Privacy Policy

The Carleton Mutual Insurance Company Privacy Code

Protecting the confidentiality of your personal information has always been an important part of the way we do business. To ensure that we protect your privacy, the Carleton Mutual Insurance Company has adopted a Privacy Code. This Code sets out how and why we collect and use personal information about our customers. It also explains limited circumstances under which we may need or be required to disclose it.

“Personal information” means information that identifies you as a specific individual. It does not include the sort of general information that could be found in a business directory or a telephone book.

Effective January 1, 2004, the Government of Canada will implement the last phase of the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Document Act (PIPEDA). This federal statute will then apply to insurance companies and many other industry sectors.

This legislation establishes rules and principles for the use and disclosure of personal information based on the ten privacy principles developed by the Canadian Standards Association. These principles recognize that we live in an era when commercial information is exchanged and circulated by electronic means. It balances the individual’s right to privacy in their personal information with the reasonable need of organizations to collect, use or disclose personal information.

Under the new legislation, an organization may collect, use or disclose personal information only for limited purposes that a reasonable person would consider to be appropriate in the circumstances.

The Personal Information Protection and Electronic Document Act requires us to provide the same safeguards for your privacy that we have always provided on a voluntary basis. Our Privacy Code sets out these principles in simple terms. It explains how we ensure that your privacy and the confidentiality of your personal information are protected.

Our Privacy Code

The Carleton Mutual Insurance Company’s Privacy Code is based on the following ten principles adopted by the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Document Act (PIPEDA).

Principle #1: Our Accountability for the Collection, Use or Disclosure of Personal Information
As a customer of the Carleton Mutual Insurance Company, you have a right to expect that your insurer is accountable for the personal information it collects and uses. “Customer” means a current and former insured, an applicant for insurance, a claimant under one of our policies as well as an individual insured as part of a group or corporate policy.

Principle #2: Identifying Our Purpose for the Collection, Use or Disclosure of Personal Information
Before or when we collect information about you, we will explain how we intend to use it. The Carleton Mutual Insurance Company collects personal information only for the following purposes:

Principle #3: Obtaining Your Consent for the Collection, Use or Disclosure of Personal Information
The Carleton Mutual Insurance Company will make a reasonable effort to make sure that our customers understand and consent to how their personal information will be used by the Company.

Principle #4: Limiting Our Collection of Personal Information
We will always limit the collection of personal information to that which is necessary for the identified purposes. Typically, this is information that is required to enable us to underwrite your policy of insurance and charge a fair premium. We may need to collect personal information from other sources including credit bureaus.

Principle #5: Limiting the Use, Disclosure and Retention of Personal Information
Personal information will not be used or disclosed for purposes other than for which it was collected, except with your consent or as permitted or required by law. Your personal information will be retained only as long as it is necessary to fulfill those purposes.

Principle #6: Keeping Your Personal Information Accurate
The Carleton Mutual Insurance Company makes every effort to ensure that personal information about its customers is as accurate, complete, and up-to-date as is necessary for the purposes for which it was collected.

Principle #7: Safeguarding Your Personal Information
The Carleton Mutual Insurance Company takes steps to protect personal information with security safeguards appropriate to the sensitivity of the information.

Principle #8: Openness Concerning our Privacy Practices
The Carleton Mutual Insurance Company pursues a policy of openness about the procedures it uses to manage personal information. We will make specific information about our policies and practices relating to the management of their personal information available to customers upon request.

Principle #9: Customer Access to personal Information
The Carleton Mutual Insurance Company informs its customers of the existence, use, and disclosure of their personal information upon request and provides access to that information. Our customers are able to challenge or correct the accuracy and completeness of their personal information and have it amended when appropriate.

Principle #10: Challenging Compliance
A customer has the right to challenge the Carleton Mutual Insurance Company’s compliance with the above principles by contacting the privacy officer accountable for our compliance with the policy.

Our privacy officer will investigate all complaints concerning compliance with the privacy policy. If a complaint is found to be justified, we will take appropriate measures to resolve the complaint including the amendment of our policies and procedures.

In exceptional circumstances, the privacy officer accountable for compliance with our privacy policy may seek external legal advice where appropriate before providing a final response to individual complaints.

For Further Information
For more information, please contact our privacy officer directly through our Website or by calling the Company Head Office.

Carleton Mutual Insurance Company
Telephone: (506) 392-6041