Privacy Policy
At Clearlake Insurance Brokers Pty Ltd ABN 16 651 113 861 AFSL 559829, we are committed to protecting your privacy in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). This Policy describes our policies and practices for collecting, handling, storing, using and disclosing personal information. It also deals with how you can complain about a breach of the privacy laws, access the personal information we hold about you and have that information corrected (where necessary).
All references to the words ‘we’, ‘our’ or ‘us’ is in reference to Clearlake Insurance Brokers Pty Ltd unless otherwise specified.
By accessing or using our services, products or website, you consent to the practices described in this Privacy Policy. Please read this Privacy Policy carefully to understand our privacy practices.
What personal information do we collect and hold?
We collect personal information directly from a relevant individual or indirectly from a third party.
The collection of personal information may include obtaining information from a previous insurer, broker, employer, publicly available resources, health care providers or other persons that you have a business relationship with. Personal information may also be collected from quotations, application forms, website enquiry forms and when we speak to you over the telephone or in writing (including email).
We collect a broad range of information, including your name, address, contact details, date of birth and account payment details. We may also collect certain types of sensitive information relating to your personal affairs, assets, financial situation health and medical information and criminal history. We will only collect this information where it is necessary for us to do so.
How do we use your information?
In order to provide our services, Clearlake Insurance Brokers may provide the information collected to third parties and external service providers, such as payment system operators, accountants and other advisers and financial institutions.
We may also disclose your information to insurers or intermediaries who will be asked to quote for your insurances and premium funding to enable them to decide whether to insure you and on what terms, or to fund your premiums and on what terms.
Insurers may pass this personal information on to their reinsurers. Some of these companies are located outside of Australia. For example, if Clearlake Insurance Brokers seeks insurance terms from an overseas insurer (e.g. Lloyd’s of London), your personal information may be disclosed to the insurer. If this is likely to happen, we will inform you of where the insurer is located (if it is possible to do so).
If the overseas insurer is not regulated by Australian law or by laws which protects your personal information in a way that is similar to the Act, we will seek your consent prior to disclosing that information to that overseas insurer. Australian and overseas insurers acquire reinsurance from reinsurance companies that are located internationally. In some cases, your personal information may be disclosed to them for assessment of risks and in order to provide reinsurance to your insurer. We do not make this disclosure as this will be made by the insurer (if necessary) for the placement of their reinsurance program.
We also use your personal information to manage your ongoing requirements and our relationship with you. For example, when you make a claim under your policy, we will assist you by collecting personal information about your claim. At certain times, we may need to collect information about you from others.
From time to time we will use your contact details to send you offers, updates, articles, newsletters or other information about products and services that we believe will be of interest to you. We may do this through mail, phone, SMS, social media, email, websites or other digital or non-digital mediums. We will always give you the option of electing not to receive these communications and you can unsubscribe at any time by notifying us that you wish to do so.
We may also be required by law to disclose your personal information. Such circumstances where this will occur will include compliance with a court order, warrant, subpoena or additional legal requirements from time to time.
Providing personal information of others
You must not provide Clearlake Insurance Brokers with personal information (including sensitive information) of any other individual (including any of your employees or clients if you are a broker) unless you have the express consent of the individual to do so.
If you do provide us with personal information of an individual, before doing so you are required to tell the individual that you will be providing their information to the Clearlake Insurance Brokers and that we will handle their information in accordance with this policy. You must also provide that individual with a copy of (or refer them to) this policy; and warrant that you have the individuals consent to provide their information to Clearlake Insurance Brokers.
What if you don’t provide information to us?
If you do not provide us with some or all the information that we ask for, we may not be able to assist you in arranging your insurance or with a claim.
Under the Insurance Contracts Act 1984, you have an obligation to disclosure certain information, Failure to disclose such information may result in a decline of cover, a cancellation of your insurance cover, a reduction in the level of cover or declining claims.
If you choose not to provide us with the information that has been requested, we may not be able to provide you with our products and services or properly manage and administer services and products provided to you or others.
You can contact us without using your name or by using a pseudonym. However, we may need your name or contact details to respond to you.
Website information and mobile data
Anonymous data – We use technology to collect anonymous information about the use of the Clearlake Insurance Brokers website. For example, when you browse the website the service provider logs your server address, the date and time of your visit, the pages and links accessed and the type of browser used. It does not identify you personally and this information is used only for statistical purposes and to improve the content and functionality of our website, to better understand clients and markets and to improve our services.
Cookies – In order to collect this anonymous data, we may use “cookies”. Cookies are small pieces of information which are sent to your browser and stored on your computer’s hard drive. Sometimes they identify users where the website requires information to be retained from one page to the next. This is purely to increase the functionality of the site. Cookies by themselves cannot be used to discover the identity of the user.
