The Canadian branch of Ecclesiastical (referred to as “Ecclesiastical”, “we”, “our”, or “us”) is committed to the privacy and confidentiality of information that you provide to us. The Privacy Policy describes our current policies and practices with regard to personal information collected, used and disclosed by us.

Please take your time to read these Privacy Principles carefully. When using an Ecclesiastical website, these Privacy Principles should be read alongside the website terms of use.

1

About Us

Ecclesiastical is a specialist insurer of faith, heritage, fine art, charity and education. Ecclesiastical offers its products to churches, charities and companies.

Providing insurance services means that we need to collect and process personal information so that we can provide you with a quote, insurance and where relevant, handle any claims or complaints that might arise.

We are a branch of Ecclesiastical Insurance Office Public Limited Company (the “Ecclesiastical Group”), which offers products and services to many types of consumers and clients in different countries around the world. Therefore, differing companies of the Ecclesiastical Group may adopt differing privacy practices to fit their own jurisdiction and business requirements.

2

Our collection and use of your personal information

Depending on our relationship with you (for example if you are a policyholder, individual named on a policy, claimant, witness, a third party pursued for a recovery, broker or third party) and the nature of services we are providing you with, we will collect different types of personal information about you and use it for different purposes.

For the purposes of these Privacy Principles, personal information means information about an identifiable individual. For example:

  • Name and contact information
  • Personal identification information, such as address, date of birth, age, gender, family and marital status
  • Identity information if necessary, including marriage certificate, change of name documentation, and documents such as passport and driver’s licence
  • Relationship to a policyholder or claimant
  • Medical and health information
  • Employment information
  • Financial and credit information, such as credit scores
  • Previous insurance and claims data history
  • Payment or banking information

3

Information we collect and how we collect it

The information we collect depends on the insurance products you apply for and buy, the services you have access to and use, the payment method you use, and the way you communicate with us. We collect information in a number of ways:

3.1

Information you give to us

We collect personal information from you when you inquire about our insurance policies, request a quote, request information about a broker, apply for insurance, make a payment, or open a claim under your insurance policy.

3.2

Information we get from third parties

We also collect information from a number of third parties as permitted by law. These include policyholders, insurance agents and brokers, government bodies, consumer reporting agencies, insurance adjusters, and other third parties who can provide information about or services related to you or your property. When we do so, we do it with your consent, or otherwise confirm the third party lawfully collected the information and can share it with us. This information includes personal information such as (but not limited to):

  • Claims history
  • Credit information
  • Accident reports
  • Witness statements
  • Medical records

3.3

Calls, online chats, and other communications

We may record calls, online chats and other communications between us to ensure quality customer service, confirm our discussions and your instructions, resolve complaints, and train our staff. If you do not want your communications recorded, you can do business with us by visiting one of our offices, or by writing or emailing us.

3.4

Cookies, web beacons, and other technologies

We may use cookies, web beacons and other technologies to identify you on our website, to gather information about how you use our website, and to enable our and third party web-based services. For information about the cookies, web beacons and other technologies we use, and how to disable these, visit our website terms and conditions. However, if you disable these, you may not be able to successfully access parts of our website.

3.5

Consenting for others

We may ask you for information about other persons covered by your insurance (for example, a beneficiary). When you give us information about another person, we expect you to ask for their permission to do this and consent to these Privacy Principles on their behalf.

4

Why we collect, use and disclose information

We collect, use and disclose personal information for a number of reasons including to:

  • serve you better and communicate effectively with you;
  • verify your identity and property;
  • evaluate, monitor and assess your insurance needs;
  • assess and underwrite insurance risks;
  • determine prices, fees and premiums;
  • handle insurance claims;
  • investigate and adjust insurance claims;
  • settle or arrange for the settlement of insurance claims, including structured settlements;
  • promote and market products and services offered by us, our affiliates, or our strategic partners and alliances, which may include insurance companies, insurance brokers, agents, adjusters and other intermediaries;
  • conduct market research;
  • recognize and deliver relevant ads to you on our and third party websites and apps;
  • verify and provide information to and compile statistics for insurance industry databases;
  • report to regulatory or industry entities consistent with prudent and legally required insurance industry practices, including claims history;
  • detect, prevent and suppress fraud, unauthorized, or illegal activities;
  • comply with all applicable laws, including tax requirements;
  • share your information with third party service providers for external processing such as data or payment processing;
  • share your information among other companies in the Ecclesiastical Group for any of the above purposes in appropriate circumstances.

