CHARTIS INSURANCE COMPANY OF CANADA

PRIVACY PRINCIPLES

Chartis and Individual Privacy

We  at  Chartis  Insurance  Company  of  Canada  (referred  to  as  “Chartis”,  “we”,  “our”  or  “us”)  abide  by these Privacy Principles and want you, our policyholders, insureds and claimants, to be aware of how and why we handle personal information. We work hard to respect and maintain your privacy. However, the very  nature  of  our  business  is  such  that  the  collection,  use  and  disclosure  of  personal  information  are fundamental to the products and services we provide.

These  Privacy  Principles  apply  only  to  the  product  or  service  the  client  has  obtained  or  the  insurance policy under which he/she is seeking or receiving benefits. As a large worldwide leader in the delivery of insurance  products  and  services,  the  member  companies  of  Chartis  Inc.  offer  numerous  products  and services to many types of consumers and clients in many different countries around the world. Therefore, each of the Chartis Inc. companies may adopt different privacy practices to fit the specific products and services they offer.

Personal information, for the purposes of these Privacy Principles, means information that identifies an individual. For example: an individual’s name, birth date, address, age, health and financial information is personal  information  which  Chartis  may  collect,  use  and  in  certain  circumstances,  where  necessary, disclose,  in  the  course  of  providing  insurance  services  and  carrying  on  business.    Personal  information does  not  include  the  name,  business  title,  address,  phone  or  fax  number  of  an  employee  of  an organization.

These Privacy Principles may be modified from time to time. An individual may obtain our most up to date version by contacting us at the address set out below in the section called “Contacting the Privacy Officer".

1. Consent and Personal Information

Chartis  obtains  consent  to  the  collection,  use  and  disclosure  of  personal  information,  except  where inappropriate.  By  purchasing  Chartis’  products  and  services,  you  are  providing  your  consent  to  our collection, use and disclosure of your personal information as set out in these Privacy Principles.  

In obtaining consent to the collection, use and disclosure of personal information, the purpose for which information is collected, used or disclosed is either obvious by the very nature of the transaction or if not, we  state  the  purpose,  either  at  or  before  the  time  the  information  is  collected.  When  we  do  collect personal  information,  we  collect  only  that  personal  information  which  is  necessary  to  such  obvious  or stated purpose.

Personal information is typically collected and used by us for insurance purposes such as, assessing risk, processing  applications  for  insurance  coverage,  providing  and  administering  insurance  products  and related  services,  to  determine  the  status  of  insurance  coverage,    investigating  and  handling  claims, administering insurance benefits, and preventing or deterring fraud.  Such information will be used solely to facilitate the products and services requested or as provided or permitted by law.

We consult our existing files for these purposes. An individual may decline to consent, or revoke consent, to the collection and use of personal information for these insurance purposes but in that case insurance products and related services and benefits and the assessment of claims may be limited or terminated.

2. Collecting Personal Information

Whenever practical, we collect information directly from the individual concerned. In some instances and as  is  common  in  the  underwriting  of  insurance  and  the  investigation  of  insurance  claims,  we  verify information and obtain information from independent sources and organizations.

3. Using Personal Information

We  use  personal  information  in  accordance  with  the  consent  provided  by  the  individual  to  whom  the information  relates,  in  accordance  with  these  Privacy  Principles,  our  contractual  rights  and  obligations and the law.

Personal information shall not be used by Chartis employees and representatives for purposes other than as required in the performance of their employment duties. .

4. Use of Personal information for Marketing Purposes

Chartis  may  collect  and  use  personal  information  for  marketing  purposes,  such  as  identifying  and communicating  with  individuals  who  are  most  likely  to  find  Chartis  products  and  services  of  interest. Chartis may also disclose personal information to our affiliates to use for marketing purposes to offer you their products and services which may be of interest to you. You may opt not to have us, or alternatively not to have our affiliates, collect, use or disclose personal information for marketing purposes, in which case we will collect, use and disclose personal information for insurance purposes and in accordance with our contractual rights and obligations, but we will not use or disclose personal information for marketing purposes. Offers of upgraded or additional coverage, special offers and promotional mailings, and offers of additional products and services from our affiliates will not be sent by us. Please refer to the section of these  Privacy  Principles  called  “Contacting  the  Privacy  Officer”  for  information  on  how  to  decline  or revoke consent to the use of personal information for marketing purposes.

