Privacy

Canada’s Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (“PIPEDA”) and  various provincial legislation (“privacy legislation”) govern the protection of Personal Information. Beacon Insurance is committed to protecting the privacy and confidentiality of your Personal Information in accordance with privacy legislation and the ten privacy principles set out in PIPEDA.

“Personal Information” means any information about an individual and includes name, address, home telephone number, marital status, birth date, work history, liabilities, assets, income, banking records, health records, claims history and other information of a personal nature.

Accountability 

Beacon Insurance is responsible for the protection of Personal Information in its possession, including any personal information that has been transferred to a third party for regulatory, legal or processing purposes.

Compliance with the privacy principles apply for all of the employees within Beacon Insurance who is responsible for the day-to-day collection and processing of personal Information.

Identifying Purposes 

Beacon Insurance collects, uses, and discloses personal Information, including to and from the affiliate company’s subsidiaries or third parties for the following purposes:

to process requested products or services including; applications, premiums, communication, claims, underwriting, FINTRAC, fraud, transaction types, and customer complaints. In addition, all employee compensation, benefits personal and employment matters. To accurately assess and determine which insurance products and related services will meet the needs and specific requirements of each of our customers.

Consent 

Beacon Insurance will collect, use, or disclose Personal Information with the knowledge and consent of the individual, except where inappropriate.

Consent can be implied, such as when you provide your name, phone number and address in order for us to provide you with services. Express consent may be oral, in writing or electronic, and in some jurisdictions may be given by your authorized representative (such as your lawyer, a legal guardian or a person having a power of attorney). Implied consent is inferred from the circumstances, including the relationship between the parties and the nature of the interaction. For example, when you contact an insurance company to obtain information about coverage.

In certain circumstances, as permitted or required by law, Beacon Insurance  may collect, use or disclose Personal Information without the knowledge or consent of the individual, such as where Personal Information is subject to solicitor- client privilege or is publicly available as defined by regulation, where collection or use is clearly in the interests of the individual and consent cannot be obtained in a timely way, to investigate a breach of an agreement or a contravention of a law, to act in response to an emergency that threatens the life, health or security of an individual, for debt collection or to comply with a subpoena, warrant or court order.

By providing information about a third party, such as a family member, director, officer, or employees, you represent that you have obtained that person’s consent to the collection, use and disclosure in accordance with this policy. You may choose to withhold or withdraw consent; however, this may affect the ability of Beacon Insurance to provide the service. Where the withdrawal or withholding of consent prevents Beacon Insurance from providing adequate customer service, Beacon Insurance  may be unable to process the services for an existing policy.

Limiting Collection of Personal Information 

Beacon Insurance will only collect from you (or other sources) Personal Information that is necessary for the identified purposes. Personal Information will only be collected by fair and lawful means.

Personal Information will not be used or disclosed for purposes other than those for which it was collected, except with the consent of the individual or as required by law. Personal Information will be retained only as long as necessary to fulfill those purposes.
Beacon Insurance will explain that the exchange of Personal Information with financial companies as necessary for insurers to assess your risk profile and provide an accurate quotation regarding the cost of the policy being considered. An application form is used by all insurance companies and is approved by provincial insurance regulators.

Limiting Use, Disclosure and Retention of Personal Information 

Beacon Insurance will not use or disclose Personal Information for purposes other than those for which it was collected, except with the consent of the individual or as required by law. Beacon Insurance discloses or transfers Personal Information to third parties, including related or unrelated companies (“service providers”) that carry out certain functions on its behalf such as order fulfillment, data processing, the administration, investigation and processing of claims and storage.

Beacon Insurance retains Personal Information only as long as necessary to accomplish the identified purposes or satisfy our legal or business obligations.
Beacon Insurance never sells Personal Information, or other information relating to you, to any organization, including charities or direct marketing groups.

Accuracy 

Beacon Insurance will use its best efforts to ensure that Personal Information is as accurate, complete and up-to-date as is necessary for the identified purposes.

Safeguards 

Beacon Insurance will protect Personal Information with safeguards appropriate to the sensitivity of the information.
The methods of protection will include physical measures (for example, locked filing cabinets and restricted access to offices), organizational measures (for example, security clearances and limiting access on a “need-to-know” basis) and technological measures (for example, the use of passwords and encryption). However, your use of the internet and electronic mail is at your own risk.

Openness 

Beacon Insurance will make the following information available: how to gain access to Personal Information, the type of Personal Information held by Beacon Insurance and what Personal Information is made available to related entities, a general account of the use of Personal Information, general information concerning our policies respecting Personal Information.This Privacy Policy may change from time to time. You can view the latest version by visiting www.beaconinsurance.ca. Your continued consent to our collection, use and disclosure practices following notification of any material change and/or your continued access to our website following the posting of any changes to this Privacy Policy shall constitute your acceptance of those changes.

Individual Access 

Upon written request, Beacon Insurance will inform you of the existence, use and disclosure of your Personal Information and give you access to that Personal Information. If you would like to make such a request, please contact Beacon Insurance. Please note that Beacon Insurance may charge reasonable costs in providing access to and copies of Personal Information and will inform you if such costs arise.
Beacon Insurance may refuse a request or be unable to provide access to all the Personal Information as permitted or required by law. Examples include: information that contains references to other individuals or contains confidential commercial information, where such information cannot be severed from the record; information collected in the course of investigating a breach of an agreement or in the course of a formal dispute resolution process; and information that is subject to solicitor-client privilege.

Challenging Compliance 

Any customer of Beacon Insurance may challenge Beacon Insurance ‘s compliance with this Privacy Policy by contacting Beacon Insurance directly. Beacon Insurance has policies and procedures to receive, investigate and respond to individuals’ complaints and questions.

If you are not satisfied with our response, you may contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada or your provincial privacy commissioner, if applicable.

Last updated: February 2019