Your CLUE Report: What It Tracks and How to Get a Free Copy
Every time an insurer opens, denies, or pays a car insurance claim on your policy, it can end up in a file you may never have seen: your CLUE report. The Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange is the claims-history database insurers pull when you apply for coverage or request a quote, and it is separate from your driving record and your credit-based insurance score. This guide covers what a CLUE report holds, how long a claim stays on it, how to get a free copy, and how to fix an error.
In this article
What Is a CLUE Report?
CLUE stands for Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange. LexisNexis Risk Solutions runs it, and LexisNexis states on its own site that it is a consumer reporting agency under the Fair Credit Reporting Act — the same legal category as the credit bureaus. There are separate CLUE databases for auto and home claims; this article covers the auto side.
According to the Connecticut Insurance Department and the Washington state Office of the Insurance Commissioner, a CLUE report includes:
- Your name and date of birth
- Policy number
- Date of loss and type of loss
- Amount the company paid
- Vehicle information tied to the claim
Washington's insurance commissioner notes that an insurer typically submits a report to CLUE whenever it opens, denies, or pays a claim. A credit-based insurance score, the subject of What Is a Car Insurance Score and Why Does It Matter? and Insurance Score vs Credit Score: What's the Difference?, is built from your credit file, not your claims. The points and violations covered in How the Point System Affects Your Insurance Rates come from your state's motor vehicle record, not from CLUE. Connecticut's insurance department confirms that CLUE stores only policy and loss information — no credit data, criminal records, or civil judgments are mixed in.
How Long a Claim Stays on Your CLUE Report
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau states that LexisNexis CLUE collects and reports up to seven years of auto insurance claims. Washington's insurance commissioner and Connecticut's insurance department both describe the same window for loss history. That seven-year figure is about how long a claim stays visible on the report itself — not about how long any one insurer keeps charging you more because of it.
Those are two different timelines. How long a surcharge lasts is set by each insurer's own rating plan, filed with and approved by state regulators; it is not fixed by CLUE, and there is no single national surcharge period.
Connecticut's insurance department also notes that CLUE reports are used almost exclusively to underwrite and rate new policies, since most insurers already hold your loss history internally and do not pull a fresh CLUE report just to renew an existing policy. Where CLUE matters most is the moment you apply somewhere new. Whether filing a small claim is worth that risk in the first place is a separate question, covered in Small Claim vs Pay Out of Pocket: Which Is Cheaper?
Getting a Free Copy of Your Report
The Fair Credit Reporting Act defines a nationwide specialty consumer reporting agency as including companies that compile nationwide files on insurance claims — the category LexisNexis falls into here. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau confirms LexisNexis provides one free CLUE report every 12 months on request, and federal law requires a response within fifteen days of that request.
Both the Washington state Office of the Insurance Commissioner and the Connecticut Insurance Department point consumers to the same request line: 866-312-8076, or LexisNexis's online consumer request form. LexisNexis's own site also accepts requests by mail through its Consumer Center in Atlanta, Georgia. You are asking LexisNexis for your own file, and requesting it does not affect any credit score.
You are also entitled to a free copy any time an insurer takes an adverse action against you. Under the FCRA, that includes a denial, a cancellation, or an increase in charge connected to underwriting your insurance. Ask within 60 days of that notice and LexisNexis must provide the report at no charge.
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See our quote guideHow to Dispute an Error on Your CLUE Report
If something on your CLUE report is wrong, the Fair Credit Reporting Act gives you the right to dispute it with LexisNexis directly, free of charge. LexisNexis must investigate and respond within 30 days, extendable to 45 days if you send additional information partway through. If the disputed item is inaccurate or cannot be verified, LexisNexis must correct or delete it and tell the insurer that reported it. If you ask, it must also send the correction to any insurer that pulled your report in the past six months.
Washington's insurance commissioner lists 888-497-0011 as the number to call LexisNexis about a mistake. Both Washington and Connecticut describe the same practical process: LexisNexis contacts the insurer that submitted the disputed item for clarification, then reports back to you. If the investigation does not resolve things the way you expected, you can add your own written statement to the file, and LexisNexis will include it on all future copies of your report — though insurers themselves cannot add notes to your file.
Common Errors Worth Checking For
Three kinds of mistake are worth a specific look. The claim might not be yours at all — a mismatched name or address can cross onto the wrong file. The date, type of loss, or amount paid might be recorded incorrectly. And because CLUE tracks losses by type rather than by dollar outcome, a loss you reported and then paid for yourself can still be logged even though the insurer made no payment on it.
That last point runs the other way from what many people assume. Washington's insurance commissioner notes that LexisNexis advises insurers not to log a simple question about your coverage or your deductible as a claim. But Connecticut's insurance department explains that once you contact your insurer or agent to discuss an actual loss, rather than a hypothetical question, that conversation can be recorded as a claim even if it is never paid. If you are unsure whether a past phone call was an inquiry or a claim, your CLUE report is the way to check.
Other Claims Databases: A-PLUS and Beyond
LexisNexis is not the only company that keeps a loss-history file. Verisk operates A-PLUS Property, a similar claims and loss-history report tied to homes, autos, and other personal property. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau lists it as offering one free report every 12 months on request. If you want the fullest picture of what insurers can see about your history, both are worth requesting.
What It Means When You Shop for a New Policy
A new insurer sees your claims history the same way your current one does: by pulling a CLUE report when you apply or request a quote. That is why switching carriers does not erase a claim — the report follows you, not the policy. Accident forgiveness works from the other direction: it stops one insurer from charging you more for a single qualifying accident, but it does not take that accident out of CLUE, as Accident Forgiveness: How It Works and What It Doesn't Erase explains. If you are shopping around, When Is the Right Time to Switch Car Insurance? covers the rest of the timing.
Request forms, phone numbers, and investigation timelines here reflect what LexisNexis, the CFPB, and state insurance regulators state on their own sites as of this writing; confirm current contact details directly with LexisNexis before relying on them.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I get a free copy of my CLUE report?
Request it directly from LexisNexis: online through its consumer request form, by phone at 866-312-8076, or by mail to its Consumer Center in Atlanta, Georgia. The Fair Credit Reporting Act entitles you to one free copy every 12 months, and LexisNexis must respond within fifteen days of your request.
How long does a car insurance claim stay on a CLUE report?
Up to seven years, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and state insurance regulators in Washington and Connecticut. That is how long the claim stays visible on the report itself. How long an insurer keeps surcharging you for that claim is a separate decision, set by that insurer's own rating plan.
Does switching insurance companies remove a claim from my CLUE report?
No. A CLUE report follows you, not your policy, so a new insurer can see the same claims history when you apply for a quote. Accident forgiveness works the same way in reverse: it stops a surcharge at one insurer without removing the claim from CLUE.
Is a CLUE report the same as a credit-based insurance score?
No. CLUE is a claims-history file built from your own insurance losses. A credit-based insurance score is a separate number built from your credit file. Connecticut's insurance department confirms that CLUE stores only policy and loss information, with no credit data mixed in.
Can I dispute an error on my CLUE report?
Yes. Contact LexisNexis directly and it must investigate, typically within 30 days under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. If the item turns out to be wrong, LexisNexis must correct or delete it. If the dispute does not resolve the way you expected, you can add a personal statement to the file.