Cookies do not damage your computer and you can set your browser to notify you when you receive a cookie so that you can decide if you want to accept it. Cookies may be stored for up to 5 years after you leave the website. We collect and use these cookies to detect repeat visitors or store small amounts of data collected while users are on the site (website preferences, session variables, etc.) to better serve customers next time they visit, or to improve the experiences of customers.
Forms – The website allows visitors to submit information via self-service forms (claim forms, employment and contact request). The information submitted via the forms is not encrypted – an option is available for claim forms to be downloaded in PDF format for faxing.
Should you be concerned about confidentiality of the claim information, this would be the recommended method. Information collected via on-line forms is sent to our office via email (not encrypted) and is also stored on a database which is accessible by staff only (password protected).
We also use your information to send you requested product information and promotional material and to enable Clearlake Insurance Brokers to manage your ongoing requirements e.g. renewals, relationship with you, e.g. invoicing, client surveys etc.
We may occasionally notify you through direct marketing about new services and special offers, events or articles we think will be of interest to you. We may send you regular updates by email or by post on insurance matters. If you would rather not receive this information or do not wish to receive it electronically, email or write to us via the contact details below. Clearlake Insurance Brokers may use your information internally to help improve our services and help resolve any problems.
How do we store and protect your personal information?
We strive to maintain the relevance, accuracy and completeness and currency of the personal information we hold and to protect its privacy and security. We keep personal information only for as long as is reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it was collected or to comply with any applicable legal reporting or document retention requirements.
We hold the information that is collected initially in a working file which is electronically stored. Any paper, other than the original documents that Clearlake Insurance Brokers is legally obliged to maintain in an original format, will be destroyed securely destroyed. In a number of cases, your file will be archived and sent to an external data storage provider for a period of time.
Clearlake Insurance Brokers only use storage providers who are located in Australia and who are regulated by the Privacy Act. We ensure that the information is safe by protecting it from unauthorised access, modification and disclosure. We maintain physical security over all paper and electronic data that is stored on the premises, by using locks and security systems.
Clearlake Insurance Brokers also maintains computer and network security. An example of this is that we use firewalls (security measures for the internet) and other security systems such as user identifiers and passwords to control access to computer systems where your information is stored.
Our staff and contractors are trained to ensure that they adhere to our privacy policies and procedures.
Will we disclose your personal information to anyone?
In the course of underwriting and administering your policy as well as providing services to you, Clearlake Insurance Brokers may disclose your information to related entities. Clearlake Insurance Brokers does not sell, trade or rent your personal information with others.
We may need to provide your personal information to contractors who supply services to us. For example, to handle mailings on our behalf, external data storage providers, or to other companies in the event of a corporate sale, merger, reorganisation, dissolution or similar event. Clearlake Insurance Brokers will take all reasonable measures to ensure that your personal information is protected as per the requirements of the Privacy Act.
Clearlake Insurance Brokers may provide your personal information to others if required by law and other circumstances which the Privacy Act permits.
How can you check, update or change the information we are holding?
You may ask us for access to your personal information and to correct it at any time.
Upon receipt of enough information to allow us to identify the information, we will tell you what personal information we hold about you. We will also correct, amend or delete your personal information if we agree it is inaccurate, irrelevant, out of date or incomplete.
We do not charge for receiving a request for access to personal information or complying with a correction request. Where the information that has been requested is not a straightforward issue and will involve a considerable amount of time, a charge will need to be confirmed for responding to the request for information.
In limited cases, Clearlake Insurance Brokers may be required to refuse access to your personal information or refuse a request for a correction. We will advise you as soon as possible after your request if this is the case and the reasons for the refusal.
To access or correct your personal information, please write to:
Privacy Officer
Clearlake Insurance Brokers Pty Ltd
Level 5, 333 Kent Street
Sydney NSW 2000
info@clearlakeinsurance.com.au
www.clearlakeinsurance.com.au
What happens if you want to complain?
We welcome your questions and comments about how we manage your privacy. If you have any concerns about whether we have complied with the Privacy Act, the Australian Privacy Principles or this Privacy Policy, please write to our Privacy Officer:
Privacy Officer
Clearlake Insurance Brokers Pty Ltd
Level 5, 333 Kent Street
Sydney NSW 2000
info@clearlakeinsurance.com.au
We will consider your complaint through our internal complaints resolution process and we will try to respond with a decision within 30 days of you making the complaint.
If you are not satisfied with our response, you can contact the Office of the Australian Information Commission (OAIC):
Phone: 1300 363 992
Email: enquiries@oaic.gov.au
Post: GPO Box 5218 Sydney NSW 2001
Website: www.oaic.gov.au
Further information about our complaints handling process is available on our website, here.
Your consent
By asking us to assist with your insurance needs, you consent to the collection and use of the information you have provided to us for the purposes described above.
Updating this policy
This Privacy Policy was prepared on 9th October 2024. We may update it at any time. The new version will be published on our website.