5

What marketing activities do we carry out?

We may use your personal information to provide you with information about our services where you are an existing client, policyholder or where you have provided your consent for us to do so.

We are committed to only sending you marketing emails that you have clearly expressed an interest in receiving. If you no longer wish to receive information from us and want to be removed from our standard mailing list you can “unsubscribe” by clicking the link that appears in all such emails or by mail using the details set out below in the section called “Contacting us”. Please note that by stopping these communications you may not hear about a new product or services or additions to our insurance that may save you money.

Please note that, even if you opt out of receiving marketing messages, we may still send you communications which are relevant to the type of services we provide you with.

6

When we disclose information

When we disclose your personal information to third parties, we require them to protect and handle your personal information in a manner consistent with our privacy practices and all applicable laws.

These third parties may at times process and store your information outside of Canada. If your personal information is processed or stored in a foreign country, it will be subject to that country’s laws and may be disclosed in accordance with those laws. If you would like to obtain more information about our use of third parties located outside of Canada, please contact us using the details set out set out below in the section called “Contacting us”.

If we enter talks about a merger, acquisition or asset sale with a third party, we may share your personal information with them as necessary to assess or complete the business transaction. If your information will be subject to new privacy practices as a result of a business transaction, we will give you notice of this.

7

How long do we keep personal information for?

We will only keep your personal information for as long as reasonably necessary to fulfil the purposes set out in section 4 above and to comply with our legal and regulatory obligations.

If you would like further information about how long we will keep your personal information for, please contact us using the details set out set out below in the section called “Contacting us”.

8

How do we protect your information?

We implement and maintain appropriate technical and organizational measures to safeguard the personal information that is stored at our offices or on our systems and networks. These include but are not limited to the following:

  • We adopt a framework of information security controls operating at different levels within the company to restrict access and safeguard systems, including the coordinated use of multiple security controls to protect the integrity of the information and assets in the company’s IT network.
  • We have an established, documented information security framework which is regularly reviewed to consider changes in technology, regulations and threats.
  • We maintain encryption technologies to encrypt personal information stored on portable computers and portable media, and ensure security when personal information is transferred.
  • We maintain awareness and education on information security and data protection in all areas of our business.
  • We conduct risk based due diligence on our suppliers.
  • We operate a program of testing the effectiveness of our information security measures.

9

How to correct and access your information

You have the right to request correction of your personal information where necessary so that it is up to date, complete and accurate. We encourage you to ensure that your personal information is accurate so please regularly let us know if you believe that the information we hold about you may be inaccurate or not complete.

You also have a right to access your personal information under our control, subject to any legal restrictions or rights of refusal. Your personal information will normally be provided to you in writing unless you request otherwise or where you have made a request by electronic means such as email, we will provide such information in electronic form where possible. If you exercise this access right, we may charge you a reasonable fee for copying and sending the information from your file.

If you want to access your file or have it corrected, please contact us using the details set out set out below in the section called “Contacting us”.

10

How to withdraw your consent

Where we rely on consent as the legal ground to use your personal information, you are entitled to withdraw that original consent, subject to certain limitations.

Please note that for certain uses of your personal information, we need your consent in order to provide your policy. If you exercise this right and withdraw your consent, we may need to cancel your policy or we may not be able to pay your claim. We will inform you of these consequences when you withdraw your consent.

If you want to withdraw your consent, please contact us using the details set out set out below in the section called “Contacting us”.

11

Contacting us

If you would like further information about the ways we use your personal information, further clarity on how we use your personal information or anything referred to in these Privacy Principles, please contact our Privacy Officer at:

Privacy Officer
Ecclesiastical Insurance Office Public Limited Company
2200-100 Wellington St W
Toronto, ON M5K 1K2

1-416-484-4924
hkasimov@eccles-ins.com

If you have a concern we are not able to resolve, you have the right to contact your privacy regulator. Our Privacy Officer will give you this contact information upon request.

12

Updates to these Privacy Principles

We may update these Privacy Principles from time to time so please review it often. If we update these Privacy Principles, we will post the most recent version on this website.

Updated: January 29, 2020