Add-ons may raise price of insurance

Home and auto insurers are great about offering addons to your policy that seem in theory like great conveniences at a great price.

But using these seemingly benign “benefits” could marginalize you in the insurance marketplace and result in jacked-up rates. Roadside assistance: Some auto insurers that offer roadside assistance treat your use of it as an at-fault claim and put that through on your C.L.U.E. report.

C.L.U.E. stands for Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange. It’s a shared database insurance companies report to when you make a claim. If you have too many claims on your C.L.U.E. report, that could make you radioactive to other insurers for three years.

Why would insurers want to do this? Because it limits your ability to jump ship when they want to raise your insurance rates! Cell phone insurance: Your home insurance policy may have coverage for electronics, including your cell phone, in case they get fried by a sudden electrical surge or you somehow break them. But insurers are likely to report the use of cell phone insurance on your C.L.U.E. report as a claim. That will hamper you when you go to shop with other insurers. And, your own insurer may use that “claim” as a justification for hiking your premium or dropping your home insurance coverage altogether!

Calling to ask if something is covered may be recorded as a claim: Some insurers are now also treating an inquiry as something they slap on your C.L.U.E. report!

When it comes to making small but legitimate claims, don’t do it! What you should do instead is take the highest deductible that the insurer or your auto financier will allow and that you can afford.