4 Ways Car Insurers Learn About Your Past — Behind Your Back

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Many people are familiar with credit reports — the information companies gather about our track record of borrowing and repaying money. Lenders use them to decide whether they can trust borrowers and with how much.

But credit companies aren’t the only ones who do this. Turns out, the auto insurance industry does too.

Before making a decision to offer you insurance at a certain rate — and without telling you in advance — an insurance company might turn to another type of specialty consumer report to see what it says about you.

Fortunately, once you know about these companies, you can ask for their reports yourself — for free. Here’s how. Just note that not every company may have information on file about you.

LexisNexis C.L.U.E. Auto

car insurance
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How to get a free copy of your report from this company: Request a report online once every 12 months

LexisNexis Risk Solutions offers C.L.U.E. Auto, “a claim history information exchange containing up to seven years of personal automobile claims.” According to the company, the information available includes:

  • Policy information such as name, date of birth and policy number
  • Vehicle information
  • Claim information including date and type of loss
  • Amounts paid for claims

LexisNexis says “more than 99% of insurers” provide their claims data, which is used to help “insurers and agents make immediate business decisions.”

Drivers History

Two drivers examine damage after a car accident.
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How to get a free copy of your report from this company: You can order a report within 60 days of receiving notice of an “adverse action,” such as having an insurance policy canceled, an application denied, or your rate increased

Drivers History is owned by TransUnion, a major credit reporting company. The company says it gathers “court-based traffic violation data” and maintains an “extensive library of public and proprietary data assets.”

It shares this information with insurance industry clients and “employers or potential employers.”

Insurance Information Exchange

car costs
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How to get a free copy of your report from this company: You can order a report within 60 days of receiving notice of an “adverse action,” including insurance cancellation or being denied employment

Verisk, an insurance rating bureau, operates the Insurance Information Exchange (iiX), also known as Transportation Employment Screening. The company promotes its service as a way to identify qualified rideshare and truck drivers and to assess driver risk through motor vehicle reports, background checks and “near real-time” violation monitoring.

A-PLUS Auto Claims

Woman making car insurance claim
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How to get a free copy of your report from this company: You can order a report online once per 12 months

Like the Insurance Information Exchange, this service is owned and operated by Verisk. However, it now only provides historical data to consumers.

“Verisk no longer receives driving behavior data from automakers to generate Driving Behavior Data History Reports,” its website says, as of April 2024. “Verisk no longer provides Driving Behavior Data History Reports to insurers.”

You can still receive a copy of your report through the website, however.

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