it.
What the report does not contain
- Your credit information. That is a separate report from a separate agency
- Your driving record. Violations come from your state motor vehicle agency, not from here
- Life or health insurance claims. This system covers property and auto
- Quotes you obtained. Shopping for insurance does not appear
- Losses you never reported to any insurer
The fourth point is worth stating plainly, because it is a common worry: getting quotes does not create entries and does not affect your record.
The habit worth forming
Once a year, alongside your renewal review
- Request your personal CLUE report
- Request the property report for your address
- Request your motor vehicle record from the state agency
- Check every entry against your own recollection
- Dispute anything wrong, in writing, with both the agency and the insurer
- Note the date each entry is due to age off
That last line pays for the whole exercise. Knowing when your oldest claim drops out of the common look-back periods tells you exactly when shopping the market is most likely to change your price — and that date is otherwise invisible.
What we are not saying, once more
We do not sell reports, and nothing on this site earns anything from your checking one. The reports described here are free by law, obtainable directly, and the only thing they cost is the twenty minutes it takes to read them properly.
One thing to do this week
Request the report. Not because something is likely to be wrong, but because you cannot correct what you have not seen, and the correction is worth far more before an insurer prices you than afterwards.
It is free, it takes a few minutes to request, and it is the only way to see what every insurer sees when you ask them for a quote.
Do it before you next shop for insurance rather than after.
This is general education, not advice. Insurance law and claim rules vary by state and change over time. Nothing here is legal, financial, or insurance advice for your situation, and reading it does not create any professional relationship. For your specific case, consult a licensed professional in your state or contact your state Department of Insurance.