Nashville & Middle Tennessee homeowners
One claim doesn't make you uninsurable
After a claim, your carrier may raise the rate or decline to renew, and the next company will see the claim before it quotes. That narrows the market. It does not close it.
What decides it is the type of loss, how recent it is, and whether you can show the damage was fixed. Here is how to put yourself in the best position.
Send us your policyWhat the next carrier sees
Your claims history has a name: C.L.U.E.
Before quoting, carriers check the Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange, run by LexisNexis. It holds up to seven years of property claims history on you and on the address: the date, the type of loss and what was paid.
You can see the same report. Request it from LexisNexis at personalreports.lexisnexis.com or 1-866-312-8076, under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act. If something on it is wrong, dispute it, and LexisNexis reports back within 30 days.
Pull it before you shop. It tells you exactly what every underwriter is about to read, and it is the one piece of the process you can check yourself.
The call that counts as a claim
Phoning your carrier to talk through an actual loss can be recorded as a claim even if nothing is ever paid, and a denied claim can still appear on your report.
If you are unsure whether something is worth filing, ask your agent how a claim would affect your premium and your renewal before you decide.
What to do
Five steps before you shop
The first three are yours to do, and they cost nothing. The fourth is where an independent agent earns their place.
Step 1
Pull your own claims report
Request your C.L.U.E. report from LexisNexis before anyone quotes you. Check every entry: date, address, type of loss, amount paid. It is exactly what the underwriter will be looking at.
Step 2
Fix anything that is wrong
Wrong address, a prior owner's claim, a duplicate, an inquiry recorded as a loss. Dispute it with LexisNexis in writing. They go back to the reporting carrier and answer within 30 days.
Step 3
Document the repair
Invoices, before-and-after photographs, the roofer's or contractor's completion paperwork, the roof's new install date. Underwriters price the risk that is left, and proof that the damage is gone changes the conversation.
Step 4
Shop it through an independent agent
Carriers weigh the same claim history very differently. One company's decline is another's ordinary risk, and a single agent can put the file in front of several of them at once instead of you applying one at a time.
Before expiry
Bind before the old policy ends
Bound, with a policy number and an effective date, not merely quoted. A gap in coverage on top of a claim makes the next placement harder still, and it can put your mortgage in default.
Questions
What people ask after a claim
How long does a home insurance claim follow me?
The industry claims database, C.L.U.E., holds up to seven years of property claims history, and carriers check it before they quote. How much weight a claim carries depends on the company, the type of loss and how recent it is. An older, single weather claim on a repaired roof reads very differently from two recent water losses.
Can I see what carriers see?
Yes. Your C.L.U.E. report is available from LexisNexis under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act — request it at personalreports.lexisnexis.com or by calling 1-866-312-8076. Pull it before you shop. It is the fastest way to find out whether the market is seeing what you think it is seeing.
My claim was denied. Will it still show up?
It can. If the loss was reported to the carrier as a claim and then denied, it may still appear on your report. Even a phone call to discuss an actual loss can be recorded as a claim, whether or not anything is paid. That is worth knowing before the next time you pick up the phone.
Should I file small claims at all?
Weigh the amount against your deductible and against what a claim on your record may cost you at the next few renewals. For a loss just over the deductible, paying it yourself is often the better long-term trade. If you are unsure, ask your agent how a claim would affect your premium before you decide.
What if my claims report is wrong?
Dispute it with LexisNexis. They go back to the insurance company that reported it and give you the result within 30 days. Claims attached to the wrong address, a previous owner's history, or a duplicate entry are all worth correcting before you shop, because every carrier you approach will see them.
My carrier non-renewed me after the claim. Now what?
Tennessee requires at least 30 days' notice before a non-renewal, and you can ask for the reason in writing. The insurer then has 20 days to give it to you. Our non-renewal page walks through the whole month. Start the replacement search the day the letter arrives, not after any dispute is settled.
What do you need from me?
Your declarations page, your C.L.U.E. report if you have pulled it, and proof the damage was repaired: invoices, photographs, a roofer's completion certificate. A repaired, documented loss is a very different underwriting conversation from an open question.
Also in Tennessee — if you were non-renewed, if your rate went up and our Franklin agency.
Send the policy and the claim details
The type of loss and the repair paperwork tell us which carriers to approach. Within 48 hours you hear what your options are. Free, and no obligation.
Get help placing coverageOr call (615) 378-7187 if you would rather talk it through.
General information, not legal advice, and it creates no agent-client relationship. Whether and on what terms a carrier will offer coverage depends on its own underwriting. C.L.U.E. reports are provided by LexisNexis; the Tennessee notice rules referenced are Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 56-7-1901 and 56-7-1304. Sullivan James is an independent insurance agency, not an insurance company.