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Publication #FCS3304

Water Damage and Homeowner's Insurance: (2) C.L.U.E.® Report1

Hyun-Jeong Lee and Kathleen C. Ruppert2

If you suspect a major water leak has occurred in a home that you are considering buying, ask to see a copy of the homeowner's C.L.U.E. report. C.L.U.E. stands for Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange, which is a claim history information exchange that enables insurance companies to access prior claim information in the underwriting (eligibility assessment) and rating process. There are two types of C.L.U.E. reports: the C.L.U.E. Personal Property report is a history of losses associated with an individual and his/her personal property, and the C.L.U.E. Auto report is a history of automobile insurance losses (ChoicePoint, n.d.). Since this publication is about the C.L.U.E. report in relation to homeowner's insurance, the "C.L.U.E. report" in this paper refers to the C.L.U.E. Personal Property report.

C.L.U.E. Report and Homeowner's Insurance

More than 90% of insurers writing homeowners' insurance policies provide claims data to the C.L.U.E. Personal Property database. Note that when you apply for home insurance, your insurer will access a C.L.U.E. report to determine your risk profile. When buying an existing home, two C.L.U.E. reports will be reviewed for your home insurance application: one report is yours, and the other is the home seller's report. These reports will show whether you or the home seller have filed any claims during the past seven years (Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, 2005; ChoicePoint, n.d.). You also can order your own C.L.U.E. report by using the contact information presented later in this publication.

Information Included in the C.L.U.E. Report

The C.L.U.E. report contains personal information such as your name, date of birth, and Social Security number, along with records of any auto or homeowner property loss claims you have submitted to an insurance company over the last seven years. The information on the filed claims includes date of loss, type of loss claimed, and amounts paid by an insurance company.

Although it varies by state, the C.L.U.E. database sometimes includes records of property damages that did not involve any payment by the insurance company. For example, even if you merely inquire about your coverage for a slight hint of water damage to your home, the inquiry alone could result in a negative record on your property's C.L.U.E. report. In Florida, unfortunately, state law does not restrict a company from including records of any damage claim that did not result in a payment by an insurance company, and even simple inquiries about coverage may be included in a C.L.U.E. report. However, if a C.L.U.E. report item is recorded in error, the Florida Department of Financial Services would ask the insurance company to correct that record if prompted by the property owner.

Your Legal Rights: Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions (FACT) Act

The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions (FACT) Act of 2003, a recent amendment of the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), was intended to help consumers fight against identity theft. The FACT Act protects a consumer's rights to access his/her credit report information, limit the information sharing, be noticed about an adverse decision based on information in the report, and dispute inaccurate and incomplete information. As such, you have a right to obtain one free copy of your credit report and consumer report, upon your request, every 12 months from each of the three nationwide credit reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) and each nationwide specialty consumer reporting agency (Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, 2005, 2008a, & 2008b).

The FCRA classifies the C.L.U.E. report as a specialty consumer report and you are entitled to request one free copy of your C.L.U.E. report every 12 months from ChoicePoint, a nationwide specialty consumer reporting agency as defined by the FCRA. You also have a right to be informed of any adverse actions made based on your C.L.U.E. report. If your insurance application is denied, insurance policy cancelled, or your coverage or premium has changed, you are entitled to an additional free copy of your C.L.U.E. report over the one free report per 12 months. (Federal Trade Commission [FTC], n.d.; Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, 2005, 2008a, & 2008b).

If you think your consumer rights have been violated, you can file your complaint with the FTC electronically at https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/, or call, toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357); TTY: 1-866-653-4261.

To order your free C.L.U.E. report from ChoicePoint, make an online request at http://choicetrust.com, call 1-866-312-8076, or mail your name and mailing address to: ChoicePoint Consumer Disclosure Center, P.O. Box 105295, Atlanta, GA 30348. You can see a sample C.L.U.E. report online at http://www.choicetrust.com/xsl/fact/factpropertyclaims/sample.htm.

For Further Information

For information on filing an insurance claim for water damages, refer to FCS3303/FY1082 Water Damage and Homeowner's Insurance: (1) Insurance Claim. For information on mold prevention, moisture control, and mold removal tips, refer to FCS3255/FY921 Basic Mold Prevention, FCS3256/FY922 Moisture Control in Your Home, Part 1: The Basics, FCS3257/FY923 Moisture Control in Your Home, Part 2: Room by Room Tips, and FCS3301/FY1080 How to Clean Up Mold. All of these publications, and more, are available at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu.

For more information on FACT Act and FCRA, contact the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) at 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4358) TTY 1-866-653-4261, or visit the FTC Web site at http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/menus/consumer/credit/rights.shtm.

References

ChoicePoint (n.d.). C.L.U.E. reports in compliance with FACT Act. Retrieved November 6, 2008, from www.choicetrust.com/servlet/com.kx.cs.servlets.CsServlet?channel=welcome&subchannel=clue#.
Federal Trade Commission (n.d.). A summary of your rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Retrieved November 3, 2008, from www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre35.pdf.
Privacy Rights Clearinghouse (2005). CLUE and you: How insurers size you up (Fact sheet 26: CLUE insurance databases). Retrieved October 27, 2008, from www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs26-CLUE.htm.
Privacy Rights Clearinghouse (2008a). The "other" consumer reports: what you should know about "specialty" reports. (Fact sheet 6(b): Specialty reports). Retrieved November 5, 2008, from www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs6b-SpecReports.htm.
Privacy Rights Clearinghouse (2008b). FACTA, the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act: Consumers win some, lose some (Fact sheet 6(a): Facts on FACTA). Retrieved November 5, 2008, from www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs6a-facta.htm.

Footnotes

1.

This document is FCS3304, one of a series of the Department of Family, Youth and Community Sciences , Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. Original publication date January 2009. Visit the EDIS Web site at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu.

2.

Hyun-Jeong Lee, assistant professor, Department of Family, Youth and Community Sciences; Kathleen C. Ruppert, associate extension scientist, Program for Resource Efficient Communities; University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611.

C.L.U.E.® is a registered trademark of ChoicePoint Asset Company. ChoicePoint® is a LexisNexis® Company as of September 19, 2008.

The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) is an Equal Opportunity Institution authorized to provide research, educational information and other services only to individuals and institutions that function with non-discrimination with respect to race, creed, color, religion, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, political opinions or affiliations. For more information on obtaining other extension publications, contact your county Cooperative Extension service.

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension Service, University of Florida, IFAS, Florida A. & M. University Cooperative Extension Program, and Boards of County Commissioners Cooperating. Millie Ferrer-Chancy, Interim Dean.