Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy

At Community Broker Network (CBN) our authorized brokers and our people are committed to protecting your privacy by the Privacy Act 1998 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles.

This privacy policy describes our current policies and practices regarding the collection, handling, use, and disclosure of personal information. It also deals with how you can complain about a breach of the privacy laws and how you can access the personal information we hold and how to have that information corrected.

What information do we collect and how do we use it?
When we arrange insurance on your behalf, we ask you for the information we need to advise you about your insurance needs and the management of your risks. This can include a broad range of information ranging from your name, address, contact details, and age to other information about your personal affairs including your assets, personal belongings, financial situation, health, and wellbeing.

We provide any information that the insurers or intermediaries who we ask to quote for your insurance and premium funding require to enable them to decide whether to insure you and on what terms, or to fund your premium and on what terms. Insurers may in turn pass on this information to their reinsurers. Some of these companies are located outside Australia. For example, if we seek 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 inform you of where the insurer is located, and if it is possible to do so.

When you claim under your policy, we assist you by collecting information about your claim. Sometimes we also need to collect information about you from others. We provide this information to your insurer (or anyone your insurer has appointed to assist it to consider your claim, e.g. loss adjusters, medical brokers, etc.) to enable it to consider your claim. Again this information may be passed on to reinsurers.

What if you don’t provide some information to us?

We can only fully advise you and assist in arranging your insurance or with a claim if we have all the relevant information. The insurance laws also require you to provide your insurers with the information they need to be able to decide whether to insure you and on what terms. You must disclose the information which relevant to the insurer’s decision to insure you.

When do we disclose your information overseas?

If you ask us to seek insurance terms and we recommend an overseas insurer, we may be required to disclose the information to the insurer located outside Australia. For example, if we recommend a policy provided by Lloyd’s of London, your information may be given to Lloyd’s broker and underwriters at Lloyd’s of London to decide whether to insure you.

We will tell you at the time of advising on your insurance if they are overseas and in which country the insurer is located. If the insurer is not regulated by laws that protect your information in a way that is similar to the Privacy Act, we will seek your consent before disclosing your information to that insurer.

Australian and overseas insurers acquire reinsurance from reinsurance companies that are located throughout the world, so in some cases, your information may be disclosed to them for assessment of risks and to provide reinsurance to your insurer. We do not make this disclosure, this is made by the insurer (if necessary) for the placement of their reinsurance program.

We may also disclose your personal information to third party service providers as they may be processing your personal information on our behalf.

Some of the third party service providers to whom we disclose personal information are located in countries outside of your country of residence, such as Malaysia and the Philippines. In this regard, unless exempted by applicable Privacy Laws, we will either (a) seek your express or implied consent to do so before the transfer of your personal information overseas or (b) we will take reasonable steps as per the below to ensure that the overseas recipient does not breach the Privacy Laws applicable about your personal information. Transfer of your personal information will only be made for one or more of the purposes specified in this Privacy Policy.

When we take reasonable steps, we will ensure that transfers of personal information are by applicable Australian law and carefully managed to protect your privacy rights and transfers are limited to either country which is recognized as providing an adequate level of legal protection or where we can be satisfied that alternative arrangement is in place to protect your privacy rights. To this end:

  • Where we transfer your personal information either outside our group of companies or to third parties who help provide our services, we obtain contractual commitments from them to protect your personal information; or
  • where we receive requests for information from law enforcement or regulators, we carefully validate these requests before any personal information is disclosed.

You have a right to contact us for more information about the safeguards we have put in place (including a copy of relevant contractual commitments) to ensure the adequate protection of your personal information when this is transferred as mentioned above.

How do we hold and protect your information?
We strive to maintain the reliability, accuracy, 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 or ethical reporting or document retention requirements. Our files are stored in password-protected electronic media.

We may also hold the information we collect from you initially in a working file, which when completed is electronically imaged and stored, after which any paper is destroyed securely.

We ensure that your information is safe by protecting it from unauthorized access, modification, and disclosure. We maintain physical security over our paper and electronic data and premises, by using locks and security systems. We also maintain computer and network security; for example, 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.

Will we disclose the information we collect to anyone?
We do not sell, trade, or rent your personal information to others. We may need to provide your information to contractors who supply services to us, e.g. to handle mailings on our behalf, external data storage providers, or to other companies in the event of a corporate sale, merger, reorganization, dissolution, or similar event. However, we will take reasonable measures to ensure that they protect your information as required under the Privacy Act.

We may provide your information to others if we are required to do so by law, you consent to the disclosure, or under some unusual other circumstances that the Privacy Act permits.

How can you check, update or change the information we are holding?
Upon receipt of your written request and enough information to allow us to identify the information, we will disclose to you the personal information we hold about you. We will also correct, amend or delete any personal information that we agree is inaccurate, irrelevant, out of date, or incomplete.

If you wish to correct your personal information please write to:
The Privacy Officer
Suite 2 Level 5, 191 St Georges Terrace
Perth WA 6000

or contact your local authorized broker’s office.

We do not charge for receiving a request for access to personal information or for complying with a correction request. Where the information requested is not a straightforward issue and will involve a considerable amount of time then a charge will need to be confirmed for responding to the request for the information. In some limited cases, we may need to refuse access to your information or refuse a request for correction. We will advise you as soon as possible after your request if this is the case and the reasons for our refusal.

What happens if you want to complain?
If you have concerns about whether we have complied with the Privacy Act or this privacy policy when collecting or handling your personal information, please write to:

Community Broker Network
The Privacy Officer
Suite 2 Level 5
191 St Georges Terrace
Perth WA 60005

Your complaint will be considered by us through our internal complaints resolution process and we will try to respond with a decision within 45 days of you making the complaint.

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. We may occasionally notify you via 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. We may use your information internally to help us improve our services and help resolve any problems.

Tell us to know what you think
We welcome your questions and comments about privacy. If you have any concerns or complaints, please contact the Privacy Officer at the Community Broker Network at (08) 9480 8900.

If you do not notify us otherwise before next dealing with us, you confirm agreement to this above on your behalf and/or on behalf of those you represent.