Southern Oak Insurance Company (“Southern Oak”) values you as a customer and we know how much privacy means to you. We will inform you of our policies for collecting, using, securing, and sharing customer information the first time we do business with you and every year you are a Southern Oak customer. This notice explains what we do to protect your rights.
Our Privacy Principles:
- We do not sell customer information.
- We do not allow those who are doing business on our behalf to use our customer information for their own marketing purposes.
- We contractually require any person or organization providing products or services on our behalf to protect Southern Oak customer information.
- We afford prospective and former customers with the same protections as existing customers with respect to the use of personal information.
As providers of products and services that involve compiling personal, sometimes sensitive, information protecting the confidentiality of that information has been and will continue to be a top priority. We collect and use the information we need to conduct our business, to advise you of our products and services, and to provide you with customer service.
Information We Collect:
We collect information about you to quote and service your insurance policy. This information is called “non-public personal information” if it identifies you and is not available to the public. Depending on the products or services you request, we collect non-public personal information from some or all of the following sources:
- Information we receive from consumers and customers on applications and other forms. You provide this on your application, through your agent or broker, by phone, or online. We may also obtain it from directories or other outside sources. Such information may include your name, street and email addresses, phone number, driver’s license number, Social Security number, date of birth, gender, and marital status.
- Information about your transactions with us, our affiliates or others. This is information includes your insurance coverage, limits and rates, and payment and claims history. It also includes information that we require for billing and payment.
- Information we receive from you from consumer reporting agencies and other third-party reporting agencies which may include your driving record, claims history with other insurers, credit report information, and loss information reports.
- Information we receive from Internet transactions. This information may include the Web site that linked you to ours, your computer operating system, and the pages you viewed on our site. Some Web sites, including ours, may also store “cookies” on your computer. Cookies collect technical data, like your Internet protocol address, operating system and session ID. They also save certain information entered by you.
Information We Disclose:
We will not share non-public personal information with other companies for their marketing purposes without your consent. There is no need to “opt out” or tell us not to do this.
Information about our customers will only be disclosed as permitted or required by law. Information about you that has been collected is maintained in your policy and/or claims records. We use this information to process and service your policy, to adjust claims, or as directed by you. We may also disclose it to persons or organizations as necessary to perform transactions you request or authorize. Information about our former customers and about individuals who have obtained quotes from us is safeguarded to the same extent as non-public personal information about our current customers.
Following are some examples of how we may disclose non-public personal information:
- We must exchange non-public personal information with our agents, investigators, appraisers, attorneys, and other persons who are or will become involved in processing your application and servicing your policy or any claims you may make.
- When you are involved in a claim, policy information is provided to adjusters and businesses that may repair your [residence].
- We may share non-public personal information with persons or organizations that we have determined need such information to perform a business, professional, or insurance function for us. These include businesses that help us with administrative functions. If the law in your state permits, we may share non-public personal information with financial institutions with which we have a joint-marketing agreement. All of these entities are obligated to keep such information that we provide to them confidential and to use the non-public personal information only for the purpose for which the information was provided.
- Information may be provided to organizations conducting actuarial research or audits. In this case, you will not be individually identified in any research report. The organization must agree not to re-disclose the non-public personal information and the information will be returned to us or destroyed when it is no longer needed.
We may also share non-public personal information for other permitted purposes, including:
- with our reinsurers;
- with insurance-support organizations that detect and prevent fraud;
- with state insurance departments or other governmental or law enforcement authorities if required by law or to protect our legal interests or in cases of suspected fraud or illegal activities; or
- if ordered by a subpoena, search warrant or other court order.
Confidentiality and Security:
We take our responsibility to protect the confidentiality and security of non-public personal information very seriously. We maintain physical, electronic and procedural safeguards that comply with federal and state standards to store and secure information about you from unauthorized access, alteration, and destruction. Under our control policies, for example, access to customer information is restricted to individuals who need it in order to service your policy or provide products and services to you, and who are trained in the proper handling of such information. Employees who violate these confidentiality requirements are subject to disciplinary proceedings.
Accurate Information:
It is important that the information we maintain about you is accurate and complete. If you see information in your policy, billing statements, or elsewhere, which suggests that our information is incomplete or inaccurate, please contact your local agent or write to us at the address shown below and we will update your information as needed. Please reference your policy number on any correspondence sent to our office.
Southern Oak Insurance Company
P.O. Box 45-9003
Sunrise, FL 33345-9003
Confidentiality and Security
Additional Information for Our Web Site Users:
We are interested in how visitors use our website, what they like and dislike, and where they have problems. We may gather data on how users navigate our website so we can make southernoak.com an easy place to do business. Our tools may gather data such as what browser a person uses or even what pages are most popular.
We use cookies to improve your experience while using southernoak.com. Cookies are small files that are stored on your computer. They do not contain any personally identifiable information about you. They help us personalize your experience when you return to our website, and they are required for certain portions of our website. Most browsers let you determine whether or not you accept our cookies. If you don’t use cookies, you won’t be able to use certain southernoak.com features, such as the “remember me” function for policyholders that lets you store your User ID so you don’t have to input it every time you log in from the same computer.
southernoak.com may place small pieces of computer code (embedded objects) on our pages to help our advertising partners count how many customers they referred to our website. We may use these objects to track how many referred customers actually get a rate quotation. We may also use objects placed on other sites to monitor your exposure to our advertising or other offers online. These objects don’t collect any personally identifiable information about you.
We also provide some links to third-party websites that are not owned by Southern Oak. Southern Oak has no control over their privacy practices and assumes no responsibility in connection with your use of their websites. We recommend that you check the privacy policy of any website before you provide any personally identifiable information.
Changes to This Privacy Policy:
We may modify our privacy policy from time to time. The most recent version is always posted at southernoak.com. Each of our policyholders receives a copy of our privacy policy at least once per year. In addition, in the event that we make a significant change to our privacy practices, we will send a revised copy of our privacy policy to each of our current policyholders.
No Insurance Afforded by this Policy:
If your insurance policy has been canceled or non-renewed, this Privacy Policy Notice DOES NOT REINSTATE your policy with Southern Oak. This notice should not be accepted by anyone as evidence that insurance coverage is in force.
The Effective Date of this Privacy Policy is February 26, 2014.
