The Other File With Your Name On It

Most drivers know the DMV has a record of their convictions. Fewer know there is a second file — a loss history report — recording claims made on policies associated with them and with the vehicles they have owned. It is separate machinery from the driving record, it is consulted when you apply for coverage, and you are entitled to see your own.

What it contains

Broadly: claims reported to insurers, with dates, the type of loss, and how it was resolved. Claims paid and claims closed without payment can both appear. It is organized around policies and vehicles as well as people, which is why a claim on a car you no longer own can still be attached to your history.

Auto World Insurance Services has a dedicated page on filing a claim after a small accident for the statewide picture.

Why it exists

Because a new applicant's claim history is genuinely predictive and self-reporting is unreliable — not usually through dishonesty, but because people forget, misremember dates, or do not consider a windshield replacement a "claim". The report is how a company sees what actually happened rather than what was recalled.

The surprise most people have

That not-at-fault claims are in there too. A report is a record of events, not a record of blame, and events that cost an insurer money get recorded regardless of who caused them. Whether and how a particular company rates a not-at-fault claim is a matter of its own filed plan — this deserves its own explanation, because it is the single most common source of "but that wasn't my fault" phone calls in our office.

How to see yours

Consumer reporting companies that compile these files are required to give you access to your own report, generally without charge on request. If you are about to shop insurance after a few eventful years, requesting yours first is worth the wait — the same logic as pulling your driving record. If you find an entry that is wrong, the dispute process runs through the reporting company, which is obliged to investigate.

What to do with what you find

Disclose it. A quote built without a claim the company is about to see is a quote that will be revised, and the revision arrives after you have made a decision based on the old number. Telling the agent up front produces a quote that survives verification — which is the only kind worth comparing.

Give us the real history and we will quote against it, including telling you which of our companies looks at it most kindly.