Insurance claim vs inquiry


A tree fell in our frontyard on a recent Sunday morning, blocking our door and breaking a few window glasses. As our local insurance office was closed, I called the phone number of our insurance company to inquire about the coverage and to seek advice. The person answering the phone asked my insurance policy number and related info and gave me a claim number. At this point, I realized that was not what I wanted and told the person I wasn\'t filing for a claim, and that I was simply checking my coverage. But the person told me that a claim number had already been automatically generated. The next day I talked with my local agent and was told to call and close the case. The property damage was minor.

The problem came as I started shopping around for a renewal. The incident shows up as a claim, with $0 loss, on the insurance exchange. The consequence is that I now have a claim history under my name and will have to pay a much higher premium. I was told by an agent from a different insurance company that if I could get a letter saying it was an inquiry, rather than a claim, then premium would be much lower. Of course I contacted my local agent to request the letter, but the agent refused since I called the headquarter number and she could do nothing.

The claim record will be with me, not the house, for a long time and this is not good. Any suggestion of what to do or how to get the claim record ($0) removed?
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