Most of us know about the free credit reports from AnnualCreditReport.com.
This is mandated by the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions (FACT) Act, which basically says that consumers should be able
to see (and dispute) the massive amount of information contained in private corporate databases. But in addition to credit
information, there are a lot of other databases with your personal information floating around. You can get one of each report
free every rolling 12-month period.
Insurance Claims History
If you would like to know what the insurance
companies are saying about you behind your back, you definitely want to get a free copy of your CLUE Personal Auto Report and Personal
Property Reports, which you can get instantly online or by calling 1-866-312-8076. CLUE stands for Comprehensive
Loss Underwriting Exchange.
The C.L.U.E. ®Personal Property report provides a seven year history
of losses associated with an individual and his/her personal property. The following data will be identified for each loss:
date of loss, loss type, and amount paid along with general information such as policy number, claim number and insurance
company name.
The C.L.U.E. ®Auto report provides a seven year history of automobile
insurance losses associated with an individual. The following data will be identified for each loss: date of loss, loss type,
and amount paid along with general information such as policy number, claim number and insurance company name.
In addition, you should also request your free A-PLUS report (Automated Property Loss Underwriting System), which is a smaller database that also
contains information about property loss claims. Insurance companies use this data to decide your premiums, so you’ll
want to clear up any mistakes right away as they are probably costing you money right now!
This brings me to another use for CLUE reports. If you are seriously
looking at buying a home, you should spend the $20 and get the CLUE report for the property and see its claim history. For
example, if the water heater broke and flooded the basement two years ago, you may have a hard time finding homeowner’s
insurance due to mold concerns.
Employment History Report
When a potential employer runs a background
check through ChoicePoint, this is the information they see. It doesn’t seem to claim be comprehensive, as their site
states:
The ChoicePoint Workplace Solutions Inc. Employment History report contains
information related to your employment history as well as other information regarding your background. […] Our files
would only contain information on you if ChoicePoint provided your Employment History Report to an employer.
I would think you’d still want to make sure nothing inaccurate
is on there. To get your free employment history report, call 1-866-312-8075. More information here.
Tenant History Report
This report will can be important if you are
a renter and someone runs a background check on you at ChoicePoint.
The Resident Data Inc. Tenant History report contains information related
to your tenant history as well as other information regarding your background. […] Our files would only contain information
on you if ChoicePoint provided your Tenant History Report to a housing provider.
To get your free tenant history report, call 1-877-448-5732. More information here.