5. Accuracy of Your Personal Information

Chartis maintains procedures to ensure that the information we collect and use is accurate, up-to-date, and as complete as possible. However, we rely on individuals to disclose all material information to us and to inform  us  of  any  changes.  With  proof  of  entitlement,  a  request  to  access  and  if  applicable  to  correct information in our possession may be made  by contacting the Privacy Officer at the address set out below in the section called “Contacting the Privacy Officer”.

6. Safeguarding Your Information

We apply appropriate safeguards to  our computer  networks and physical files and  we restrict access to personal  information  to  those  Chartis  employees,  authorized  administrators,  reinsurers,  consultants  or insurance  representatives  who  need  to  know  that  information  in  order  to  underwrite  or  administer insurance products and services.

7. Disclosure of Personal Information

Personal information is sought and exchanged with both affiliated and unaffiliated insurance companies, reinsurers, and insurance industry organizations at the time of assessing an application for insurance and any renewal, extension, variation or cancellation of any issued policy, as well as in the event of any claim, to the extent necessary for industry statistical purposes or to assess and rate a specific risk, determine the status of coverage, and investigate claims. We also share information to combat fraud; where permitted or required by law; or, at the request of government regulators.

Chartis sometimes retains an affiliated company or an independent third party or reinsurer (“authorized administrator”)  to  perform  on  our  behalf,  certain  functions  in  support  of  the  products  and  services  we provide.  Such  functions  could  include  the  underwriting,  offering or  administering  of  Chartis  insurance products  and  services  or  any  related  claims.  Accordingly,  in  certain  instances  these  affiliates  or  third parties will be provided with personal information to the extent that it is necessary in the performance of those  specific  reinsurance,  underwriting,  marketing,  consulting,  administrative,  rehabilitative,  claims, investigation or related services. Chartis obligates these affiliates and third parties to use and take steps to protect personal information in accordance with the requirements of these Privacy Principles.

Some  authorized  administrators  may  be  located  in  the  United  States  of  America  or  another  foreign country other than Canada and in those cases personal information will be subject to disclosure pursuant to the  laws  of the  jurisdiction  in which  it is situate.  By applying for and/or acquiring the products and services  of  Chartis  you  hereby  consent  to  the  authorized  administrators  located  outside  of  Canada accessing,  processing  or  storing  your  personal  information  (as  the  case  may  be)  and  disclosing  such personal information as required by the governing laws of that jurisdiction.

We do not sell our customer lists or other personal information.

8. Retention and Access to Your Personal Information

We  retain  personal  information  only  for  so  long  as  is  necessary  to  fulfill  the  purpose  for  which  it  was collected and to meet our legal and contractual obligations. If personal information is no longer required, it will be destroyed or rendered anonymous. Given the nature of insurance and our on-going exposure to potential  claims,  where  necessary,  some  of  the  information  we  collect  for  insurance  purposes  is  kept indefinitely.

An  individual  or  a  person  authorized  in  writing  to  act  on  his/her  behalf  may,  with  satisfactory identification and proof  of  entitlement, request access or, if applicable, request a correction of personal information which Chartis has in its possession.

The right to access is not absolute. For example, there is no right to access and we may decline a request for access, if the information requested is subject to a legal privilege.

We  do  not  provide  personal  health  information  directly  to  individuals  unless  the  individual  provided  it directly  to  us.  Instead  we  provide  access  to  personal  health  information  through  the  individual's  health care professional.

We may charge a reasonable fee in advance for copying and sending information you have requested and to which you have a right of access.

