Zurich's Privacy Policy

In this Privacy Policy:
"Zurich", "we", "our" and "us" means Zurich Australian Insurance Limited ABN 13 000 296 640 (ZAIL), incorporated in Australia, trading as Zurich New Zealand.

Information Privacy Principles

Zurich is bound by the Information Privacy Principles.

What type of information does Zurich hold?

The type of information we hold varies depending on the type of product or service we provide to you.

In general, Zurich may hold the following personal information:

Name and address
Date of birth
Contact details, which may include your telephone number.

Zurich may also hold the following information about you:

Occupation
Type of property that is being insured
Tax file number, where you have given it to us
Health information (for some types of insurance)
Information relevant to your policy and underwriting, for example details of the make, model, colour, accessories and condition of your motor vehicles (for motor insurance) or your travel plans and existing medical conditions (for travel insurance)
Insurance claim information, where this is relevant
Other information that you have given us.

How does Zurich use this information?

We use this information to assess insurance applications, administer policies, contact you, enhance our products and services and manage claims.

The types of products Zurich provides are general insurance products, such as insurance for buildings, home and contents, motor, boat, travel insurance and business interruption insurance.

We may also use the information to send you material about other Zurich products or services. If you do not want to receive this type of material, tell us and we will stop. Our contact details are set out below.

We may obtain your details from relevant third parties, including those listed below such as your intermediary. Laws authorising or requiring us to collect information may include financial services, crime prevention and trade sanctions laws.

Does Zurich usually share information with other companies?

Zurich discloses your information to relevant third parties including your intermediary, affiliates of Zurich Insurance Group Ltd, insurers, reinsurers, our service providers such as a mailing house or claim assessor, our business partners, health practitioners, your employer, parties affected by claims, our banking gateway providers and credit card transaction processors, government bodies, regulators, law enforcement bodies and as required by law, within New Zealand and overseas.

We do not sell mailing lists.

How does Zurich handle a request for access to personal information?

Under the Information Privacy Principles you are generally entitled to access the information we hold about you. Where you are entitled to access, the time we require to give you access will depend on the type of information requested. If we can, we will answer your question immediately. We will also try to answer you in the same way that you ask, for example, if you telephone to ask for the information we will, if practicable, give you that information over the telephone. We will generally respond to a written request in writing.

Sometimes, we will ask that you put your request in writing, for example, where you want copies of material or access to older information or files which are not current or it is necessary for us to retain a record of your request.

We may also ask you to identify yourself to our satisfaction.

You may be able to access some information yourself through Zurich's website. If you have difficulties with finding the information you want or using the website, please advise us.

In some circumstances, we may charge a fee for giving you access, which will vary but will be based on our costs (internal and external) in locating the information and the form of access you require. If we propose to charge a fee for giving access, we will give you an estimate of the fee so you can confirm that you still want us to give you access to the information. We do not impose any charge for lodging a request for access.

If we are entitled under the Information Privacy Principles to refuse to give you access, we will tell you and provide reasons.

What if some of the information Zurich holds is wrong?

Please tell us. We want our records to be accurate, complete and up to date. Unless we disagree with you about the accuracy or completeness of a record, we will generally correct it on request, (or suggest alternative arrangements for updating our records). If we disagree with you, we will give you our reasons.

How do I make further enquiries or complain about a breach of privacy?

If you require more information about the way Zurich manages personal information or wish to make a complaint about a breach of your privacy, please contact Zurich (see below for details) and ask to speak to the Privacy Officer.

How can I contact Zurich?

Call our Privacy Officer on 0508 987 424 or write to us at Zurich New Zealand, PO Box 497, Shortland Street, Auckland 1140, New Zealand

Changes to this Privacy Policy

We reserve the right to review and amend this Privacy Policy from time to time and to notify you by posting an updated version on our website (www.zurich.co.nz).

