What Information Is Included in a CLUE Report?
It lists your home's insurance claims for the past seven years, with dates, types of loss, and amounts paid.
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Why the report matters when you're non-renewed
If your insurer dropped you or didn't renew, the claims on your CLUE report are likely the reason, or part of it. The report shows every claim filed on the house, not just ones you made. If you bought the house two years ago and the prior owner filed a water damage claim, that's still on there and still counts against you. Two or more claims in a few years, especially water or roof claims, push insurers to non-renew or decline. Before you shop for new coverage, it's worth ordering your own CLUE report and checking it against your memory of what happened. Insurers sometimes miscode a claim, list one that was never paid, or attach a claim from a previous owner that shouldn't follow the house. Errors on the report can be disputed before they cost you another policy.
Every insurer pulls the same report before quoting you, so the claims history that got you dropped will follow you to the next one too. What changes is how each insurer weighs it. Some decline any house with two water claims. Others look past an older roof claim if it's paid and closed. Comparing quotes now shows which insurers still work with your history, before the deadline on your letter arrives.
How long do claims stay on the report, and who can see it
A claim stays on your CLUE report for seven years from the date it was filed, then drops off on its own. There's no way to remove a valid claim earlier than that, and paying off the claim or selling the house doesn't erase it. If you filed a claim six years ago, it has one more year of showing up before it stops counting against you.
Access to the report is limited by law. Insurers can pull it when you apply for coverage or renew a policy. You can request your own report at no cost once a year, similar to a credit report. Lenders, contractors, and real estate agents can't pull it on your behalf, though a seller can choose to share a copy during a sale. If you're buying a house, asking the seller for the CLUE report before closing shows you what you're inheriting before an insurer tells you after the fact.
The report also records claims that were filed but never paid out, like a crack in the foundation an adjuster inspected and denied. Some insurers weigh a denied claim less heavily than a paid one, but it still shows up as an inquiry on the house, and a pattern of filed claims, paid or not, can read as risk even without payouts attached. If several entries on your report list no payment, that's worth pointing out when you talk to a new insurer, since it may explain why the history looks worse than the house's actual condition.
One claim type worth watching is anything coded as water damage, since insurers treat it differently depending on cause. A burst pipe reads differently than a roof leak that points to a maintenance problem, even though both might appear under a similar category. If your report lists a cause you don't recognize or disagree with, that's a specific line to raise, either with the insurer that filed it or with the company that compiles the report, before you carry that coding into your next application.
What else shows up on the report besides claims
The report also lists basic facts about the house and the policy itself, not just the claims. That includes the policy number, the insurer's name, the dates coverage was active, and the type of property. These details matter less for pricing than the claims do, but a new insurer uses them to confirm the history lines up with what you're telling them. If the address or policy dates look off, that's a data error worth fixing before it causes confusion during underwriting.
Each claim entry carries more than a date and a dollar amount. It lists the type of loss, such as water, fire, wind, or theft, along with the claim number and the amount the insurer actually paid out, which can be lower than what was requested. Some entries also note whether the claim is closed or still open. An open claim from years ago, left that way because of a slow settlement, can look worse than it is, so it's worth confirming with the prior insurer that it's been closed if the report still shows it active.
The report does not include your credit score, your claims-free discount history, or any notes from customer service calls where you asked a question but never filed anything. It also doesn't record near-misses, like a tree that fell in the yard but never touched the house. Only events that became an actual claim, assigned a claim number and reviewed by an adjuster, make it onto the report. If you're trying to explain your history to a new insurer, knowing what isn't on the report is as useful as knowing what is, since it keeps the conversation focused on what actually counts against you.
Because the report format is standard across insurers, every company reads the same layout the same way. There's no version that shows your side of the story, no field for context like a one-time plumbing failure versus a pattern of neglect. That context has to come from you, in conversation with whoever is quoting the new policy, since the report itself only states what happened and what was paid.
Before the deadline on your letter
Pull your own CLUE report and check every entry against what you remember, including anything coded as open that should be closed. Then compare quotes, since insurers weigh the same history differently.
