How your claims history follows you into a car insurance quote

Where insurers find your claims

Insurers report the claims they handle to shared databases, and other insurers read those databases when you apply. A widely used one is the Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange, or C.L.U.E., run by LexisNexis Risk Solutions. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau lists it among consumer reporting companies and says it collects and reports up to seven years of auto insurance claims. Verisk offers a similar A-PLUS auto claims history report.

Washington's Office of the Insurance Commissioner describes what a C.L.U.E. report holds: your name and date of birth, the policy number, the date and type of each loss, the amount the company paid, and information about the vehicle. Your state driving record is a separate file, kept by the motor vehicle agency, with tickets and license actions rather than payouts.

How claims move your price

A claim tells the next insurer that a loss happened and what it cost. How much that matters is set by each insurer's filed rating plan and by state rules, and no regulator publishes one figure. The details insurers and state rules tend to look at are:

• Fault. A crash you caused is a different signal from a car hit while parked. Ask how the insurer treats claims you didn't cause.
• Type. Liability, collision and comprehensive claims, such as theft or hail, each show up with their type of loss.
• Amount and timing. The report shows what was paid and when, so recent and repeated claims are easy to see.

Some states limit what a claim can do to your policy. Georgia's Commissioner of Insurance says that after three years with the same company you can't be nonrenewed because of a single claim, even one you caused. Maryland lets you complain within 30 days of a renewal increase notice that stems from a claim or a ticket, and if the Maryland Insurance Administration finds the increase improper, the insurer must refund the overpayment. Maryland insurers also can't raise your rate over an accident more than three years old; see the Maryland cost page.

Get your report and fix errors

LexisNexis provides one free C.L.U.E. report every 12 months if you request it, the CFPB says, through its consumer site at consumer.risk.lexisnexis.com or by mail. Verisk says it provides one free report in any 12-month period; its consumer disclosure site has forms you send by email, fax or mail. Separately, under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, an insurer that charges you more because of information in a consumer report must send an adverse action notice naming the company that supplied it, and you can then ask that company for a free copy within 60 days.

1. 1 Request your C.L.U.E. auto report from LexisNexis and your A-PLUS report from Verisk.
2. 2 Read every line. Look for claims that aren't yours, a loss listed twice, a payout that doesn't match what you received, and the wrong vehicle or policy.
3. 3 Dispute errors. The FCRA requires a free, reasonable investigation, and you can dispute with both the reporting company and the insurer that supplied the item. For C.L.U.E., Washington's regulator says LexisNexis checks with the reporting insurer and tells you the result within 30 days.
4. 4 Add your side if an accurate entry needs context. LexisNexis lets you add an explanation that appears on future reports.
5. 5 Ask your insurer to re-rate once a correction posts, and keep copies of everything.

Should you file a small claim?

Paying for a minor repair yourself keeps the payout off your claims report, but it isn't always the right call. The trade-off is easy to state and hard to measure: the claim pays what is left after your deductible, and it may raise your premium at renewal. When the payout would be small, the extra premium can end up costing more than the claim paid.

• Lean toward paying yourself when the damage is only a little above your deductible, nobody was hurt and no other car or property was involved.
• Lean toward filing when someone was injured, another driver or property owner may claim against you, or the cost is large or uncertain. Check whether your policy requires you to report an accident promptly even if you don't claim.
• If the other driver caused it, a claim against their insurer is a different matter from a claim on your own policy. Ask your insurer how it would treat each.

Your deductible sets the line. Our deductible break-even calculator shows what a higher deductible saves each year and how long it takes to come out ahead, which also tells you how much damage you could comfortably pay for on your own.

What you can do about it

• Check your reports before you shop, so an error doesn't follow you into every quote.
• Compare insurers. Each one weighs claims its own way, so compare quotes line by line.
• Know your state's protections and complain to the insurance department if an insurer surcharges or drops you over a claim your state says can't count.

Questions drivers ask