PIPEDA (Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act)

The member brokers of SurNet Insurance Group Inc. are committed to providing clients with excellent customer service. Doing business with an Independent Insurance Broker involves providing personal information about yourself. That is why protection of your personal information is one of our highest priorities.

Although our brokerage and the insurance industry have a solid reputation of respecting your right to privacy, we have further strengthened our privacy commitment by informing you of why and how we collect, use and disclose your personal information. You can take comfort in that we’ll only handle your personal information in a manner that you would consider appropriate in the circumstance.

Why Do We Collect Personal Information?

When you first become a client, or when you renew or change a product from us, we need to collect some personal information about you. Some reasons why we would collect your personal information would be:

  • Enable us to aquire or renew an insurance policy for you.
  • Assist you and assess your ongoing needs for insurance.
  • Assess your need for other products, such as financial products, and to offer them to you.
  • Ensure your information is accurate and up-to-date.
  • Protect us both against error and fraud.

What Personal Information Do We Collect?

This is information that would identify you as an individual client and would relate specifically to you. Depending on the purpose, we may ask for the following personal information about you:

  • Basic information such as: your name, address, telephone and fax numbers, email address, birthdate and marital status.
  • Claims history.
  • Credit and past payment records.
  • Driver’s record.
  • Details about your property such as the value of your home and its contents.
  • Medical information such as any condition that may affect the operation of a vehicle.
  • Employment information.

We could obtain this information from:

  • You.
  • Insurance companies.
  • Other insurance brokers or agents.
  • Credit organizations.
  • Motor vehicle and driver licensing authorities.
  • Financial institutions.
  • Medical professionals.

Who Do We Disclose Your Personal Information To?

We will need to share your personal information with others in order to serve your needs. These parties commonly include:

  • Insurance companies.
  • Other insurance brokers or agents.
  • Credit organizations.
  • Professionals working with us such as adjusters or lawyers.
  • Financial institutions. For example, the organization that carries your mortgage.

How Do We Protect Your Personal Information?

In order to protect your personal information and right to privacy, we will:

  • Not use, or disclose your personal information for any purpose other than those we identify to you.
  • Keep your personal information only for as long as we need it to fulfill the stated purpose or as required by law.
  • Maintain your personal information in as accurate, complete and up-to-date a form as possible.
  • Safeguard your personal information to the best of our ability.
  • Respond to any request you may make to access or correct the personal information we hold about you.
  • Obtain the appropriate consent from you of your personal information.

Consent

We may obtain your express consent or we may determine that consent has been implied by the circumstances.

  • We might ask you for your express consent in writing, for example in a signed consent or application form.
  • We might ask for your express consent in person or over the telephone.
  • We might determine that by seeking insurance through our organization, your consent has been implied for us to deal with your personal information in a reasonable manner.

There are some legal exceptions when we will not need to obtain your consent or explain the purposes for collection, use or disclosure of your personal information. For example, this might apply in an emergency situation or when it is neccessary for your protection or ours.

You Can Control How We Handle Your Personal Information

You have a choice. You can choose to refuse to allow us to obtain, use, or share your personal information or you can withdraw a previously given consent at any time.

By choosing to do this, depending on the situation, you may be limiting, or even preventing our ability to provide you with the product or service you need. For example, if you do not allow us to obtain information about your driving record, it is unlikely that we would be able to provide you with auto insurance.

We will be happy to discuss particular situations with you to help you with your decisions. For more information, please contact our Privacy Officer.