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Get a C.L.U.E. Report
By marionduffy | August 18, 2009
When you make an offer on a house, make it contingent on the seller providing a C.L.U.E. report. Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange, hence the name C.L.U.E. report, is an information exchange insurance companies use to obtain prior claim history of personal property as well as automobiles.
Why is the claim history on the house important to a buyer? For one, it will give you an idea of past damage to the home and the probability of it occurring again. If the insurance company paid on a claim, you should check with the seller to be sure the repairs were actually made and the homeowner didn’t just pocket the money.
Another very important reason for getting a C.L.U.E. report is that it will help you determine if you, as the new homeowner, will be able to get insurance on the house. Even though past claims were submitted by the previous owner or owners, the damage was to the house. So when you are applying for insurance on that house, the property’s claim history is what the insurance company will look at. The claim history could affect the cost of the insurance or even if you will be able to get coverage at all.
It is really important that you get the C.L.U.E. report during your contingency period because if for some reason you are not able to get insurance on the house, you will also not be able to get financing. The lender will not fund without confirmation of insurance. You do not want to find out a day or two before escrow is suppose close that you have lost your financing because you can’t get insurance. The C.L.U.E. report is easy for the seller to get through Choicetrust.com and it can save you as the buyer a lot of headaches.
Topics: Selling a house, Buyers, Escrow, Disclosures, Loan approval |