Unraveling The Mib Mystery: Understanding Insurance Industry Acronyms

The MIB Group, Inc. (formerly the Medical Information Bureau) is a member-owned corporation operating in the insurance sector in the United States and Canada since 1902. MIB provides underwriting services to life and health insurance companies, helping them assess an individual's risk and eligibility during the underwriting of insurance policies. MIB's services alert underwriters to errors, omissions, or misrepresentations made on insurance applications, reducing fraud and anti-selection. MIB also helps maintain a fair marketplace for insurance carriers and ensures the security and accuracy of consumer data.

MIB Group, Inc. is a not-for-profit organisation owned by around 400 member companies in the US, Canada and the Caribbean

MIB Group, Inc. is a not-for-profit membership corporation owned by approximately 400 insurance companies in the US, Canada, and the Caribbean. It was formed in 1902 and is based in Braintree, Massachusetts. MIB provides services designed to protect insurers, policyholders, and applicants from attempts to conceal or omit information material to underwriting life and health insurance.

The group aims to uncover errors, omissions, and misrepresentations on insurance applications to reduce fraud and adverse selection. MIB's services are used exclusively by its member life insurance companies to assess an individual's risk and eligibility during the underwriting of life, health, disability income, critical illness, and long-term care insurance policies. These services "alert" underwriters to errors, omissions, or misrepresentations made on insurance applications. The information must be verified by a reliable source before any underwriting action is taken.

MIB's database does not contain actual medical records. Information is gathered from an underwriting investigation that may include information from the applicant's medical questionnaire, relevant information from the applicant's physician, notice of adverse lab test results, and DMV information. MIB reports are regulated by the Fair Credit Reporting Act, and consumers can request disclosure of their MIB report once a year for free.

MIB helps ensure that companies can offer, and consumers can purchase, affordable life and health insurance protection. By alerting its member companies to errors, omissions, misrepresentations, or potential fraud in the application process, MIB helps keep insurance premiums low for consumers. MIB's Underwriting Services save its member companies over $1 billion annually by allowing them to assess and select risks accurately and appropriately.

MIB helps insurance companies assess an individual's risk and eligibility for insurance

The MIB, or Medical Information Bureau, is a resource used by insurance companies to assess an individual's risk and eligibility for insurance. MIB's services help insurers gather information about a person's risk and eligibility for life, disability, health, and long-term care insurance policies. Insurance companies contribute underwriting information to MIB's database, which helps member insurers prevent fraud, assess risks, and calculate insurance rates.

The MIB database contains information such as dates of previous insurance applications, current life insurance coverage, medical history data, and adverse driving records. This information is stored in a coded format to protect the privacy of individuals and is only accessible to authorized personnel. MIB's services alert underwriters to possible errors, omissions, or misrepresentations made on insurance applications, helping to mitigate the risk of applicant errors and omissions. This, in turn, helps lower the cost of insurance for consumers by allowing insurance companies to accurately assess and select risks.

MIB also offers a Policy Locator Service, which helps identify lost or unknown life insurance policies of deceased individuals. Consumers can request access to their MIB file to ensure its accuracy and completeness, and dispute any incorrect or incomplete information. MIB's commitment to privacy and security ensures that consumer information is protected and only used for its intended purpose.

MIB helps prevent fraud and keeps insurance affordable for consumers

The MIB (formerly the Medical Information Bureau) is a resource used by life insurance companies to assess risk and evaluate life insurance applications. It is a member-owned corporation that has operated on a not-for-profit basis in the United States and Canada since 1902. MIB's services are used exclusively by its member life and health insurance companies to assess an individual's risk and eligibility during the underwriting of life, health, disability income, critical illness, and long-term care insurance policies.

In addition, MIB helps insurance companies remain financially strong so they can meet their unique guarantees and assurances to policyholders. MIB's services save its member companies over $1 billion annually by allowing them to assess and select risks accurately and appropriately.

MIB also protects consumer privacy by maintaining information in a coded format that does not contain personal identifiers that could be used for identity theft. Consumers can also request access to their MIB report to ensure its accuracy and completeness.

MIB collects information on an individual's medical history, hazardous hobbies and adverse driving records

The MIB collects and stores information on an individual's medical history, hazardous hobbies, and adverse driving records. This information is collected from insurance applications and supplemental questionnaires that individuals submit when applying for insurance coverage. The information is provided voluntarily by the applicants and includes details about their medical history, conditions, and treatments.

The MIB does not collect or store any medical records, examination reports, lab test results, x-rays, or reasons for denial of insurance. Instead, it uses coded information provided by its members to represent medical and avocational information significant to the underwriting process. These codes are highly confidential and proprietary, designed to protect the privacy of the individual.

The MIB's coded reports alert insurance underwriters to possible errors, omissions, or misrepresentations in the application process. If the coded reports are inconsistent with the information provided by the applicant, underwriters are required to conduct further investigations to obtain more information before making an adverse underwriting decision.

The information collected by the MIB can impact whether an individual is offered coverage and what the insurance rate will be. It helps insurance companies verify application data, investigate discrepancies, and increase the efficiency and accuracy of the application process.

Consumers can request their MIB file once a year for free

It is important to note that not everyone will have an MIB file. Individuals will only have a file if they have applied for individually underwritten life, health, disability, long-term care, or critical illness insurance within the last 7 years. If a consumer does not have a file, they will receive immediate notification that no record was found.

MIB files contain medical and personal information, including any medical conditions, hazardous hobbies or activities, and adverse driving records that may impact a person's insurance risk. The file will also include the name of the MIB member company that reported the information and the date it was reported.

Consumers have the right to dispute any inaccurate or incomplete information in their MIB file. MIB offers a reinvestigation process in accordance with the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act. Consumers can request a reinvestigation by contacting the MIB Disclosure Office online or by mail. The reinvestigation process can take up to 45 days to complete.

Frequently asked questions