MIB (formerly the Medical Information Bureau) is a database owned by roughly 500 life and health insurers that flags details from your past insurance applications. You cannot opt out of it, but you can request your file free once a year at mib.com or by calling 866-692-6901, and dispute anything wrong.
What MIB Actually Is
MIB Group, Inc. is a membership corporation owned by around 500 insurance companies in the United States and Canada. When you apply for individually underwritten life, health, disability, long-term care, or critical illness insurance, the insurer may check MIB and may report coded information back to it.
Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, MIB is a nationwide specialty consumer reporting agency, which is what gives you the right to see and correct your file.
MIB Does Not Store Your Medical Records
This is the most widely misunderstood thing about MIB. Your file does not contain doctors' notes, charts, or test results. It contains coded flags representing conditions, lab abnormalities, and hazardous activities that were significant to underwriting — things like an elevated blood pressure reading reported on an application, or a declared hobby such as skydiving. An insurer cannot decline you on an MIB code alone; it is a prompt to investigate further.
Who Even Has an MIB File?
Most people do not. You generally only have a record if you applied for individually underwritten life, health, or disability coverage within roughly the last seven years. Group coverage through an employer, and policies issued without medical underwriting, usually generate no MIB record at all. Requesting your file is still worth doing — if there is no record, you will be told so.
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Step 1: Request Your Free MIB Consumer File
You are entitled to one free disclosure every 12 months, and to an additional free copy if an insurer has taken adverse action against you — declined your application, charged you more, or limited coverage — after checking MIB.
- Online: submit the request at mib.com (the "Request Your MIB Consumer File" page).
- By phone: call MIB's toll-free line at 866-692-6901.
You will be asked to verify your identity with your name, address, date of birth, and Social Security number. If a record exists, MIB sends the coded entries along with the names of member companies that reported or accessed them.
Step 2: Decode What You Receive
The disclosure arrives as codes plus explanations. Work through it carefully and check:
- Conditions you do not have. Mixed files happen, particularly with common names or a shared address.
- A reading taken out of context — a single high blood pressure measurement at an application exam, for example, reported as if it were a diagnosis.
- Activities you no longer do. A hazardous hobby declared years ago may still be flagged.
- Which member companies accessed your file, and whether you recognize every one of those applications. An inquiry you do not recognize can be an early sign of insurance fraud in your name.
Step 3: Dispute Anything Inaccurate
You can request a free reinvestigation of any entry you believe is inaccurate or incomplete. MIB contacts the member company that reported the information and must correct or delete what cannot be verified.
- Submit the dispute in writing through the process MIB provides with your disclosure, and keep a copy.
- Name the specific code and explain precisely why it is wrong.
- Attach documentation — a physician's letter confirming a condition was ruled out carries far more weight than your own assertion.
- If MIB confirms the information with the reporting insurer and you still disagree, you can add a statement of dispute to your file, which goes out with future disclosures.
Step 4: Understand Why There Is No Opt-Out
There is no mechanism to delete yourself from MIB or to block member insurers from checking it. MIB exists as an anti-fraud system — it is how insurers catch applicants who disclose a condition to one company and omit it from the next — and participation is a condition of the underwriting process, not a marketing list you can leave.
What you can control is real, though limited:
- Records age off after roughly seven years.
- Accuracy is enforceable. Your dispute rights under the FCRA are the meaningful lever.
- You control what you disclose. Answer application questions truthfully — misrepresentation is grounds for rescinding a policy — but you are not obliged to volunteer information outside what is asked.
Step 5: Close the Exposure You Can Actually Remove
MIB is a tightly regulated, insurer-only system. The far larger privacy problem sits elsewhere: the data brokers and people-search sites that publish your home address, phone number, email, and relatives to anyone willing to pay, with no FCRA protections and no membership requirement.
That data is what fuels insurance fraud in your name, targeted phishing, and identity theft. Unlike MIB, you can get it taken down. PrivacyOn removes your information from 100+ data brokers and people-search sites and keeps monitoring, because brokers relist people within weeks. It includes dark web monitoring and family plans for up to 5 people, from $8.33/month.
What to Do Right Now
Request your free MIB disclosure at mib.com or 866-692-6901, read it against your own history, and dispute anything wrong — especially before you apply for new coverage, since fixing an error afterward is much harder. Then run a free PrivacyOn exposure scan to see what the unregulated side of the data industry is publishing about you, and remove it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I opt out of MIB?
No. MIB is an insurance anti-fraud database, not a marketing list, and there is no mechanism to delete your record or prevent member insurers from checking it. What you can do is request your file free once a year, dispute inaccurate entries, and add a statement of dispute if a disagreement is not resolved in your favor.
How do I get my MIB report for free?
Request it at mib.com or call 866-692-6901. You are entitled to one free disclosure every 12 months, plus an extra free copy if an insurer took adverse action against you after checking MIB.
Does MIB contain my actual medical records?
No. MIB holds coded flags for conditions, lab abnormalities, and hazardous activities that were significant to underwriting — not charts, notes, or test results. Insurers cannot decline an application on an MIB code alone; the code prompts further investigation.
How long does information stay in my MIB file?
Roughly seven years, after which entries age off. If something older than that still appears, raise it as a dispute.
Do I have an MIB file if I only have insurance through work?
Usually not. MIB records generally come from individually underwritten applications for life, health, disability, long-term care, or critical illness coverage. Group employer plans and policies issued without medical underwriting typically create no record.
What should I do if my MIB file shows an application I never made?
Treat it as possible insurance fraud. Dispute the entry with MIB, contact the member company that made the inquiry, and check your credit reports and broker listings — fraudulent applications are usually built from personal details harvested from people-search sites. PrivacyOn removes that source data across 100+ brokers from $8.33/month, and a free scan shows what is exposed about you today.
Is there anything I can actually remove my personal data from?
Yes — the unregulated side of the industry. Data brokers and people-search sites publishing your address, phone number, and relatives do accept removal requests, and that is where PrivacyOn is worth using: automated opt-outs across 100+ sites, continuous re-checks for relisting, dark web monitoring, and family coverage for up to 5 people. MIB cannot be opted out of, but the data that makes you a target elsewhere can.