Life Design Systems Insurance Agency Limited Privacy Policy

Our Commitment to our customers, our MGA, and our insurance suppliers:  In order to provide our customers with access to insurance products and services, we collect certain personal information about our customers, generally on behalf of our insurance providers.   Our commitment goes beyond meeting legal requirements for protecting personal information.  The trust and confidence that our customers, MGA, and insurers hold in us, including our ability to protect the confidentiality of personal information and the privacy of the individuals who provide it, are critical to our success as a business.  This Policy applies to our employees and any third party service providers or representatives with which we contract.

Why we collect, use and retain personal information:

We act as an intermediary between our customers and the insurance companies with which we do business, providing insurance products and administrative services pursuant to written contracts.  Insurers’ privacy policies typically identify us as “service providers.”  Insurers require us to obtain, use and retain certain essential personal information about customers in order to determine the initial and ongoing suitability of insurance products to our customers.  This information includes financial and work history.

We obtain customer’s information in order to provide services and access to insurers’ products.  Our policies must meet the standards insurers establish in their own privacy policies. The personal information we collect from our customers and provide to our MGA and the insurer is essential information that the insurer uses for assessment in order to provide services and products that customers have requested.  This information is used to determine insurance risk, assess eligibility for products, to administer those products once purchased and to fulfill certain regulatory requirements.  This can include health information, financial information and history and information about avocations.  We retain some of this information in order to be able to administer business, provide ongoing service to customers and insurers and when we are required to do so by law.

Limiting collection:

We collect only the information we need to fulfill the requirements set out by our MGA and insurers and to meet our regulatory obligations.  We will use only fair and lawful means to collect this information.  We will collect information only with consent.

How we collect customers’ information:

Wherever possible, we collect customers’ information directly from the customer as their authorized representative.  Information may be obtained through government agencies, other insurers and financial institutions.  We collect any required health information about customers directly from the customer.  Our third party service providers and other authorized representatives may also collect this information on our behalf.

Consent:

We obtain consent from our customers in order to support our sales activities.  The customer consent that we receive also includes consent to provide personal information to our MGA and the insurers, which allows us to fulfill our contractual obligations to the insurer. If we receive notice from an insurer that a customer has withdrawn consent for the continued use and retention of personal information, we will take whatever steps are necessary to adhere to the Act.  This may require termination of our relationship with the producer.  We will act on whatever instructions we receive from the insurer regarding the customer’s status.

Limits on use and disclosure:

We will use and disclose personal information to perform our contractual duties, to provide you with information and when we are required to do so by law. We may disclose this personal information to our employees or service providers so that they can perform their duties, to insurers and any person or organization to which consent has been given and where authorized by law.  Where personal information is provided to service providers, we require them to protect that information consistent with our policies and practices.

We may also use personal information to offer products and services that we believe will interest customers but we will never give or sell personal information to third parties for marketing purposes.

Limits on retention of information:

We will retain personal information in our records only as long as it is needed for the purposes identified, or as legally required or permitted.

Accuracy of information:

It is our responsibility to keep personal information about the customer as accurate and up-to-date as possible.  The insurer is responsible for providing us with notices of changes that they receive directly.  An individual may challenge the completeness and accuracy of his/her personal information that we hold.   We will make any necessary corrections to information about a customer that is shown to be incomplete or inaccurate and we will notify any third parties, including insurers, if we make such corrections.

Customers may gain access to their personal information we hold by making an access request to us and/or the insurer on whose behalf we hold the information.  In situations where a customer seeks corrections to information we hold, we will act on the instructions of the insurer(s) whose products are held and/or the customer, depending on the corrections required.   Any disagreement or discrepancy regarding accuracy will be documented.

Protecting personal information:

We will protect personal information from unauthorized access or use by ensuring that safeguards are in place, including physical security measures for our locations, operational policies, procedures and access protocols and technological measures for our computer systems.  We will use safeguards to prevent unauthorized access to personal information during the destruction process.

Contact Us:  If you have any questions or concerns regarding this Policy or how we manage your personal information, please contact our Privacy Compliance Officer.  Please note that a complaint should be directed in writing.

Contact the Privacy Commissioner of Canada:  The Commissioner encourages individuals to attempt to discuss concerns directly with the organization first.    Hours of service are from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Toll-free: 1-800-282-1376

Phone: (613) 947-1698

Fax: (613) 947-6850

TTY: (613) 992-9190