Your Insurer Checks Two Claims Databases. You Have Only Heard of One.
When you apply for home or auto insurance, the insurer checks a shared claims history database. Most people who know this at all know about CLUE, run by LexisNexis. Fewer know there is a second one. Verisk Analytics operates ISO ClaimSearch, an industry-wide record of claims that major insurers query before writing a policy or paying out, alongside A-PLUS, its consumer-facing specialty reporting business. You are entitled to a free copy of your file once a year, delivered within fifteen days, and you can dispute what is wrong in it. What you mostly cannot do is delete it, and Verisk says so in its own privacy FAQ. Here is how to see what it holds and what your realistic options are.
What does Verisk hold about you?
Claims. If you have filed an auto, homeowners, renters or workers' compensation claim, it is very likely in ISO ClaimSearch, typically with the date, type of loss, amount, the address on the policy, the outcome, and any fraud indicators attached. Verisk also holds premium and loss data through its Argus subsidiary and property analytics through Geomni. Separately, its marketing division, formerly Infutor, compiles consumer identity data for advertising, which is a different product with different rules.
Unlike a people-search site, none of this is visible to the public. Verisk's customers are insurers, and a stalker cannot buy a ClaimSearch report. The exposure here is financial rather than physical: the file shapes what you are quoted and whether you are approved.
How do I get my report?
There is no self-service portal, which is the first sign you are dealing with a company built for insurers rather than consumers. You request by phone. Call the Verisk Consumer Report Request Line at 1-800-627-3487, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm Eastern, and ask for your free annual report under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. The CFPB lists A-PLUS Property as a consumer reporting company that must provide one free report every twelve months and deliver it within fifteen days of your request.
If an insurer has raised your rate or declined you and cited a Verisk report, you are entitled to an additional free copy. Contact the Consumer Inquiry Center at 1-800-709-8842, or write to FCRA-NPC@verisk.com, or by mail to Verisk Underwriting Solutions, Consumer Inquiry Center, P.O. Box 5404, Mt. Laurel, NJ 08054.
How does it differ from CLUE?
They do the same job for different customers. Some insurers contribute to and query one, some the other, many both. That means your claims history may differ slightly between the two databases, and an error corrected in one is not automatically corrected in the other. If you are shopping for coverage and want the full picture, pull both. Our guide to the CLUE report covers the LexisNexis side.
What if the file is wrong?
Dispute it, and dispute it with both parties. Under the FCRA you can challenge inaccurate or incomplete information with Verisk and with the insurer that reported it, and both must investigate at no cost, generally within 30 days. Look for claims you never filed, claims belonging to a previous owner of your property, incorrect amounts, duplicate entries for one incident, and inquiries recorded as claims. Attach documentation and keep dated copies of everything.
Can I delete my Verisk file?
Mostly not, and Verisk is unusually direct about why. Its own CCPA FAQ explains that for products like ISO ClaimSearch it acts as a service provider to insurers, and that the CCPA does not give consumers an opt-out or deletion right over information a business provides to its service providers. The insurance carve-outs in state privacy laws are broad. A deletion request will get a response, but expect that response to cite exemptions for most of what the file contains.
It is still worth sending one, particularly for the marketing division, which is easier to opt out of. Email privacy@verisk.com, state that you are making a deletion and opt-out request, and name ISO ClaimSearch, Argus and the marketing products specifically, since a request naming only the parent company may be processed against a single database. California law requires acknowledgment within 10 business days and a response within 45 days. Keep proof of what you asked for.
The pattern worth noticing
Verisk sits in the regulated tier of the data industry. That comes with rights: a free report, a dispute process, a 15-day deadline, and a requirement that whoever pulls the file has a permissible purpose. It also comes with limits, since deletion largely does not apply and the company's customer is the insurer, not you.
People-search sites are the opposite in both directions. They accept opt-outs, and they publish your name, address, age and relatives to anyone at all with no purpose required. That layer is removable, and it rebuilds from public records, which makes it ongoing. Consumer Reports found that opt-outs done by hand or by automation cleared roughly 27 percent of exposed listings, while removals handled by real people who monitor and refile reached about 70 percent.
The insurer file you can dispute. The public file you can remove.
We cannot delete a claims database record, and Verisk says it mostly will not either. What we remove is the people-search layer publishing your address and household to anyone. A free scan shows what is out there, and our team of real people removes it and keeps checking.
Run my free scan Start free trialFrequently asked questions
Does Verisk have a file on everyone?
Only if you have had claims or policies reported by a participating insurer. If you have never filed a claim, the request may come back with little or nothing, which is itself useful to know before you shop for coverage.
How long do claims stay in ISO ClaimSearch?
Claims databases in this category generally cover several years of history, commonly up to seven for underwriting purposes. Older entries fall off, so a cluster of claims from long ago matters less over time.
Can I freeze my Verisk report?
The FCRA security freeze right applies to nationwide consumer reporting agencies, and specialty agencies vary in how they handle it. Ask when you call the consumer line. A freeze would not apply to insurers you already hold a policy with when servicing it.
Why does my previous home's claim show on my file?
Claims are tied to both the person and the policy address, so a claim you filed at a former address remains linked to you. If a claim was actually filed by a previous occupant and has been attached to you in error, that is a dispute worth raising.