9. Contacting the Privacy Officer

Privacy Officer
Chartis Insurance Company of Canada
145 Wellington Street West
Toronto ON
Canada M5J 1H8
Toll Free: 1-800-387-4481 

Should you have: 

• Questions about our privacy practices;  
• A request to access or correct your personal information; or  
• To  decline  or  revoke  consent  to  the  use,  collection  or  disclosure  of  personal  information  for
  marketing purposes. 

Include your name, address and, if applicable, your policy number.

10. Website Privacy Practices

Non-personal information is collected to track the total number of guests visiting this site, pages that they visited and time spent on those pages. This information is used in its aggregate form to help us improve our site. This information is used exclusively for our internal purposes.

Personal information that can identify a visitor, such as name, address or policy information, is collected only when voluntarily offered and solely for purposes of transacting an insurance purchase.

We will not share your personal information, except as otherwise required or permitted by law.

Chartis  may  use  the  information  submitted  to  respond  to  your  inquiry.  Also,  your  inquiry  might appropriately be answered by a particular member company of Chartis Inc., and it may be forwarded to that company. That company will use the information to respond to your inquiry. 

If you send Chartis an e-mail request, we may respond to your request with an e-mail asking for further clarification of your needs, or requesting additional information so that we can best serve you. 

Chartis  (and  in  the  event  information  has  been  forwarded  to  a  Chartis  Inc.  member  company,  such company) may store the information you submit for such period of time as may be necessary.

Statistical information derived from the information submitted may be shared with third parties; however, such statistical information is not associated with any individual in a personally identifiable manner.

Our Website uses cookies to allow you to select a preferred location view and default home page view, and to let you access recently visited links (such as products, services, and individual pages) more easily. These cookies also permit Chartis to store your recently visited pages so we  can display information to you more effectively.

If  you  disable cookies  on  your browser, the site  will  not remember certain functional preferences.  You will  not  be  able  to  access  a  preferred  location  view,  a  customized  default  home  page  view,  or  your recently visited links.

We may share cookie information with Chartis Inc. member companies and third party business partners and service providers so that we can continue improving this site and the services available to you. We collect and share this information only in aggregated, non-personally identifiable format. For example, we may  tell  the  Chartis  Inc.  companies  how  many  users  viewed  a  particular  product  page  during  a  given month.

We may also use a service that collects data remotely by using web beacons or tags embedded in our site's content. The data we collect includes which operating system and browser you use, how you navigate to and through our site, and how long you stay on our web pages. This information is anonymous and does not include your name, e-mail address, or any other contact information. We share this information with other  Chartis  Inc.  companies  and  with  our  third  party  vendor,  Omniture,  Inc.   (“Omniture”).  Omniture gives us reports of this aggregated, anonymous data. We use this data to improve our site by responding to  our  users'  interests  and  providing  more  relevant  and  useful  information.  To  learn  more  about Omniture’s privacy standards and use of web beacons, please visit: http://www.omniture.com/en/privacy.

Please note that when you link to our or any other website, the operator of such other website (whether Chartis, a Chartis Inc. company  or a third party)  may collect  information about  you, including through cookies  or  other  technologies.  In  addition,  your  Internet  or  other  service  provider(s)  may  collect information  about  or  submitted  by  you  while  you  use  our  website,  or  any  other  website.  You acknowledge  that  information  collection  or privacy practices of any other party,  including  Chartis  Inc. companies, are not  monitored  or controlled by Chartis and Chartis is not responsible for such  websites. Links on our website to other websites are provided only as a convenience, and the inclusion of such links does  not  imply  endorsement  of  the  linked  site.  You  should  review  the  privacy  policies  of  any  other website that you visit to understand how your information is collected and used.

Notwithstanding the information stated above, the right to store and disclose to third parties any information under the following circumstances is reserved: when the law permits it (such as, for example, to comply with laws or to respond to governmental authorities); to legal advisors; and to protect the rights, property, safety or security of Chartis, Chartis Inc. companies, website visitors or the public.