CLUE Report: What LA Home Buyers Need to Know Before Closing

What is a CLUE report and why does it matter for LA home buyers?

A CLUE report (Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange) is a database record showing the insurance claims history on a property for the past seven years. In Los Angeles, where the 2025 Palisades and Eaton fires pushed California's insurance market into a full-scale crisis, what's on a property's CLUE report can determine whether you can get homeowners coverage at all, and what you'll pay for it.

By Paul Blair | October 16, 2026

If you're buying a home in Los Angeles right now, you've probably already heard that insurance is a problem. Major carriers have pulled back from California, FAIR Plan premiums are running three to five times what traditional coverage costs, and lenders won't fund a purchase without proof of insurance in place.

What a lot of buyers don't know until it's too late: a property's prior insurance claims follow it. A wildfire claim from four years ago or a water damage claim the seller barely remembers can affect whether you'll find coverage at all. The CLUE report is how you find out before you're committed.

What a CLUE Report Contains

CLUE stands for Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange. It's a database maintained by LexisNexis that collects insurance claim records reported by home insurance carriers.

When an insurer writes a new policy, they pull the property's CLUE report to see what they're getting into.

The report shows:

• Date of each claim filed on the property
• Type of claim (fire, water, wind, theft, and so on)
• Amount paid or denied
• Property address and policy number

What it does not show: claims that were researched but never filed, any claims older than seven years, or anything related to credit or criminal history.

A prior claim doesn't automatically mean the property is uninsurable. Insurers make their own decisions. But a wildfire claim in a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone (a designation that covers much of the Hollywood Hills, Bel Air, Laurel Canyon, Topanga, and the canyon communities throughout LA County) is a different situation than a water leak claim with full documentation of remediation.

The only way to know what you're dealing with is to look at the report before you're deep into escrow.

Why This Matters More in LA Right Now

California's insurance market has been in crisis since the January 2025 Palisades and Eaton fires. State Farm, Allstate, Farmers, and several other major carriers have either stopped writing new policies in California or sharply restricted coverage in fire-risk areas.

The CA FAIR Plan is now the insurer of last resort for tens of thousands of LA homeowners, at premiums that routinely run three to five times traditional coverage costs.

For buyers purchasing in any FHSZ area, a property's claims history is now a material part of due diligence. If a previous owner filed a wildfire claim on the property, you need to know that before you remove your contingencies.

Here's the scenario that's hurt buyers: they get through inspection, remove contingencies, and then apply for homeowners insurance. The insurer pulls the CLUE report, sees a prior fire or mold claim, and either declines the policy or quotes FAIR Plan rates. The buyer is now either paying dramatically more than they budgeted for insurance, or they're walking away from a property with no contingency left to protect their deposit.

Ordering the CLUE report early in the process avoids that completely.

If you're purchasing a home in a fire zone, also review our post on wildfire disclosures when selling an LA home. Many of those disclosure obligations affect what sellers are required to tell you, but the CLUE report fills in the gaps that seller memory doesn't.

How to Get the CLUE Report Before You Close

As a buyer, you cannot pull CLUE on a property you don't own. The report is only available to the current property owner. That means you need to request it from the seller.

Here's how to do it without losing negotiating position:

1. Include it in the offer terms. Ask your agent to add "Seller to provide CLUE report within [X] days of acceptance" to the offer, or include it as a due diligence item in the inspection contingency period. This approach normalizes the request and sets a clear deadline.

2. Request it during the disclosure review period. After acceptance, you can send a written request to the listing agent during the disclosure review period, which in California typically runs 10 to 17 days alongside the inspection period. This is later than ideal but still within the contingency window.

3. Review it before removing your contingencies. This is the critical step. Do not remove your inspection or loan contingency without reviewing the CLUE report. Once contingencies are removed, your options drop significantly if a coverage problem surfaces.

4. Share it with your insurance contact early. Once you have the report, send it to your homeowners insurance contact and ask for a binding quote or at least a coverage opinion. If the insurer won't write the policy, you still have options: renegotiate the price, ask for credits, or walk. But you need to know this while you still have contingency protection.

The seller can pull their own property's CLUE report for free through LexisNexis (one free report per year under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, at personalreports.lexisnexis.com or by calling 1-888-497-0011).

The California Disclosure Gap

California requires sellers to fill out a Transfer Disclosure Statement (TDS) and a Seller Property Questionnaire (SPQ). These forms do ask about insurance claims. They rely entirely on the seller's recollection.

A seller who doesn't remember a water intrusion claim from three years ago, or who wasn't living in the property when a prior claim was filed, can answer truthfully and still leave you with an incomplete picture. The SPQ is not connected to the CLUE database. Only the CLUE report is.

A CLUE report is not a required disclosure item in California (unlike the TDS, SPQ, or Natural Hazard Disclosure). That's exactly why you need to ask for it proactively. Most sellers won't volunteer it if they're not asked, and some genuinely don't know what's in it.

For sellers navigating coverage issues on a property with a claims history, our post on selling an LA home on the FAIR Plan covers what that means for your transaction from the seller's side.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a buyer request a CLUE report directly?

No. CLUE reports are only available to the current property owner under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. As a buyer, you request the report from the seller and ask them to share it with you during due diligence. Your homeowners insurance company will pull the CLUE report automatically when you apply for coverage, but by then you may be past your contingency window.

Does a prior claim on a property mean I won't be able to get insurance?

Not necessarily. Insurers make individual underwriting decisions. A water damage claim where the seller can document full remediation may be acceptable to most carriers. A wildfire claim in a Very High FHSZ is more likely to trigger underwriting restrictions. The report tells you what's there; an insurance professional can tell you what it means for your specific situation.

What if the seller says they don't have a CLUE report?

They can get one free from LexisNexis, once per year, in about 10 business days. You can make the request during the disclosure period and give them time to pull it. If they refuse entirely, that's worth discussing with your agent, particularly in a fire-zone area where the stakes are higher.

Does the CLUE report show inquiries that were never filed as claims?

No. CLUE only shows claims that were actually filed and paid or denied. If an owner called their insurance company to ask a question but never opened a formal claim, that inquiry doesn't appear in the report.

How recent are the claims on a CLUE report?

CLUE shows the past seven years of insurance claims on a property. Claims older than seven years roll off the report automatically, regardless of how significant they were.

Understanding the CLUE report is one of those things that can genuinely protect a deal in today's LA market. It takes one conversation with your agent, a written request during the disclosure period, and a quick review with your insurance contact. That's a small amount of work compared to discovering a coverage problem after you've removed contingencies.

If you're navigating an LA purchase and want to work through the due diligence process with someone who knows this market, reach out here. We're happy to walk you through it.

About Paul Blair

Paul Blair is the founder and broker of Grey Square, a virtual real estate brokerage representing buyers and sellers across Dallas and Los Angeles. With 22 years in the business and more than $200 million in closed transactions, Paul works the full range of the market, from luxury homes in the Park Cities and Preston Hollow to estates in the Hollywood Hills and across the Westside. Connect with Paul and the Grey Square team at greysq.com. TX TREC #9011505 · CA DRE #01792671.