Own Luxury Homes®
CLUE Report: Property Insurance Claims History Explained
CLUE report: 7-year property insurance claims history via LexisNexis. Only legal owner can request — buyers must ask seller to provide it. Contains: claim date, loss type, amount paid, open/closed status. Highest concern: multiple water damage or mold claims. Blank report ≠ clean: owner may have paid repairs out-of-pocket; no CLUE trail left. Open/unresolved claim at closing = title and coverage complication; walk away. Sellers entitled to 1 free copy/year under FACTA. Own Luxury Homes® 12-Point Agent Integrity Audit™ — CLUE report requested Day 1.
The CLUE Report: How Property Insurance Claims History Affects Your Coverage, Premium, and Deal
The CLUE report is the property's insurance claims biography. Every fire claim, every water damage event, every wind or hail loss, every theft or vandalism — if an insurance claim was filed, it's in the CLUE report for the next seven years. When you apply for homeowners insurance on a property you're buying, the insurer pulls this report automatically. It affects whether they'll write the policy, at what price, and with what exclusions. As a buyer, you should see this report before the insurer does — not after you've submitted your application and discovered the property had three water damage claims and your premium just doubled.
What the CLUE Report Contains
| Field | What It Shows | Why It Matters to Buyers | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claim date | When each claim was filed | Recent claims (within 3 years) affect pricing more heavily than older ones | |||||||
| Loss type | Category: water damage, fire, wind/hail, theft, liability, mold | Water damage and mold claims are the highest-impact on future insurability | |||||||
| Amount paid | Dollar amount the insurer paid on each claim | Large payouts on water damage suggest material events; $0 paid may mean claim was denied or withdrawn | |||||||
| Claim status | Open, closed, or denied | An open claim on a property you're buying is a serious red flag; verify resolution before closing | |||||||
| Property address | Confirms the report matches the specific property | Always verify the address matches exactly; request full history going back to the 7-year window | |||||||
| What the CLUE report does NOT show: the specific location of damage within the property, whether repairs were completed, whether repairs were done correctly, or any damage the prior owner paid out-of-pocket without filing a claim. | |||||||||
How to Get the CLUE Report as a Buyer
The Request Process
You cannot request the property CLUE report directly as a buyer. LexisNexis only releases a property CLUE report to the current legal owner. Your options: (1) Ask the seller to request the report from LexisNexis and provide it as part of due diligence. Frame it the same way you frame a home inspection: standard due diligence, not an accusation. Sellers with clean histories are usually happy to provide it. (2) Include CLUE report disclosure as a condition in the offer. Similar to a home inspection contingency — "Seller to provide property CLUE report within 5 days of contract execution." (3) Have your insurance agent order preliminary quotes and they will pull the property claims data through their underwriting process — you'll see the impact even if not the raw report. (4) The seller can request a free annual copy at LexisNexis.com/personal/consumer-centers/CLUE or by calling LexisNexis directly.
How to Interpret What You See
| Claim Type | High Concern | Moderate Concern | Lower Concern |
|---|---|---|---|
| Water damage / plumbing | Multiple claims; recent (1–3 yrs); large payouts ($20K+) | Single claim; 3–5 years ago; moderate payout; documented repair | Single minor claim; 5+ years ago; small payout; fully repaired |
| Mold remediation | Any mold claim is high concern; indicates moisture intrusion that may recur | Mold claim with documented professional remediation and clearance testing | Rare; mold claims almost always warrant investigation regardless of age |
| Fire damage | Large payout; recent; source unknown | Contained fire (kitchen, chimney); documented repair with permits | Small fire; 5+ years ago; fully repaired; cause resolved |
| Wind/hail/storm | Multiple storm claims; roof replaced under claim (may mean current roof is older than age suggests) | Single storm claim; roof or siding replaced; documented | Single minor storm claim; repairs completed |
| Theft/vandalism | Multiple claims; suggests security issue or location risk | Single claim; security improvements made | Single older claim; no pattern |
| Liability claims | Slip-and-fall claims may indicate property condition issues; pattern of claims concerning | Single resolved liability claim | Single minor claim; fully resolved |
The Blank Report Trap: What Clean History Does Not Mean
A Blank CLUE Report Is Not a Clean Bill of Health
A CLUE report with no claims means one of three things: (1) The property genuinely had no insurance claims in 7 years — the best scenario. (2) The owner paid for all repairs out of pocket without filing insurance claims. This is common among homeowners who fear premium increases. A seller who replaced a burst pipe, remediated minor mold, or repaired storm damage without filing a claim leaves no CLUE trail. (3) The property changed ownership recently and the prior owner's claims are under their name, not associated with the address in the current report. The blank CLUE report tells you what claims were filed. The home inspection tells you what actually happened to the property. You need both.
What to Do When the CLUE Report Shows Problems
| Finding | Recommended Action |
|---|---|
| Multiple water damage claims | Target inspection at plumbing, foundation, and roof drainage; get insurance quotes before inspection contingency expires; negotiate price reduction or seller repair |
| Mold remediation claim | Request documentation of professional remediation and clearance testing; have inspector check all areas near the original claim location; get air quality testing if documentation is absent |
| Open/unresolved claim | Do not proceed without resolution; an open insurance claim on a property at closing creates title and coverage complications |
| Large recent payout ($30K+) | Verify repair was completed with permits; confirm the repaired system/area is in acceptable condition; consider specialist inspection in that area |
| Seller refuses to provide report | Request quotes from 3 carriers directly using the property address; underwriting will surface claims history; treat refusal as a yellow flag warranting additional due diligence |
“The CLUE report conversation that saved a buyer $40,000: My client was under contract on a 2009 construction home. Beautiful condition on the surface. We requested the CLUE report as standard procedure. The seller provided it. Two water damage claims: $18,000 in 2019, $23,000 in 2022. Both listed as "plumbing — supply line failure." Same cause, three years apart. We directed the inspector specifically at the supply lines and found a systemic pressure issue the seller had patched but not fixed. We negotiated a $42,000 price reduction and seller credit for full replumbing. Without the CLUE report, we were inspecting the whole house. With it, we knew exactly where to look. The report is free. Request it every time.”
— Ryan Brown, Principal Broker & CEO, Own Luxury Homes®
What is a CLUE report in real estate?
The Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange (CLUE) report is a 7-year history of insurance claims filed on a specific property, maintained by LexisNexis. Every major insurer checks it when underwriting a new homeowners policy. It shows claim dates, loss types, amounts paid, and claim status. As a buyer, request the seller to pull it as part of standard due diligence.
Can a buyer get a CLUE report?
Not directly. Only the legal owner of the property can request its CLUE report from LexisNexis. As a buyer: ask the seller to provide it, include it as a due diligence condition in your offer, or have your insurance agent pull preliminary underwriting data. Sellers are entitled to one free copy per year under FACTA.
What does a blank CLUE report mean?
A blank report means no insurance claims were filed on the property in the past 7 years. It does not mean the property had no damage. Owners who paid for repairs out-of-pocket leave no CLUE trail. A blank CLUE report combined with a thorough home inspection gives you the most complete picture.
Own Luxury Homes® — CLUE report requested Day 1 on every contract. 12-Point Agent Integrity Audit™. Request a verified buyer specialist ›
"The introduction Own Luxury Homes® makes is to a specialist with documented closing history in your specific market — not the county, not the metro, the submarket you're actually selling or buying in. That's the standard we verify before your name goes anywhere."
— Ryan Brown, Principal Broker & CEO, Own Luxury Homes® (FL License BK3626873)