How do auto/home insurance companies share information with each other?
Question:
Answer:
ISO reports, CLUE reports, and SIU departments of all insurance companies communicate with each other.
Unfortunately I can not answer specifically how, But I get a discount by combining my home and auto insurance
They do not share specific information about individuals.
But they are permitted by statute to anonymously pool their data to take advantage of the law of large numbers.
I do know they both check out your credit.
There's an underwriters database they use. I vaguely recall the name having "Certified Liability Underwriters" in the name. It's available on line, but I couldn't find it. I think I read about on MSNBC.
Life and disability carriers have shared for years through a database called Medical Information bureau.MIB If you ever applied or was rejected it is in the database. In the past few years a smlilar data base for claims only has been developed for perssonal auto and homeowners. If you had a claim it is on the database. It is called CLU.(Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange)
They share limited information with each other, through a third party - Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange. This is where the companies report the type of loss, address of the insured, location of loss (or vin of vehicle, for an auto claim), driver, policyholder, dollar of loss. In exchange, for an annual fee, they can submit a person's name or address, and get all the losses for that person that have been reported by other companies.
This is called a CLUE report.
For a homeowners loss, typically you see the location address, the dollar amount of claim, the type of claim (water), and if it's a catastrophic claim or not. That's IT.
Hope that helps.
There's also a company called Choicepoint where most auto insurance companies report claims and losses, most major carriers use this data in determining your rate if you choose to insure with them.
Some major companies will require a "letter of experience" if the insurance company you want to switch from DOESN'T use this system to report losses. The letter of experience will need to indicate how long you were insured with your company and if you had any losses (claims).
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