Bet You Don’t Have a C.L.U.E.
Bet You Don’t Have a C.L.U.E.
Over 95% of car and motorcycle owners don’t have a C.L.U.E., and that’s a big problem, especially for those paying too much for automobile insurance through no fault of their own. Receiving a C.L.U.E. means you have obtained a copy of your Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange (C.L.U.E.) report. This report is compiled for virtually every driver in America and is created by LexisNexis. The company serves as a national clearinghouse for insurance claims, and it is the authority when it comes to consumer insurance claim reporting. According to LexisNexis, 99% of insurers writing automobile coverage provide claims data to its C.L.U.E. database.
Consequently, if you are seeking to buy, change, or reduce your automobile insurance coverages, there is a great chance the insurance carrier will pull your C.L.U.E. report before offering you a rate quote. Put another way, your C.L.U.E. report impacts your ability to get car or motorcycle insurance, as well as the costs you will end up paying for that insurance.
So now that you know it’s important to get a C.L.U.E. report, how do you get one?
Thankfully, getting a C.L.U.E. report is easy. First, thanks to the Fair Credit Reporting Act it can cost you nothing. You can get your one annual free copy of the report by calling Lexis/Nexis at 1-888-497-0011 or by going to the company’s website. When you do get your C.L.U.E. report you will find a surprising amount of personal information about yourself. Information commonly found in C.L.U.E. reports includes:
• Your name, gender, date of birth, and social security number.
• Your insurance policy information, including the names and number of drivers.
• Your vehicle claims history, including the number of claims and dates, types of loss, and amounts paid.
• Your inquiries and those from insurance companies about your loss history.
• Your vehicle’s make and model and year, as well as the VIN.
• Your Driver’s license number.
How will automobile insurers use your C.L.U.E. report information? Well, the first thing to know is that the information on the report only reflects the last seven years of your personal information. Also, a C.L.U.E. report will not include information related to your criminal history, credit score, history, and information related to civil lawsuits.
That said, the information on your C.L.U.E. report is still a goldmine for auto insurance underwriters, agents, and brokers. Your C.L.U.E. report will be used by insurance underwriters to help reduce perceived risk and liability to the insurance company by allowing them to “predict” your future claims activity based on your prior driving history. Additionally, underwriters, agents, and insurance brokers can use the easily accessible and comprehensive claims data to make quick business decisions on whether they should take you on or maintain you as a customer. If you’ve ever heard of someone being dropped from an insurance company, LexisNexis is likely where the insurer got its information.
What if the C.L.U.E. information report is wrong? This does indeed happen. My law firm has found multiple instances where a badly injured client in an automobile wreck that was not their fault saw substantial insurance premium increases following their wreck. This occurred because their C.L.U.E. report erroneously showed them at fault for the wreck. Luckily, the erroneous information can be fixed by calling LexisNexis and filing a dispute. LexisNexis has 30 days to look into the dispute and will then notify you (or your attorney) of its decision. Should LexisNexis not correct the erroneous information, you can notify the Georgia Insurance Commissioner and/or file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission.
Is there anything else you should know about C.L.U.E. reports? Yes. You may also find it useful to know that C.L.U.E. reports have homeowner claims and property information. Consequently, if you are buying or selling a home, a clean C.L.U.E. report can help ensure and prove that the home is free of recent claims history.
So, the next time someone says get a “C.L.U.E.”, tell them you already have one!
God Bless!
