Can Other Insurance Companies See Your Claims History?

Yes, other insurance companies can see your claims history. The property and casualty industry runs two nationwide databases that log almost every auto and home claim you file, and any carrier you apply to can pull those records before finalizing your quote. That is why switching companies rarely erases a rough history, and why it is worth checking your own file before you shop.

The Two Databases Insurers Share

Two consumer reporting agencies hold the industry’s memory. The Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange, known as C.L.U.E., is run by LexisNexis Risk Solutions and holds up to seven years of auto and home insurance claims data from participating carriers.¹ The second is the Automated Property Loss Underwriting System (A-PLUS), run by Verisk, which collects claims and loss history tied to homes, vehicles, and personal property.²

Nearly every major insurer both contributes to and pulls from these systems. File a claim with your current carrier and a record goes into one or both databases. Apply somewhere else later, and the new company pulls your report to see what happened. The process is automatic. There is no realistic way for past claims to stay invisible.

What a Prospective Insurer Actually Sees

A C.L.U.E. or A-PLUS report is more detailed than most applicants expect. It generally includes your name, date of birth, and policy number, along with the date of each loss, the type of loss (such as a rear-end collision or a burst pipe), and the dollar amount the insurer paid.¹ Homeowners entries list the property address and a description of the covered property. Auto entries carry specific vehicle information. Each claim is marked open or resolved.

That detail lets an underwriter see not only how often you file but what kinds of losses you have and how expensive they were. One significant water damage claim reads very differently from three small fender benders.

Denied and Zero-Dollar Claims Count Too

A claim does not have to pay out to appear on your report. If your insurer opens a claim and then denies it or pays nothing, that event can still be recorded, along with its outcome. A claim that went nowhere can still follow you to the next carrier.

There is a line between a formal claim and a casual inquiry. Asking your agent whether a broken window would be covered is generally an inquiry, and reporting agencies have instructed insurers not to report inquiries. Once you ask the company to process a loss, though, it becomes a reportable claim even if no money changes hands. Be explicit with your agent about which conversation you are having.

How Long Claims Stay Visible

C.L.U.E. and A-PLUS reports are consumer reports under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, and the FCRA generally bars consumer reporting agencies from including adverse information more than seven years old.³ After the seven-year mark, old claims age off automatically. That is the ceiling for what a new insurer can pull.

How a New Insurer Uses the Information

The quote you get at the start of an application is essentially a best-case estimate based on what you tell the company. During formal underwriting, the carrier pulls your C.L.U.E. or A-PLUS report to verify your answers. If the database shows accidents or property losses you did not mention, the premium usually goes up. In more serious cases, the gap between your application and your actual record can result in a flat denial before the policy is ever issued. The FCRA explicitly authorizes insurers to access these reports for underwriting.⁴

Home Claims Attach to the Address

One point catches many homebuyers off guard: C.L.U.E. tracks homeowners claims by property address, not just by the person who filed them. If a previous owner filed multiple water damage or fire claims, those losses are tied to the house itself and can appear when a new insurer runs the property’s history. Some carriers factor prior-owner losses into their decision, particularly when the pattern suggests ongoing risk at that address.

If you are buying a home, request the C.L.U.E. property report before closing. A seller can authorize the pull, or you can request it once you are the owner of record. A house with a run of claims can cost noticeably more to insure than an identical one down the street with a clean record.

Your Rights Under the FCRA

Because these are consumer reports, you have real protections when the data works against you.

Adverse action notice. If an insurer denies your application, charges a higher premium, or cancels your policy based on information in your claims report, federal law requires them to tell you, identify the reporting agency, and inform you of your right to get a free copy and dispute inaccuracies.⁵
Free annual disclosure. You are entitled to one free report from each agency every twelve months.⁶
Right to dispute. If information is wrong, you can file a dispute and the agency must reinvestigate, usually within 30 days. Data that cannot be verified must be corrected or removed.⁶

The adverse action notice is the one most people overlook. If your premium jumps after underwriting and the insurer does not tell you why or which agency’s data they relied on, that is a potential FCRA violation.

How to Pull Your Own Report

Checking your own file before shopping lets you catch errors and know exactly what a prospective carrier will see. Request your free C.L.U.E. report through the LexisNexis consumer disclosure page at consumer.risk.lexisnexis.com/request. You will need your name, address, date of birth, and either your Social Security number or driver’s license number. LexisNexis mails instructions for accessing the report online once your identity is verified. Their consumer center is at 888-497-0011.⁷

For your A-PLUS report from Verisk, call 800-627-3487 (select option 2) or 800-709-8842, or write to the Consumer Inquiry Center at P.O. Box 5404, Mt. Laurel, NJ 08054. Verisk provides one free report every 12 months on request.²

Fixing Errors on Your Report

Mistakes do happen. A claim can be attributed to the wrong person, a payout amount can be inflated, or a closed claim can still show as open. File any dispute directly with the reporting agency. For LexisNexis, you can start the process by email at Consumer.Documents@LexisNexis.com or by calling 888-497-0011 with your case number.⁸

Once you file, the agency contacts the insurer that originally reported the data and reinvestigates. Attach any supporting documentation, such as a letter from the carrier confirming the claim is closed or that you were not at fault. Federal law generally requires the investigation to finish within 30 days. You will receive a letter with the results and an updated copy of your file.⁶

Why Honesty on the Application Still Matters

Knowing that insurers can pull your history might make disclosure feel pointless. It is not. Insurance applications are legal documents, and failing to disclose a prior loss when asked is treated as a material misrepresentation. The standard consequence is rescission: the insurer voids the policy as though it never existed.

Rescission is harsher than cancellation. If the insurer rescinds after you have filed a new claim, that claim is denied even if you have been paying premiums for months. The insurer returns your premiums; you are left with an uninsured loss and a rescission on your record that makes future coverage harder to get. In serious cases involving intentional concealment, the conduct can be flagged as insurance fraud. The databases exist to verify what you report, not to replace the obligation to report it accurately.

1
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. LexisNexis C.L.U.E. and Telematics OnDemand
2
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. A-PLUS Property (by Verisk)
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681c – Requirements Relating to Information Contained in Consumer Reports
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681b – Permissible Purposes of Consumer Reports
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681m – Requirements on Users of Consumer Reports
6
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. A Summary of Your Rights Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act
7
LexisNexis Risk Solutions Consumer Center. Order Your Report Online
8
LexisNexis Risk Solutions Consumer Center. Description of Procedure