CLUE Report

A CLUE report is a consumer report listing the insurance claims associated with a person, a vehicle or an address. It is produced by LexisNexis Risk Solutions from a claims information exchange called the Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange, which is what the letters stand for. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's list of consumer reporting companies describes it as collecting and reporting "up to seven years of auto insurance claims, as well as seven years of home insurance and personal property claims, to help inform pricing and underwriting decisions for the insurance industry."

A note on the name, because the two are often used as if they were the same thing. The Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange is the database. The CLUE report is the disclosure a consumer or an insurer receives out of it. That distinction is why an insurer says it "pulled CLUE" and a consumer requests "my CLUE report" and both are correct.

What an entry actually contains is more specific than most people expect. Washington State's Office of the Insurance Commissioner lists the fields: the policyholder's name and date of birth, the policy number, the date of loss, the type of loss, the amount the company paid, a description of the covered property, and either the property address for a homeowners claim or the specific vehicle information for an auto claim. That last field is the one that turns the report into a document about a house rather than about a household.

The trigger for an entry is not "the insurer paid". Washington's regulator describes it as: "If your insurance company starts, denies or pays out a claim, they'll submit a CLUE report." So an opened-and-denied claim and a closed-with-no-payment claim can both be in the file. What a report shows is therefore the claims activity on a risk, not a ledger of money spent, and reading it as the latter overstates what an underwriter is looking at. What that activity costs at renewal is a separate question, covered on the claims history page.

An inquiry should not be in there, and the regulators say so in almost the same words. Washington notes that "LexisNexis advises insurance companies to not report claims information when you contact them to simply ask a question about coverage or your deductible." Texas puts the same point as instruction rather than description: "Companies aren't supposed to report any questions you ask about your policy or deductible. When you're talking to your agent, make sure you're clear about whether you're filing a claim or just asking a question." If an inquiry does appear, that is a disputable entry rather than a fact of life.

Two versions exist, and only one of them is about you. The personal report covers claims associated with the individual and their vehicles. The property report covers claims filed at an address, and Washington's regulator states the access rule plainly: "If you need a CLUE report on a property you'd like to buy, the owner must request it." That is the sentence that turns this into a transaction item rather than a curiosity. A buyer who wants to know what a house has claimed has to ask the seller to pull it, which means asking during the period when the seller still wants the sale to close. Texas frames the same point from the other side: for a seller, the report "can help potential buyers know the condition of the house they're buying."

Getting one, freezing it and fixing it are three separate rights. The CFPB entry for the company records that it "will provide one free report every 12 months if you request it" and that it "will freeze your consumer report if you request it", and notes that for companies required to provide the report free annually on request, "they must do so within fifteen days of receiving your request." Requesting your own report does not affect credit scores. On correction, Washington describes the mechanics: the consumer center verifies the information with the reporting insurance company and notifies the consumer of the results within thirty days, and a consumer may also add an explanation to an item that will appear in all future reports. The statutory framework those rights come from, and the fact that a claims report is a consumer report in the first place, belong to the credit report page rather than this one.

The freeze is worth understanding before using it. A freeze on a claims report stops insurers pulling it, which also means an insurer quoting a new policy cannot verify the record and may decline to quote or may quote as if the file were unknown. It is a tool against unwanted access rather than a way to hide a claim, and it has to be lifted when the household actually wants to shop.

An insurer requests the report when a consumer applies for coverage or asks for a quote, and uses the claims history on the person and on the specific property or vehicle to decide whether to offer a policy and at what price. A consumer requests their own copy from the LexisNexis consumer center, online, by phone or by mail; one copy every twelve months is free, and where the free annual entitlement applies the company must deliver within fifteen days. If an entry is wrong, the consumer disputes it, the company verifies with the insurer that reported it and reports back within thirty days, and the consumer may attach a statement of explanation to an item they cannot get removed.

A hypothetical, to show what an underwriter is looking at rather than what the homeowner remembers. Marisol pulls the property report on the house she is buying. It lists three entries in the last seven years: a $6,200 water damage claim paid in 2021 under the previous owner's policy, a $1,480 wind damage claim paid in 2023, and a theft claim opened in 2024 and denied, with nothing paid.

What an underwriter reads off that page is $7,680 paid on this address in seven years ($6,200 plus $1,480) across three reported claims, only two of which cost anyone money. None of it is Marisol's, and all of it is accurate, so none of it is disputable. What it does give her is a question to ask before closing, which is what was done about the 2021 water damage and whether the cause was fixed. The figures are invented; the reason the report is worth pulling before rather than after the sale is not.

Pros

• It is a consumer report, so the rights to see it, dispute it and add an explanation attach to it the same way they attach to a credit file.
• One free copy every twelve months, delivered within fifteen days where the free annual entitlement applies.
• It can be frozen on request, which stops insurers pulling it.
• For a home buyer it is one of the few ways to see a property's loss history before committing, and it can surface damage that was repaired cosmetically.
• Requesting your own report does not affect your credit scores.

Cons

• A buyer cannot pull the property report themselves. Only the current owner can request it, so the information depends on the seller's cooperation.
• Claims that were denied or paid nothing can still appear, so the report overstates what the property or the household actually cost an insurer.
• Accurate entries cannot be disputed away, including claims filed by a previous owner of the house.
• Seven years is how long an entry is reported, not how long an insurer prices on it, and the two are easy to conflate.
• A freeze blocks legitimate quoting as well as unwanted access, so it has to be lifted before shopping.
• It is one company's file. An insurer may also use its own internal records and other data sources.