The CLUE Report Surfaces When You Add a Vehicle
You bought a second car. Your carrier asked for the VIN to add it to your existing policy. The carrier pulled your CLUE report during underwriting and found an at-fault accident from three years ago. You assumed it had aged off because your rate had been stable at renewal. It had not.
The Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange report is a claims database maintained by LexisNexis. Carriers pull it when you apply for new coverage, add a vehicle, or request a policy change that triggers re-underwriting. The report shows every auto and property claim filed under your name for the past seven years, regardless of fault or payout. When you add a vehicle to a multi-car policy, the carrier re-rates the entire household based on what the CLUE report shows right now.
Compare car insurance rates in your state
Get quotes from licensed carriers — no obligation, no spam, results in minutes.
Get Your Free QuoteCLUE Accident Retention Period
7 years
LexisNexis retains accident records on CLUE reports for seven years from the date of loss, not the date you filed the claim or the date of your next policy renewal. The clock starts the day the accident occurred.
LexisNexis CLUE Report documentation
The Seven-Year Window Runs From Loss Date
The seven-year retention period begins on the accident date shown in the claim record. If you had an at-fault accident on March 15, 2021, that record remains visible on your CLUE report until March 15, 2028. The date you filed the claim, the date the carrier closed the claim, and the date of your next renewal are irrelevant to the retention clock.
Carriers do not remove accidents from your CLUE report. LexisNexis controls the database. When a carrier closes a claim, LexisNexis adds the claim details to your report within 30 days. The record stays there for the full seven years. Carriers pull the report during underwriting and apply their own surcharge rules to whatever accidents appear.
Most drivers assume accidents drop off after three years because that is when many state DMV records expire or when some carriers stop applying surcharges at renewal. Your driving record at the DMV is separate from your claims history on CLUE. A clean DMV abstract does not mean your CLUE report is clean. The CLUE report is longer, more detailed, and follows you across state lines.
Adding a vehicle triggers a fresh CLUE pull. The carrier re-rates your entire multi-car policy based on every accident still visible, even accidents that stopped affecting your rate at prior renewals.
What the CLUE Report Shows Carriers
Each accident entry shows the date of loss, the type of claim (collision, property damage liability, bodily injury), the total amount paid by the carrier, and whether you were determined at fault. The report also shows claims you filed that were later denied or closed without payment. A denied claim still appears as a line item. Carriers interpret denied claims as risk signals even when no money changed hands.
The report includes accidents where you were not at fault. A not-at-fault accident appears the same way as an at-fault one: loss date, claim type, payout. Some carriers apply smaller surcharges to not-at-fault accidents. Others do not surcharge them at all. The CLUE report does not remove not-at-fault accidents early. They stay for the full seven years regardless of fault status.
Related Articles
How Multi-Car Policies Amplify CLUE Impact
When you add a vehicle to an existing multi-car policy, the carrier re-underwrites the entire household. The new CLUE pull surfaces every accident tied to every driver on the policy. If you have two cars and one driver, the carrier applies the accident surcharge to both vehicles. The second car's premium rises even though it was not involved in the original accident.
Household risk pricing treats all vehicles on one policy as a single exposure pool. One driver's at-fault accident increases the household's combined risk tier. The carrier re-rates every vehicle at renewal or when you add a car. A three-year-old accident that had been priced into your existing premium can trigger a new surcharge when the carrier re-pulls CLUE during the add-vehicle underwriting process.
Some carriers apply accident surcharges only at renewal. Others apply them mid-term when you make a policy change. Adding a vehicle is a policy change. If your carrier applies surcharges mid-term, the CLUE-based rate increase takes effect the day the new car is added. The increase applies to the entire policy term, not just the remaining months until renewal.
At-Fault Accident Rate Increase
43–55%
Drivers with one at-fault accident pay 43% to 55% more than drivers with clean records, according to multi-carrier rate analysis. The surcharge applies across every vehicle on a multi-car policy when the carrier re-rates the household.
Insurance.com 2026 accident/ticket study, Bankrate 2025
Requesting Your Own CLUE Report
You can request a free copy of your CLUE report once per year from LexisNexis. The report shows exactly what carriers see when they pull your claims history. Order it before you add a vehicle or shop for new coverage so you know which accidents are still visible and how they are described.
Request the report at lexisnexis.com/consumer or by calling LexisNexis consumer services. You will need to verify your identity with your Social Security number, current address, and date of birth. The report arrives by mail within 15 business days. Review every entry. If an accident is listed incorrectly or shows the wrong loss date, you can dispute it directly with LexisNexis. Disputes take 30 days to resolve.
Compare Carriers Before Adding the Vehicle
When you know an accident is still on your CLUE report, compare carriers before you add the new vehicle to your existing policy. Some carriers apply smaller surcharges to older accidents. Others forgive the first at-fault accident after three claim-free years. A carrier that prices your household lower with the accident visible may save you more than staying with your current insurer and accepting the surcharge across both cars.
Request quotes from at least three carriers that write multi-car policies in your state. Provide the same vehicle details, driver information, and coverage limits to each. The quotes will reflect your CLUE report because every carrier pulls it during underwriting. Compare the total annual premium for both vehicles, not just the rate for the car you are adding. The household-wide cost is the decision point.