Information submitted on any insurance
application will be reported to the MIB

Whenever a client asks me to enroll them in an individual health insurance policy, I ask them if they have pulled an MIB recently? Most clients look at me as if I have spoken a foreign language.

An MIB is a report from the Medical Information Bureau.   MIB Group, Inc. is an organization owned by approximately 470 member insurance companies in the United States and Canada.  Any time an individual applies for  life insurance,  health insurance, disability insurance,  long term care insurance or critical illness insurance, all the information which the individual supplies to the insurance company on the application form is maintained in a coded database by the MIB. Of particular interest to the insurance companies is any information which might be deemed to have underwriting significance.

The Medical Information Bureau has been operating for over 105 years. Their purpose is to detect and deter fraud that may occur in the course of obtaining life, health, disability, long term care or critical illness policies.

The information sent to your MIB file includes reports of medical conditions or diagnostic tests which have been conducted by your doctor or hospital.   There are also a few categories of non-medical information which are also reported.  Hobbies which an insurance company might deem “dangerous” as well as information about driving history which might be less than stellar are also reported and coded.

Any member insurance company can report underwriting information or obtain information about you that it considers significant to its underwriting process. Basically, it helps an insurance company determine whether or not you are worth the risk of insuring.

If you are denied insurance and the insurance company specifies that MIB was an informational source for the unfavorable action on your application, you may request a  free disclosure in writing by sending a request for disclosure along with a copy of the adverse action letter.

Even if you have not been denied insurance,  it is a good idea to take a look at your MIB report.  The Federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, as amended by the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA) of 2003, allows a consumer to request free disclosure of his or her consumer report once annually.  U.S. Consumers can call a toll free number but Canadians must download a Disclosure Information Form and mail it to the Canadian Office of the MIB.

Sometimes, especially with people who have common names,  the information in the MIB will be incorrect.   If that happens, you should immediately file a STATEMENT OF DISPUTE, which will then become part of your MIB file.  Any member insurance company requesting your MIB in the future must also receive a copy of your Statement of Dispute.

Information is kept in your MIB file for 7 years and then purged.