"QBE FIRST" refers to QBE FIRST, a Delaware corporation ("QBE FIRST") and the active companies owned or controlled by QBE FIRST. These companies are QBE FIRST Insurance Agency, Inc., a California corporation, and QBE FIRST Property Tax Solutions, Inc. a Delaware corporation, QBE FIRST Enterprises, and Westwood Insurance Agency. QBE FIRST Insurance Agency, Inc. is regulated by the insurance departments of the various states due to its status as managing agent, managing general agency or program manager for its various affiliated and non-affiliated insurance companies.
QBE FIRST respects the privacy of its customers and is committed to protecting customer information on its Web sites with the same care employed for all QBE FIRST transactions.
QBE FIRST does not automatically collect personal information from visitors to its Web sites. Some QBE FIRST Web sites employ cookies, which are small pieces of information that a Web site stores on a visitor's Web browser to remind the site about the visitor the next time the site is visited. QBE FIRST does not store confidential or sensitive information in cookies. QBE FIRST uses cookies to enhance our customers' online session by making navigation easier. For certain applications, such as those related to our single system hazard outsourcing solution and our personal lines underwriting site, cookies are a requirement because they help protect the privacy of a customer's transactions by, for example, automatically terminating the online session if the customer forgets to log out.
Cookies cannot be used to capture e-mail addresses, obtain data from hard drives or gain confidential or sensitive information about site visitors. Additionally, cookies cannot be read by any Web site other than the one that set the cookie. However, some Web sites use cookies to obtain information from the site visitor's browser.
QBE FIRST customer information privacy principles
As financial services professionals entrusted with sensitive information, we respect the privacy of our customers and are committed to treating customer information responsibly. Our Customer Information Privacy Principles serve as standards for all QBE FIRST employees for collection, use, retention, and security of individual customer information.
QBE FIRST collects and retains only customer information that is needed
We limit the amount and type of customer information we collect and retain to that which is required to establish and manage customer relationships, understand customer needs, provide customer services, offer new products and services, and comply with legal and regulatory requirements. Examples of information collected include the following:
- Property Information: Includes mailing address, property address, square footage, year built, underwriting inspection reports, claims history reports, independent claims adjustment reports, and other miscellaneous underwriting information.
- Insurance Information: Includes carrier and agent name, policy number, policy inception and expiration dates, premium amount, premium due date, policy amount, coverage amounts and types, loss payee/mortgagee and additional insured, and covered property address.
- Loan Information: Includes loan number, loan inception date, principal balance, escrow account number, escrow account balance, mortgagor name and address, mortgagor phone number, and credit reports.
Note: Other information collected and maintained by QBE FIRST's property tax application, QBE FIRST TaxSource, includes real estate tax parcel, billing, and payment information from taxing authorities throughout the United States. All such information is available to the public, and as such, all information gathered and maintained is "publicly-available information," and thus exempted from the purview of privacy legislation.
QBE FIRST employees are responsible for customer information protection
We limit employee access to customer information to those employees with a legitimate business need for the information. We have policies, procedures, employee orientation, and communication programs designed for the protection of customer information. It is the responsibility of each QBE FIRST employee to comply with our Customer Information Privacy Principles policies and procedures. Failure to comply subjects our employees to disciplinary action.
QBE FIRST limits the internal disclosure of customer information
We share non-transactional personal information, such as applications, insurance underwriting and claims information, and real estate tax information among affiliated and non-affiliated insurance companies and local taxing jurisdictions.
QBE FIRST limits the external disclosure of customer information
We do not disclose customer information outside the QBE FIRST
companies, except:
We may share your personal information only with authorized employees and with
vendors, such as medical exam providers, insurance agents and claims
administrators whose services are required to assure the highest level of
service to you, as well as affiliates of QBE FIRST as applicable as permitted
by law.We reserve the right to disclose your information to these employees and
vendors without your authorization as applicable as permitted by law.
We will not disclose any non-public personal financial information about our
customers to others, except as authorized by law or as described in this
Privacy Policy.
We may also enter into joint marketing agreements with other reputable
financial institutions in order to bring additional products and services to
your attention. We may disclose all of the financial information we collect as
described above to individuals or companies that perform marketing services on
our behalf, or to other financial institutions with whom we have joint
marketing arrangements. We will choose these partners carefully and hold them
to our own standards of respect for your privacy. We also may share your
financial information:
- when we suspect fraud or are otherwise required or permitted to do so by law or regulation,
- when a customer requests or gives us permission to do so.
QBE FIRST provides security safeguards to protect customer information
We use advanced technology and information management techniques to implement security, audit, and control programs designed to protect customer information.
QBE FIRST protects customer information on our Web sites
We protect the privacy of customer information sent to and from our Web sites. In addition to the security and privacy standards that are applied to transactions, we also use specific controls designed to identify and authenticate all our online customers and prevent and detect unauthorized access to our websites.