Zurich New Zealand is bound by the Privacy Act 2000 (NZ). We collect, hold, disclose and handle information, and in some cases personal or sensitive (eg health) information, about you (‘your details’) to assess applications, administer policies, contact you, enhance our products and services and manage claims (‘Purposes’). If you do not provide your information, we may not be able to do those things. By providing us, our representatives or your intermediary with information, you consent to us using, disclosing to relevant third parties and collecting from relevant third parties your details for the Purposes.

We may disclose your details, including your sensitive information, to relevant third parties including your intermediary, affiliates of Zurich Insurance Group Ltd, insurers, reinsurers, our service providers, our banking gateway providers and credit card transaction processors, our business partners, health practitioners, your employer, parties affected by claims, government bodies, regulators, law enforcement bodies and as required by law, within New Zealand and overseas.

We may obtain your details from relevant third parties, including those listed above. Before giving us information about another person, please give them a copy of this document.

In most cases, you can access or correct your details and to do so, or to make a complaint, contact us at the address below.

Zurich Australian Insurance Limited ABN 13 000 296 640, incorporated in Australia, trading as Zurich New Zealand, P.O. Box 497, Shortland Street, Auckland 1140 www.zurich.co.nz

Zurich needs to collect personal information about you to provide you with our products and services. Zurich will also, where relevant, disclose your personal information (including sensitive information*) to our service providers, business partners and other consultants for this purpose, eg in assessing your application or dealing with a claim under an insurance policy.

Generally, we ask for your consent to do this before or when we collect information from you. A list of the type of service providers, business partners and consultants we commonly use for our products and services follows:

*Sensitive information, such as health information, will be collected in some cases, for example in dealing with claims under life insurance or casualty policies. Zurich only collects sensitive information in accordance with the Information Privacy Principles.

General insurance policies (all types)
e.g. property insurance, motor vehicle insurance, insurance offered under credit cards, specialty insurance

Architects
Accountants
Assessors
Goods replacement suppliers
Repairers
Building consultants
Builders
Engineers
Hydrologists

Surveyors
Fire brigades
Claims administrators
Insurance reference bureaus
Property valuers
Auctioneers (salvage)
Investigators
Legal advisers

Financial institutions (who issued the credit card under which a claim is made)
Project managers
Police
Recovery/debt collection agents
Data retrieval agencies
Reinsurers

General insurance policies where sensitive information may be required
e.g. casualty, travel and/or income replacement insurance
In addition to the service providers and business partners listed for all general insurance policies:

Medical practitioners and specialists
Medical providers, such as hospitals

A cookie is a small, text-based file used frequently on some websites and portals. They can be permanently stored on your hard drive (persistent cookie) or in your computer's memory (session cookie).

Zurich uses session cookies to interact with your browser. They are designed to assist and streamline the exchange of information between your computer's browser and our computer systems. For example, a session cookie is created after you log in with your user name and password and your access is authenticated. The session cookies assists in validating that Zurich's computer is communicating with your web browser throughout the time you access the website during the session. When you end the session by logging off or closing the browser, the session cookie is rendered inoperable.

Other cookies used by Zurich collect information about the use of Zurich's website. The information collected includes where visitors connect from, what version of browser they use and their path through the site. In some circumstances, cookies can also provide information to identify a person. It helps us to provide personalised features and to meet online expectations of our clients, to improve our services and products, as well as keep our content fresh and relevant.

When you apply for an insurance policy using our website or our online application forms, Zurich collects personal information about you as a part of your application. Once you submit your application online, Zurich may use cookies, which in this case may personally identify you through your application information, to identify traffic source, to improve our website and your customer experience, as well as to keep our content fresh and relevant.

The use of cookies however, is ultimately governed by you, as you can choose if and how a cookie can operate by configuring certain preferences and options in your browser. They need to be enabled if you wish to use the secure log in services here. Choosing to disable cookies will return you to the log in page.

A cookie is a small, text-based file used frequently on some websites and portals. They can be permanently stored on your hard drive (persistent cookie) or in your computer's memory (session cookie).