What is a CLUE report?
A CLUE report is your seven-year file of homeowners and auto insurance claims, kept by LexisNexis Risk Solutions and checked by more than 90% of US home insurers before they quote. The formal name is the Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange. Past claims, including a prior owner's, can change your rate.
The database has operated since 1987 and falls under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, which gives you the right to one free copy every twelve months and a 30-day window to dispute anything inaccurate (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, verified May 2026). A claim lands on the report when an insurer opens, denies, or pays it; in some states, mere coverage or deductible questions are not supposed to be logged, though carriers have historically blurred that line (Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner).
Why it matters
The non-renewal letter is usually where this term enters a homeowner's life. The carrier will not extend the policy past the term-end date, the lender wants proof of replacement coverage, and the next quote comes in higher than the last one. The CLUE report is the reason. More than 90% of US homeowners insurers feed claims data to it (LexisNexis Risk Solutions, verified May 2026), and most pull it before pricing a new policy. A paid claim, a denied claim, or one tied to the prior owner of the house can sit on the file for up to seven years (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, verified May 2026) and shape what the next carrier offers.
The concrete consequence of getting this wrong: describing damage to a current insurer "just to see what's covered" can land in the report even when no claim is filed. The Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner is direct about it: a loss reaches CLUE when an insurer "starts, denies or pays out a claim", and denied claims do count. Before talking to any new carrier, pull your own free annual CLUE disclosure.
How it works
CLUE is operated by LexisNexis Risk Solutions, which has run the database since 1987 as a consumer reporting agency under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 USC §1681 et seq.). That FCRA status is the load-bearing piece: it pulls CLUE into the same federal disclosure, dispute, and accuracy regime as a credit report, with the consumer rights that come with it.
Carriers contribute claim data on submission. The Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner states the trigger plainly: a loss enters CLUE when an insurer 'starts, denies, or pays' a claim. Coverage and deductible inquiries are not supposed to be reported, although consumer guidance commonly advises against describing damage to a carrier unless you are committed to filing. Denied claims do appear in the record. The retention window is seven years rolling, per the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau consumer-reporting-companies list (verified May 2026), and covers both home and auto.
On the contributor side, the database is built from 'more than 90% of insurers that write homeowners coverage' (LexisNexis Risk Solutions, verified May 2026). In practice, a claim filed with one admitted carrier is visible to the next carrier you shop with.
The FCRA also fixes the consumer-facing mechanics. One free disclosure per twelve-month period is mandatory under 15 USC §1681j and fulfilled by LexisNexis within 15 days (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, verified May 2026). Dispute rights run under FCRA §611 (15 USC §1681i): a reinvestigation must complete within 30 days, and if the reporting insurer cannot verify the entry, LexisNexis must remove it. A consumer statement of explanation can be added and travels with future pulls.
Who it affects
Practically every U.S. homeowner who has filed a property claim in the past seven years sits in CLUE. The report is tied to the address as well as the person, so the prior owner of the home you just bought is in there too. More than 90% of insurers writing homeowners coverage feed the database (LexisNexis Risk Solutions, verified May 2026).
Three groups feel it most. If you carry a mortgage, your lender requires continuous coverage and your servicer can force-place a policy when coverage lapses; that placement reads CLUE the same way an admitted carrier does. A home you bought in a coastal county or a wildland-urban interface carries the prior owner's hurricane or wildfire claims, which load your quote even though you were not the one who filed. And if you have moved between a state with a FAIR Plan and one of the states without one, the seven-year window travels with you: it is set federally, not state by state (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, verified May 2026).
To check your own record, pull your free annual disclosure from LexisNexis, then compare it against the declarations page on your current policy. If you received a non-renewal notice, the letter usually cites the CLUE entries the carrier acted on.
Related terms and next steps
A CLUE report rarely turns up on its own. The same homeowners who request theirs are usually working through a related event: a non-renewal notice citing prior claims, a premium spike with no clear cause, or a quote that came in higher than expected on a house they just bought. Reading the report is one step. The next is figuring out which claims drove the decision and whether anything on the file is wrong.
The fastest DIY path: request your own CLUE report from LexisNexis Risk Solutions, check each entry against your records, and dispute anything you don't recognize or that's misclassified. If a prior owner's claim is dragging the new file down, the dispute route runs through LexisNexis, not the insurer. For premium context, see replacement cost vs. actual cash value; for coverage forced on a mortgaged home, see force-placed insurance. If the underlying trigger is a non-renewal, how non-renewal notices work covers the notice-period rules state by state.
Frequently asked questions
Is a CLUE report the same as a credit report?
No. A CLUE report is the insurance-claims history that LexisNexis Risk Solutions keeps under the Fair Credit Reporting Act; a credit report covers borrowing and bill-payment history at Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. The two sets of data do not overlap.
Does a CLUE report follow the person or the address?
Both. LexisNexis maintains a property-keyed report and a person-keyed report. When an insurer quotes a new address, it will see claims attached to that property, even from prior owners, and claims attached to you, even from homes you no longer own.
Is CLUE run by the government?
No. LexisNexis Risk Solutions is a private company that operates the database as a federally-regulated consumer reporting agency under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, which gives you the right to see and dispute your file.
Can a claim filed by the previous owner of my house show up on my CLUE report?
Yes. CLUE tracks losses by person and property, and a paid claim can stay on the property's file for up to seven years (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, verified May 2026). Buyers can pull the property's free disclosure before applying.
Does a denied claim go on my CLUE report?
Yes. The Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner states that a loss is reported when an insurer starts, denies, or pays a claim, so a denied claim still shows on the seven-year history.
How do I request a free CLUE report?
Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, LexisNexis Risk Solutions must provide one free disclosure every 12 months and fulfill it within 15 days (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau). Requests go through consumer.risk.lexisnexis.com/request or 866-897-8126.
Does a denied claim appear on a CLUE report?
Yes. A loss enters CLUE the moment an insurer 'starts, denies, or pays' a claim (Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner). A denied claim is still a reported claim.
How long does a claim stay on a CLUE report?
Seven years on a rolling basis, per the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's consumer-reporting-companies list (verified May 2026). The window covers both home and auto claims.
Does a previous owner's claim show up on my CLUE report?
Yes, because CLUE entries are tied to the property address as well as the individual; a prior owner's claim from the past seven years can still affect your quote (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, verified May 2026).
Does CLUE work the same way in every state?
Mostly the same: the seven-year reporting window is set federally and runs in all 50 states (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, verified May 2026), though states differ on what counts as a reportable claim versus a coverage inquiry.
How do I get a copy of my CLUE report?
Request it from LexisNexis Risk Solutions, which operates the database. The disclosure process follows federal consumer-reporting rules.
What's the difference between a CLUE report and a credit report?
A credit report tracks borrowing; a CLUE report, run by LexisNexis Risk Solutions, tracks property and auto insurance claims. Insurers, not lenders, pull it.