Who reports information to MIB? The answer is that any life insurance application sent to an MIB Member company that includes a signed authorization obligates the company's underwriting department to report to MIB. Very early in the underwriting process, the underwriter transmits to MIB as a code certain underwriting information such as findings in the medical records, application and insurance exam. Reporting these codes to MIB is done regardless of whether the case is issued, not issued or withdrawn. However, adverse underwriting decisions such as declinations and ratings are not coded. A common misunderstanding is that attending physicians report information to MIB; they do not. MIB currently purges the records after seven years.

MIB Group, Inc. is a membership corporation owned by about 470 member insurance companies in the US and Canada. Quoting from MIB's website, its services "protect insurers, policyholders and applicants from attempts to conceal or omit information material to the sound and equitable underwriting of life, health, disability income, critical illness and long-term care insurance ... Authorized underwriting personnel of the Member company review the application information provided by the person applying for insurance and compare it to what is in the person's MIB file. The information in the person's MIB file is used only as an alert. No underwriting decision can be made solely on the basis of a coded report, such as issuing a policy with an extra premium or declining to offer coverage."

Annually, individuals may request free disclosure of their consumer reports and only they can request an MIB file on their behalf. A U.S. resident can call MIB's toll-free telephone number 866-692-6901 to request disclosure of the file. Specifics about how to do so can be found here.