The Canadian Bar Insurance Association (“CBIA”) and its subsidiary, Lawyers Financial Advisory Services Inc. (“LFAS,” which together with CBIA is collectively referred to in this policy as “us,” “our” or “we”) are committed to protecting the Personal Information (defined below) of our clients (“you” or “your”). This Privacy Policy sets out our principles and practices with respect to the handling of your Personal Information, which is based on the privacy principles set out in the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (Canada), as well as applicable provincial privacy laws.
Lawyers Financial is a trademark of CBIA.
Protection of Personal Information
This Privacy Policy is part of our commitment to respect your privacy and ensure that all Personal Information in our possession is protected and used in accordance with the law. Regardless of how the services and products we offer expand and the technology we use changes, we remain committed to protecting your Personal Information.
We partner with some of Canada’s most respected insurance and investment companies (including their affiliates), insurance advisors, sales representatives, agents and brokers (collectively, “Partners”) to sponsor and provide comprehensive, affordable insurance and financial products. This Privacy Policy only applies to Personal Information that we collect, use and disclose, and does not apply to personal information that is collected, used or disclosed by any of our Partners. We are not responsible or liable for the privacy practices, content, or activities of any of our Partners. We strongly recommend that you review the privacy policies that are applicable to our Partners before you disclose any Personal Information to them. Click here for further information concerning the privacy policies of our Partners.
What is Personal Information?
We consider “Personal Information” to mean any information, provided and recorded in any form, verbally or in writing (including via electronic media), about an identified individual or an individual whose identity may be inferred or determined from such information and may encompass most types of information such an individual’s address, personal telephone number, date of birth, family status, marital status, occupation, financial history, driver’s license, driving record information, mortgage and loan details, previous insurance experience, claims history, driving record, policy number and vehicle identity number.
Personal Information does not, however, include business contact information such as name, title, business address, telephone number or email address that is collected, used or disclosed solely for the purpose of communicating with that person in relation to their employment or profession.
This Privacy Policy does not apply to de-identified data, which is information that is not traceable to an identifiable individual. We retain the right to use such de-identified data in any way that we determine appropriate.
Why CBIA May Collect and Use Personal Information
We may collect your Personal Information directly from you, from our Partners or from any person that you may have authorized to disclose your Personal Information to us. We may use your Personal Information in order to:
- (a) provide you with our products and services;
- (b) act as a liaison between you and our Partners;
- (c) perform various functions relating to the products and services we sponsor or provide, including the collection of premiums on behalf of insurers;
- (d) manage our relationship with, among others, our clients and Partners;
- (e) meet legal and regulatory requirements;
- (f) monitor the competitiveness of rates and service provided by our Partners;
- (g) facilitate the renewal or transfer of your products, including an insurance policy we have arranged for you in the event that we choose to switch any of our Partners or contractors; and
- (h) such other uses consistent with these purposes.
The Personal Information we ask for will depend upon which service or products you inquire or apply for.
How we Collect and Use Personal Information
We only collect and use Personal Information for purposes that we believe would be considered reasonable in the circumstances and only such information as is required for the purposes of providing products, services or information to you, our clients.
Our use of Personal Information is limited to the purposes described in this policy and we will not sell, trade or barter your Personal Information to another party for consideration.
Except in connection with the provision of insurance products and services, investment and benefit administration, we do not knowingly collect Personal Information from anyone under the age of 18, especially children under 13, and do not use such information if we discover that it has been provided by a minor.
When we May Disclose Your Personal Information
We may disclose your Personal Information to:
- (a) our affiliates and Partners to provide you with various insurance and investment products and services;
- (b) individuals or organizations that assist us in providing you our products or services (“Third-Party Providers”) including but not limited to, the maintenance, review and development of our systems, processes and infrastructure, including the audit or improvement of our computer systems;
- (c) persons who you may specifically instruct us to disclose your Personal Information;
- (d) individuals or organizations involved in a transfer of all or part of our business or assets, including a transfer of some or all of our products or plans or a corporate re-organization of CBIA or LFAS.
We will not disclose your Personal Information unless it is required in order to provide you with products or services or to administer and manage our products and services.
CBIA and LFAS may exchange membership information between ourselves and with our affiliate, The Canadian Bar Association (“CBA”) for the purpose of allowing each of the parties to better serve their clients/members, and to provide clients/members with information about products and services that may be of interest to them. If you do not want your information to be shared with CBA, you may ask us not to do so as outlined below.
