Our Privacy Policy
Protecting the confidentiality of your personal information has always been an important part of the way we do business. To ensure that we continue to protect your privacy, Red River Mutual has created a personal information protection policy. This policy 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 any factual or subjective information about an identifiable person. This may include information in any form that could identify you as a specific individual.
“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.
Red River Mutual is conscious of the importance of maintaining the privacy of the Personal Information of our customers. The Federal Government has passed the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (commonly referred to as PIPEDA) to ensure that an individual’s Personal Information is not misused. This legislation establishes rules and principles for the collection, use and disclosure of Personal Information based on the ten privacy principles.
These principles recognize that we live in an era when commercial information may be 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 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. Our policy sets out these principles in simple terms. It explains how we ensure that your privacy and the confidentiality of your Personal Information are protected.
We encourage you to check this policy regularly for changes or updates to our Personal Information handling practices.
The following ten privacy principles embody the intent of this legislation and have been adopted by us:
Principle #1: Accountability
As our Customer, you have a right to expect that your insurer is accountable for the Personal Information it collects and uses.
We are responsible for personal Information under our control and have designated a Privacy Officer to ensure that our entire operation complies with the requirements of the privacy legislation. Their role is to oversee the practices related to the collection, use and disclosure of your Personal Information. Their contact information can be found below.
To help ensure the confidentiality of your Personal Information we have established policies and procedures governing how we handle your Personal Information. Every employee and third party that Red River Mutual uses is responsible for respecting and protecting the Personal Information that they have access to. If you have any questions or inquiries about how your Personal Information is stored, or when it may need to be disclosed to others, our Privacy Officer is there to assist and explain our policies to you.
Principle #2: Identifying Purposes
Before or when we collect information, we will identify the purposes for which personal information is collected at or before the time the information is collected. We may use your Personal Information for the following purposes:
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- To provide ongoing management of products and service to our customer.
- To help us understand our customer’s needs better to enhance, market or provide insurance products and services, or education that may interest you.
- To enable us to assess your application, or renewal for insurance policies to underwrite your policy of insurance and set premium.
- To provide us with the information that we need to review and pay claims in a fair and expeditious way.
- To confirm your identity, protect against fraud and manage our risk.
- To operate our business efficiently with contract to third parties that help us carry out parts of our business. A description of the types of third parties that we share your information with is set out in Principle 5.
- To make changes to our business in connection with the sale, or reorganization of some or all parts of Red River Mutual for the purpose of conducting due diligence reviews and analyzing the proposals.
- To communicate and maintain records of communication with you by telephone, email, mail, chatbot, or SMS/text or other means.
- To meet our legal and regulatory requirements under the Insurance Act and other statutes.
Principle #3: Consent
We will only collect, use or disclose your Personal Information with your knowledge and consent, as defined in the legislation. When you apply for a product or service with us, we obtain your consent to collect, use and disclose your Personal Information as may be set out in the application and other documents you submit to us, and in this Privacy Policy. We 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.
In certain circumstances, however, Personal Information may need to be collected, used or disclosed without the knowledge and consent of the individual. For example, legal, medical, or security reasons may make it impossible or impractical to seek consent.
The Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act recognizes that when information is being collected for the detection and prevention of fraud or for law enforcement, seeking the consent of an individual may defeat the purpose of collecting the information. Seeking consent may also be impossible or inappropriate when the individual is a minor, seriously ill, or mentally incapacitated.
In obtaining your consent, we will always use reasonable efforts to ensure that you are advised of the identified purposes for which any personal information collected will be used or disclosed.
If you wish to withdraw your consent, you can Contact Us. Please note that if we are required to collect, use or disclose Personal Information because of a legal obligation, you cannot withdraw your consent for us to do so. In addition, your withdrawal of consent for certain collections, uses or disclosures may mean that we cannot provide you with the products and services that you have requested from us.
Principle #4: Limiting Collection
We will limit the collection, disclosure and retention of personal information to that which is necessary for our defined purposes. This information is required to enable us to underwrite your policy of insurance and charge premium. All information will be collected by fair and lawful means that is reasonable for one or more of the purposes set out in Principle 2 above.
For example:
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- Contact information.
We collect information including your address, telephone number and email address so that we can establish and maintain contact with you. - Information you provide about others.
We may require information about third parties such as additional insureds, and others that are connected to your insurance policy. You must have their permission to give us their information and you need to let them know how we use their information before providing it to us. - Anti-crime and anti-fraud information.
We collect information that you or third parties provide us that establishes your identity (such as driver’s licenses, birth certificates and passports) and other related information (such as addresses, telephone numbers, email addresses and signatures) that allow us to verify that you are not suspected or a victim of fraud, other criminal offences or suspicious transactions, and that your details do not appear on politically exposed persons and sanctions lists issued by governments and intergovernmental organizations. - Financial information.
We may collect certain financial information, including but not limited to credit score from other sources, including credit bureaus, to ensure that any products and services we provide you with are appropriate and suitable for you, and to assess your application and pay claims. - Property information.
We collect certain information concerning your property from you or third parties such government and civic authorities, as well as private service providers to determine eligibility and pricing for our insurance products, process claims, detect and prevent fraud, and manage our risk. - Our correspondence.
We collect correspondence between you and us, including email, mail, customer feedback tools and processes, and recordings of telephone calls where you have been notified that the call may be recorded, to manage our business, our regulatory obligations and our relationship with you, for training purposes, to detect and prevent fraud, and to manage risk. - Device, Website, Application, Email & System Information.
We may collect information about your operating system, websites, mobile, browser, software applications, IP address, geolocation, security status and other device information to improve your online experience with us, to detect and prevent fraud, and to manage risk. as well as other data gathered from the use of web tools (for example, cookies, web beacons, tagging) to better understand your behaviour, interests and needs so that we can serve you better. For more information on our use of cookies, please see our Cookie Policy.
- Contact information.
Principle #5: Limiting Use, Disclosure and Retention
Personal information will not be used or disclosed for purposes other than for which it was collected, or as otherwise identified in this policy. We may disclose your Personal Information to the following types of organizations for the purposes noted below:
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- Regulatory and law enforcement.
We may disclose your Personal Information to third parties, including regulatory or law enforcement authorities, anti-money laundering, anti-terrorist and anti-fraud organizations in cases of suspected criminal or other illegal activity, to detect and prevent fraud, or where we are otherwise required to satisfy a legal obligation that has been placed on us, such as in the case of a court order. - Service providers.
We use third parties to provide certain products and services on our behalf, or to enable us to offer and provide our products and services to you. These third parties may include other:
- Regulatory and law enforcement.
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- insurance carriers, reinsurers, agents and brokers;
- underwriting service providers;
- claims service providers, claims adjusters, examiners, investigators;
- specialty service providers such as fire, or forensic experts and engineers;
- property repairers, construction contractors and remediation companies;
- property or service replacement providers;
- marketing and communications providers;
- market and customer satisfaction researchers;
- materials storage and archiving service providers;
- data analytics, data processing, accounting, financial, actuarial or statistical function services;
- cloud service providers; and
- public authorities where required to comply with legal and regulatory requirements including, lawyers and investigators.
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These affiliates or third parties are only provided with the Personal Information that is needed to perform the services we have contracted with them for. We do not provide or sell our customer lists to any outside company for use in marketing or solicitation.
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- Business sale or reorganization.
From time to time, we may sell or reorganize parts of our business. The Personal Information that is associated with any parts of the business that is being sold or reorganized will be reviewed as part of a due diligence process and on the completion of the sale or reorganization, will be transferred to the new owner. - Transfers outside of Canada.
Given the global nature of information processing, the organizations that we disclose Personal Information to are sometimes located outside of Canada, and as a result, all or part of your Personal Information may be transferred outside of the country. It is possible that the third parties that we transfer your Personal Information to may be located in jurisdictions that do not have laws offering the same level of protection as your jurisdiction. However, regardless of the location of the third party, we will put measures in place to protect your Personal Information, including agreements which hold the third parties to standards of confidentiality and security concerning your Personal Information that are similar to the standards that we adhere to.
- Business sale or reorganization.
