Did a false insurance claim ruin this homeowner’s record?

KENNESAW, Ga. (InvestigateTV) - A Kennesaw homeowner discovered someone filed a fraudulent insurance claim for fire damage on her renovated home, sparking a months-long battle to clear her record and avoid higher premiums.

The ordeal started in March, two years after Renee Arbogast finished a massive home renovation. Her husband received an alert on his phone about an insurance claim filed for fire damage at their home.

“My initial thought was, is there a fire?,” Arbogast said. “[I asked,] where are you? And he said, ‘I’m at the house. There’s nothing here.”

There was no fire. For weeks, Arbogast pleaded with her insurance company to investigate the claim as fraud. She said her insurance company never sent an adjuster to her home to verify that a fire had happened.

State investigation reveals verification failures

The Georgia Office of Commissioner of Insurance and Safety Fire investigated and found Arbogast’s insurance company “did not confirm the property owner’s name” when it accepted the claim. The investigation concluded, “if this information had been verified, a claim would not have been initiated.”

However, the false claim had already been recorded in the Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange (C.L.U.E.), a database accessible to nearly every insurance company in the country.

Every time a consumer starts a home or car insurance claim; is denied coverage; or receives payment after submitting a claim, the information is uploaded into the database. C.L.U.E. reports remain active for up to seven years, and inaccurate or fraudulent claims can impact insurance premiums.

“You could wind up paying hundreds or even thousands of dollars more in premiums unfairly,” said Michael DeLong, an advocacy associate with the Consumer Federation of America.

The consumer watchdog said it’s unclear how often flawed C.L.U.E. reports are submitted because the insurance industry doesn’t share the information with anyone other than insurance companies.

California’s former insurance commissioner cited errors in the database in 2003 after his own consumer services chief was turned down five times for homeowners’ insurance because of several inaccuracies.

“Insurance companies have a fairly long history of treating consumers poorly,” DeLong said. “If there is a mistake that is against the consumer, they may not make fixing that a high priority.”

After months of advocacy, Arbogast’s insurance company removed the false fire claim from the C.L.U.E. database. She decided to share her story because she had no idea such a situation could occur.

“Most people don’t have the resources,” Arbogast said. “For us to advocate in this way has cost us so many thousands of dollars alone. I want to protect other people from this happening.”

Get a free C.L.U.E. report

The Fair Credit Reporting Act entitles you to a free copy of your CL.U.E. report. To request a copy, contact the LexisNexis consumer center online or call 866-312-8076. If you need a CLUE report on a property you’d like to buy, the owner must request it.

You can check for inaccurate or unrelated information that could result in higher premiums. If you find mistakes, contact LexisNexis Consumer Center at 888-497-0011. They’ll verify your information with the reporting insurance company and notify you of the results within 30 days. You can also add an explanation to an item in the report that will show in all future reports.

To file a complaint with Georgia insurance and fire safety’s office, go to its consumer complaint portal to file online, or download and mail the form.