If we transfer or disclose Personal Information to Third-Party Providers, we will require such Third-Party Providers to use such Personal Information solely for the purposes of providing services to us or our clients and to have appropriate safeguards for the protection of such Personal Information.
Where Personal Information may be subject to transfer to another organization in contemplation of an amalgamation or merger of CBIA or LFAS or the transfer of a portion of assets or our products or services to another party, we will do this only if the parties have entered into an agreement under which the collection, use and disclosure of the information (including any Personal Information) is restricted to those purposes that relate to the proposed transaction, including a determination of whether or not to proceed with the transaction, and is to be used by the parties to carry out and complete the transaction.
Please note that there are circumstances where the use and/or disclosure of Personal Information may be justified or permitted or where we may be obliged to disclose information without your consent. Such circumstances may include:
- (a) where required by law or by order or requirement of a court, administrative agency or governmental tribunal;
- (b) where we believe, upon reasonable grounds, that it is necessary to protect the rights, privacy, safety or property of an identifiable person or group;
- (c) where it is necessary to establish or collect monies owing to us;
- (d) where it is necessary to permit us to pursue available remedies or limit any damages that we may sustain; or
- (e) where the information is public, as permitted by law.
Where obliged or permitted to disclose your Personal Information without consent, we will not disclose more information than is required.
Consent
Unless permitted by law, no Personal Information is collected, without first obtaining the consent of the individual concerned to the collection, use, disclosure, retention and dissemination of that information. However, we may seek consent to use and disclose Personal Information after it has been collected in those cases where we are required or wish to use the information for a purpose not identified in this Privacy Policy or not previously identified or for which the individual concerned has not previously consented.
This Privacy Policy is subject to change from time to time. The provision of Personal Information to us means that the person concerned agrees and consents that we may collect, use, disclose and retain their Personal Information in accordance with this Privacy Policy and, where appropriate, specific authorizations or consents may be obtained from time to time. Please ensure that you review this Privacy Policy regularly.
Opting Out
You have the option, upon reasonable advance notice and subject to legal and contractual restrictions, to refuse or withdraw your consent to the collection, use, disclosure or retention of your Personal Information.
It should be noted that in certain circumstances, products and services can only be offered if you provide Personal Information to us and allow us to continue to use that information. If you choose not to provide us with, or do not allow us to continue to use the required Personal Information to provide the product or service you have requested, we may not be able to offer such products or services and such products or services may need to be terminated as a result of the withdrawal of your consent.
If you require additional information with respect to the consequences of the withdrawal of your consent or do not wish us to share your Personal Information with our Partners, you may advise us by contacting our Privacy Office by sending an e-mail to privacyoffice@lawyersfinancial.ca or calling 1-800-267-2422.
The Accuracy and Retention of Personal Information
We endeavor to ensure that any Personal Information provided and in our possession is as accurate, current and complete as necessary for the purposes for which we use that information. If we become aware that Personal Information is inaccurate, incomplete or out of date, we will revise the Personal Information and, if necessary, use our best efforts to inform our Partners or Third-Party Providers which were provided with inaccurate information so that they may also correct their records.
We keep your Personal Information only as long as it is required for the reasons it was collected. The length of time we retain information varies, depending on the product or service and the nature of the information. This period may extend beyond the end of your relationship with us but it will be only for so long as it is necessary for us to have sufficient information to respond to any issues that may arise at a later date, in accordance with our document retention policies, and as required by law. When your Personal Information is no longer required for the purposes described in this policy, we have procedures to securely destroy, delete, erase or convert it into an anonymous form.
Currently, we store your Personal Information in Canada. However, our Partners and Third-Party Providers may transmit or store your Personal Information outside of Canada, and it may therefore be subject to the laws of that jurisdiction.
Safeguarding Personal Information
We endeavor to maintain appropriate physical, procedural and technical security with respect to our offices and information storage facilities so as to prevent any loss, misuse, unauthorized access, disclosure, or modification of your Personal Information. This also applies to our disposal or destruction of Personal Information.
We further protect your Personal Information by restricting access to it to those employees of CBIA, LFAS or our affiliates who need to know such information in order that we may provide our products, services or information to you.
We use contracts and other measures with our Partners, Third-Party Providers or any other outside suppliers to maintain the confidentiality and security of your Personal Information and to prevent it from being used for an unauthorized purpose.
If any of our employees misuses your Personal Information, this will be considered a serious offence for which disciplinary action may be taken, up to and including termination of employment.