Our retention periods for Personal Information are based on our business needs and legal requirements. We retain Personal Information for as long as is necessary for the processing purpose(s) that we collected it for, and any other permissible, related purpose. For example, we may retain certain transaction details and correspondence until the time limit for claims arising from the transaction has expired, or to comply with regulatory requirements regarding the retention of such information. When Personal Information is no longer needed, we either anonymize it or we will use appropriate methods for its disposal or destruction.
Principle #6: Accuracy
Red River Mutual shall make every effort to ensure that Personal information shall be as accurate, complete and up to date as is necessary for the purpose for which it is used. This may require contact with your insurance broker to confirm or update personal information required for underwriting purposes. In addition, the Insurance Act and the terms and conditions of your policy of insurance may require you to notify us of material changes to your Personal Information. If you have any questions about the accuracy and completeness of the personal information that we have collected or retained, please do not hesitate to contact us. If you need to update some aspect of your Personal Information, please contact your insurance broker or agent directly.
Principle #7: Safeguards
Personal Information shall be protected by security safeguards appropriate to the sensitivity of the information. We use a range of safeguards to protect your Personal Information., including physical, organizational and technological measures. Specifically, we have stringent security measures in place to protect Personal Information against such risks as loss or theft, computer hackers, unauthorized access, disclosure, copying, use, modification, or destruction. We also protect personal information we disclose to third parties by contractual agreements stipulating the confidentiality and safeguarding of the information and the purposes for which it is to be used. All employees are trained on the importance of safeguarding your Personal Information and are bound by a privacy & confidentiality policy within the workplace.
Principle #8: Openness
We will make specific information about our policies and practices relating to the management of Personal Information readily available to our Customers. We pursue a policy of openness about the procedures we use 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.
We ensure openness by providing you with the following information:
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- The contact information, including phone, address, and email to reach the Privacy Officer accountable for our compliance with the policy
- The name of the individual to whom inquiries or complaints can be forwarded
- The means of gaining access to Personal Information held by Red River Mutual
- A description of the type of personal information held by Red River Mutual including a general account of its use
We make information available to help our customers exercise informed choices regarding the use of their Personal Information. From time to time, we may make changes to this Privacy Policy. This Privacy Policy at https://redrivermutual.com/privacy-policy/ is always the most recent version.
Principle #9: Customer Access
Upon request, a Customer shall be informed of the existence, use and disclosure of his or her Personal Information and shall be given access to that information. A Customer shall be able to challenge the accuracy and completeness of the information and have it amended as appropriate.
If you wish to review, access or verify your Personal Information that we hold, or if you wish to find out who we have disclosed it to, you must provide us with your request in writing. When a request is made in writing, we will inform you in a timely fashion, of the existence, use, and disclosure of your Personal Information and you will be given access to that information. To safeguard your Personal Information, we may require you to provide sufficient identification information to permit us to authorize access to your file.
In certain situations, we may not be able to provide you with access to all the Personal Information we hold. Exceptions may include information that is prohibitively costly to provide, information that contains references to other individuals, information that cannot be disclosed for legal, security or commercial proprietary reasons, information that is subject to solicitor-client or litigation privilege, or, in certain circumstances, information of a medical nature. If this is the case, we will provide the reasons for denying access upon request. Customers can obtain information or seek access to their individual files by contacting our designated Privacy Officer at the address described below.
Principle #10: Challenging Compliance
A customer shall be able to challenge compliance with the above principles with our designated Privacy Officer. Our Privacy Officer oversees Red River Mutual’s compliance with this privacy policy and applicable legislation and regulations which govern the collection, use and disclosure of Personal Information. We maintain procedures for addressing and responding to all inquiries or complaints from our customers about our handling of Personal Information.
Our Privacy Officer will investigate and respond to 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.
Under certain 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.
If you have any questions or concerns about this privacy policy, our privacy practices, or the handling of your Personal Information please reach out for further information.
Further Information & Contact:
If you have a question or complaint regarding our privacy policies or procedures, you may contact the Privacy Officer below for more information.
Privacy Officer
Red River Mutual
245 Centre Avenue East
P.O. Box 940
Altona, Manitoba
R0G 0B0
Phone: 1-204-324-6434 or 1-800-370-2888
Email: privacyofficer@redrivermutual.com
Cookie Policy:
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