Claims history shows previous claims or reported incidents, and insurers may use it when pricing, setting terms, or checking a policy or claim.
Claims history is the record of past insurance claims and reported incidents linked to you, your vehicle, your home, or your rental property.
It can include paid claims, open claims, refused claims, and incidents reported for information only. For example, a small car accident, flood damage at home, theft, storm damage, or escape of water may form part of your claims history.
In the UK, insurers can use the Claims and Underwriting Exchange, often called CUE. The Motor Insurers’ Bureau says CUE can hold details of motor, home, personal injury and industrial illness incidents that may or may not have led to a claim.
Insurers use claims history to help assess risk. It can affect the price, excess, policy terms, documents requested, or whether an insurer is willing to offer cover.
This does not mean a previous claim will always stop you getting insurance. The impact can depend on the insurer, the policy type, the claim cost, the cause, and how recent the claim was.
CUE is used to support underwriting checks and fraud prevention. It can help insurers check that the claim details given on a quote or claim are correct.
Your claims history may include more than claims where money was paid out. It may also include accidents, losses, or damage you reported to an insurer.
For motor insurance, a claim may affect your no-claims bonus. The Financial Ombudsman Service explains that a fault claim can reduce an unprotected no-claims bonus, but each insurer should set out its own rules in the policy.
A non-fault claim can still matter while liability is being checked. If your insurer later recovers its costs from another party, your no-claims bonus may be corrected, depending on the insurer and policy terms.
When buying or renewing consumer insurance, you must take reasonable care not to give wrong or incomplete answers. This duty is set out in the Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Act 2012.
This means you should answer the question asked. If an insurer asks about previous claims, accidents, losses, or incidents, give the correct details as far as you can.
If you are unsure, check your own records, ask your previous insurer, or request your CUE data. The Motor Insurers’ Bureau explains how you can make a data subject access request for information held about you.
The period an insurer asks about can vary. Always read the wording carefully.
For car and van insurance, claims history may affect price, excess, no-claims bonus, and the terms an insurer offers. It can also matter alongside convictions, vehicle use, driver history, and previous cover.
For home insurance, previous claims may matter if they relate to flood, subsidence, theft, storm damage, escape of water, or other property losses. We help with home insurance for a range of needs, including homes that may be harder to insure.
For landlords, claims history may be reviewed alongside the property, tenants, rent, liability risks, and previous damage. Our landlord insurance can help landlords look for cover that reflects their property and tenancy details.
We arrange insurance through a panel of insurers and can help people with previous claims, low no-claims bonus, motoring convictions, and some non-standard home or landlord risks.
We may ask for claim dates, costs, causes, and whether each claim is open or closed. Clear details help us present your information to insurers and reduce the risk of problems later.
You can explore our car insurance, van insurance, convicted driver insurance, home insurance, and landlord insurance pages for more information.
Claims history is an important part of many insurance quotes. It can include claims and reported incidents, even where no payment was made.
The best approach is to answer each question carefully, check your records where needed, and tell us if something is unclear. This helps insurers assess the risk fairly and can reduce issues if you need to claim later.
