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Many home insurance companies subscribe to CLUE (Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange). This is a data base of homeowner's claims histories from which insurers will request a report to determine whether an individual... buyer/seller/owner... has filed a claim in the last five years.
Unfortunately, the CLUE database may also include damage reports/claims which reached the insurance company agent/claims department, even if the insurance company did not pay anything and/or the property owner paid the claim himself.
You cannot order a CLUE report unless you ARE the homeowner. An owner can order the report here...
ORDER REPORT
...by going to the "C.L.U.E. Personal Property Report" area.
(Note: We DO have the ability to determine if, for insurance purposes, there is any three year lost history associated with a particular home. It is not "CLUE" based, but for insuring purposes it provides the information required by our company. In the event of a new home purchase,we can make this determination upon a client's request.)
There can be several parties interested in the CLUE report on a particular property, for different reasons and at different times.
The report will play an ever increasing role for buyers, sellers, and REALTORS. This is especially true as more and more property contracts contain references to potential past loss history. Due to the insurance environment we are now in, it could prove to be very difficult to find coverage for a buyer OR the property which has a CLUE "history". There has undoubtably been home purchase closings put at risk due to the difficulty of finding homeowners insurance.
There are several ways one might approach these issues. Simple suggestions would be:
Seller: Order a CLUE report when a descision is made to sell your property. This should be made available to the buyer and your selling agent. A "loss history" report from your own insurance carrier should not be relied upon as it may not contain all information found in CLUE, especially if you have owned the property less than five years.
Buyer: Request a copy of the seller's CLUE report as an item in your offer contract. This should tell you of any pitfalls which may lay with the loss history of the property. On the other hand, it can also hint to positive aspects of the property, such as a recent roof replacement.
Of course, there may be other ways to address these issues in specific circumstances, just always be cognizant of the insurance issues as it may affect the closing.
NOTE: Federal law gives you the right to challenge wrong information. If an insurance company based part of it's decision to deny you coverage on a CLUE report, you can get a free copy of the report by calling the Equifax Insurance Consumer Center at 1-800-456-6004.
CLUE is a registered trademark of Equifax Inc.
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