Access to Your Personal Information
You can ask to review the Personal Information we have about you in our files. Requests must be made in writing and sent to us by letter to our physical address or through email, as provided below. We permit the reasonable right of access and review of Personal Information held by us about an individual and will endeavor to provide the information in question within a reasonable time, generally no later than 30 days following the request. To guard against fraudulent requests for access, we may require sufficient information to allow us to confirm that the person making the request is authorized to do so before granting access or making corrections.
We will provide information from our records in a form that is easy to understand. We reserve the right not to change any Personal Information but will append any alternative text the individual concerned believes to be appropriate.
We reserve the right to decline to provide access to Personal Information where the information requested:
- (a) Would disclose:
- (i) Personal Information, including opinions, about another individual or about a deceased individual; or
- (ii) trade secrets or other business confidential information that may harm us or the competitive position of a third party;
- (b) Would interfere with our contractual or other negotiations or those of a third party;
- (c) Is subject to solicitor-client or litigation privilege;
- (d) Is not readily retrievable and the burden or cost of providing would be disproportionate to the nature or value of the information;
- (e) Does not exist, is not held, or cannot be found by us;
- (f) Could reasonably result in:
- (i) serious harm to the treatment or recovery of the individual concerned,
- (ii) serious emotional harm to the individual concerned or another individual, or
- (iii) serious bodily harm to another individual;
- (g) May harm or interfere with law enforcement activities and other investigative or regulatory functions of a body authorized by law to perform such functions; or
- (h) May be withheld or is requested to be withheld under applicable legislation.
Where information will not or cannot be disclosed, the individual making the request will be provided with the reasons for non-disclosure.
We will not respond to repetitious or vexatious requests for access and in making such a determination, we will consider such factors as the frequency with which information is updated, the purpose for which the information is used, and the nature of the information.
We will not charge you for verifying or correcting your information, however, to the extent permitted by applicable law, there may be a minimal charge imposed if you need a copy of records.
We provide our clients and others with general access to our public website. Our Web server tracks general information about visitors such as their domain name, time and duration of visit and which pages are being accessed. This information is used internally, only in aggregate form, to better serve visitors by helping us to:
- (a) Manage our site;
- (b) Diagnose any technical problems; and
- (c) Improve the content of our website.
During the course of an individual’s use of the Internet, he or she will learn of the common use of cookies. Cookies are files or pieces of information that may be stored in a computer’s hard drive when an individual visits a website. Most Internet browsers are initially set to accept cookies. If you do not wish to accept cookies, you can set yours to refuse cookies or to alert you when cookies are being sent. “Session” cookies are temporary bits of information that are erased once a visitor exits its Web browser window or otherwise turns its computer off. Session cookies are used to improve navigation on websites and to collect aggregate statistical information. Our website uses session cookies and persistent cookies.
“Persistent” cookies are more permanent bits of information that are placed on the hard drive of a visitor’s computer and stay there unless they are deleted. Persistent cookies store information on a visitor’s computer for a number of purposes, such as retrieving certain information previously provided (e.g., passwords), helping to determine what areas of the website visitors find most valuable, and customizing the website based on visitor preferences.
While cookies enable the site to identify you as a specific user, they don’t recognize you by your name or other personal information.
No personal information is collected through our cookies.
The ‘get a quote’ sections of our website can be used to request a quote or more information about our sponsored products and plans. In order to respond to your inquiry, this section requires you to provide certain personal information. This information is forwarded to one of our Partners in your area and is not retained by us.
Personal Information provided to third parties whose websites have been accessed through hyperlinks at our website will be governed by the privacy policy of that third party. We encourage you to read the privacy policy of any website you visit.
Contacting us about privacy concerns
In the event of questions about:
- (a) access to your Personal Information;
- (b) our collection, use, management or disclosure of Personal Information; or
- (c) this Privacy Policy;
Please contact our Privacy Office by sending an e-mail to privacyoffice@lawyersfinancial.ca or calling 1-800-267-2422.
We will investigate all complaints and if a complaint is justified, we will take all reasonable steps to resolve the issue. If you are not satisfied with our response to a complaint regarding our compliance with this Privacy Policy or regarding any of our policies and practices with respect to the handling of personal information, you may contact the Federal Privacy Commissioner at 112 Kent Street, Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 1H3, 1-800-282-1376 or the provincial privacy commissioner of the province where the personal information was collected or is stored. More information, including contact information for the provincial privacy commissioners, can be obtained at the Federal Privacy Commissioner’s website, www.priv.gc.ca
Privacy Policy for our Partners
For more information on the privacy policies of our endorsed insurers, agents and brokers:
