Privacy Policy

We Care About Your Privacy

South Western Insurance Group is committed to protecting the privacy and the confidentiality of referring Brokers and their Insureds’ and Applicant’s personal information. To comply with privacy legislation, we have developed this Privacy Policy.

South Western Insurance Group includes wholly owned subsidiaries including Optisure Underwriting Services and SWG Specialty Underwriting Services Ltd.

DEFINITIONS

All bolded words are specifically defined as follows:

Applicant(s): All references to Applicant in this policy refer to an individual or entity who applies for insurance coverage by signing an application for insurance which is submitted to South Western Insurance Group through an independent Broker. The Applicant provides personal, financial and risk-related information necessary for South Western Insurance Group to assess the eligibility and terms of coverage. The Applicant will have signed a consent allowing for the processing of their personal information.

Brokers: All references to Brokers in this policy refer to independent brokers who solicit insurance coverage from a company under the umbrella of South Western Insurance Group. Brokers referred to herein are not employed by South Western Insurance Group or any of its affiliates.

Insured: Any individual or entity covered by an insurance policy issued by South Western Insurance Group.

Personal Information: Any personally identifiable information about an Insured or Applicant is considered personal information and will be treated in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

IDENTIFIED PURPOSES

South Western Insurance Group only collects, uses and discloses Personal Information provided by you in your application form for the following purposes:

• Offering and providing insurance and related products and services.
• Verifying the identity and the accuracy of personal information with government agencies, industry associations, or other Insurers.
• Analyzing, assessing and underwriting risks on a prudent basis.
• Investigation and the payment of claims.
• Detecting and preventing fraud or other illegal activities.
• Compiling statistics.
• Complying with the laws or the requests of law enforcement agencies or regulators.

In this Privacy Policy, the above list of Identified Purposes will be referred to as the ‘Identified Purposes’

HOW WE COLLECT YOUR INFORMATION

You provide information when filling our application forms, including details specific to the type of insurance applied for. During the underwriting process we may require and ask you for additional personal information or verification documents to ensure accurate risk assessment and policy pricing. We may also gather additional information through third parties such as credit bureaus, public records or industry databases.

Categories of persons at South Western Insurance Group having access to the Personal Information of an Applicant or Insured include underwriters, IT professionals and claims handlers  employed by South Western Insurance Group.

THIRD PARTY DISCLOSURE

South Western Insurance Group may share information about Applicants or Insureds with third party companies as permitted by law. Depending upon the specific context, such disclosures may include those that are required to provide customer service, prevent fraud, compile statistics or comply with the law. Recipients may include South Western Insurance Group’s family of insurance service companies and claims representatives, service providers, consumer reporting agencies, insurance agents and Brokers, cloud storage providers, affiliated insurance companies, reinsurers, IT service providers, law enforcement, courts and government agencies. These parties may disclose the information to others as permitted by law.

South Western Insurance Group ensures that all personal information is encrypted during transmission and at rest, with access restricted to authorized personnel only. Additional safeguards, such as secure access control, regular audits, and adherence to industry-standard cybersecurity practices, are in place to prevent unauthorized access or breaches.

CONSENT

South Western Group relies on the following actions by referring Brokers as indication of consent from an Applicant or Insured to our Personal Information practices:

• The Broker has voluntarily requested personal information from an applicant for the purpose of acquiring an insurance contract or related service or product.
• The Broker obtains the Applicant’s express consent or acknowledgement contained within a written, verbal or electronic application process.
• The Applicant’s consent is solicited by our Companies under the umbrella of the South Western Insurance Group or referring Brokers for a specified purpose.
• The Broker must provide the Applicant with a copy of their privacy policy and must inform South Western Insurance Group of any withdrawal of this consent by an Applicant or Insured;
• The Broker may obtain the Applicant’s consent through the Applicant’s authorized representative such as a legal guardian, agent or holder of a power of attorney.

An Applicant has the right to refuse to provide requested information or the right to withdraw their consent to South Western Insurance Group’s use of their personal information  however if an Applicant refuses to provide certain Personal Information or withdraws their consent, South Western Insurance Group may be unable to provide insurance coverage.

TYPES OF PERSONAL INFORMATION COLLECTED

Personal information is data about an “identifiable individual”. It is information that on its own or combined with other pieces of data, can identify you as an individual.

The personal information collected for each Identified Purpose varies based on the type of insurance applied for but includes personal identifiers (names, addresses, SIN numbers, driver licenses, etc.), financial data, insurance history, and claims-related information.

LIMITING COLLECTION AND RETENTION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION

South Western Insurance Group will only collect, use or disclose personal information that is necessary for the Identified Purposes or as required by law. We will retain personal information only as long as necessary for the fulfillment of the Identified Purposes.

STORAGE AND TRANSFERS OUTSIDE OF CANADA

South Western Insurance Group may store certain data in jurisdictions outside of Canada and may share information with third party companies that are located outside of Canada.

ACCURACY

South Western Insurance Group requests that referring Brokers maintain the Applicant’s and Insured‘s Personal Information as accurate, complete, and up-to-date as is necessary for the Identified Purposes.

SAFEGUARDS

South Western Insurance Group will protect the Applicant’s and Insured’s Personal Information by security safeguards appropriate to the sensitivity of the information. Safeguards will vary depending on the sensitivity, format, location and storage of the Personal Information.

ACCOUNTABILITY, OPENNESS AND ACCESS

Individuals have the right to request access to their personal information held by South Western Insurance Group and the right to request corrections to their Personal Information if they believe it is inaccurate or incomplete by making a formal, written request to our Privacy Officer noted below..

South Western Insurance Group is responsible for all Personal Information under its control and has designated a Privacy Officer who is accountable to Senior Management for South Western’s compliance with the Privacy Policy.

You may contact our Privacy Officer at PrivacyOfficer@swgins.com.

CHALLENGING COMPLIANCE

If you are not satisfied with South Western’s response to a privacy related inquiry or complaint, you may contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada during business hours at 1-800-282-1376 or at https://www.priv.gc.ca/en/.