You have a Duty of Disclosure under the Insurance Contracts Act
1984 (Cth)
that requires you to tell us certain things.
Before you enter
into a policy with us, we will ask you a series of questions.
You must tell us everything you know or which a reasonable person in the
circumstances would be expected to know in answer to the questions
in the application form.
Before you extend or vary a policy, you must
tell us everything you know or which a reasonable person in the
circumstances would be expected to know, for us to decide:
• whether we will insure you;
• the premium we will charge you; and
• whether any special conditions will apply to your policy.
You do not have to tell us about any matter:
• that diminishes the risk;
• that is of common knowledge;
• that we know or should know in the ordinary course of our business
as an insurer; or
• which we indicate we do not want to know.
Everyone who is insured under the policy must comply with the Duty of Disclosure. If you provide information about another insured, you
do this on their behalf. If you (or they) don’t comply with the Duty of
Disclosure, we may reduce the amount of any claim and/or cancel your
insurance. If fraud is involved, we may treat your insurance as void from the beginning.
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The Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (the Act) regulates the way organisations such as QBE
collect, use, protect and disclose personal information.
QBE is committed to safeguarding your privacy and the confidentiality of your personal information.
QBE collects only that personal information necessary for it to assess and manage your insurance application or policy, including any claim that may be made under the policy.
QBE will only use and disclose your personal information for a purpose you would reasonably expect.
QBE will request your consent for any other purpose.
If you do not provide QBE with this personal information they may not be able to process your application for insurance cover or process your claim.
QBE or their authorised agent may disclose your personal information to:
• any person authorised by you;
• an insurance agent who is arranging your insurance (for the purpose of confirming your personal and insurance details);
• another person named as a co-insured on your policy (for the purpose of confirming if full disclosure has been made to QBE);
• another insurer (for the purpose of seeking recovery from them or to assess insurance risks or to assist with an investigation);
• an organisation who provides you with banking facilities (for the purpose of confirming payments made by you to QBE);
• an airline, medical practitioner, treating doctor or emergency assistance provider (to establish your medical status and fitness to travel);
• a dispute resolution organisation, such as the Financial Ombudsman Service (for the purpose of resolving disputes between QBE and you or between QBE and a third party);
• a family member, in the case of a medical emergency;
• the reinsurers, who may be located overseas;
• a mailing house, records management company or technology service provider (for printing and/or delivery of mail, including secure storage and management of their records);
• QBE's related entities, so that they may offer you other products and services;
• a company to conduct surveys on QBE's behalf for the purpose of improved customer services; and
• an insurance reference bureau (to record any claims you make upon QBE).
In addition to the above, in the event of a claim, QBE or their authorised agent may disclose your personal information:
• to a repairer or supplier (for the purpose of repairing or replacing your insured items);
• to an investigator, assessor, state or federal authority, medical practitioners, hospitals or other professional advisers (for the purpose of investigating or assessing your claim);
• to a lawyer or recovery agent (for the purpose of defending an action by a third party against you or recovering QBE's costs including your excess);
• to a witness to a claim (for the purpose of obtaining a witness statement);
• to another party in a claim (for the purpose of obtaining a statement from them or seeking recovery from them or to defend an action by a third party).
Personal information (about you) may also be obtained from the above people or organisations.
In addition QBE will:
• give you the opportunity to find out what personal information they hold about you and, when necessary, correct any errors in this information.
Generally QBE will do this without restriction or charge; and provide their dispute resolution procedures to you, should you wish to complain about how they handle your personal information.
QBE's aim is to always have accurate and up-to-date information. When you receive a Certificate of Insurance or other documents from them, you should contact them if the information is not correct. Where reasonably possiblethey
will correct the information on their systems or held on file. If you have a complaint or want more information about how QBE is managing your personal information, please contact the Compliance Manager using
the contact details provided below. For security reasons, any request for details of personal information held by QBE should be made in writing.
The Compliance Manager
QBE Insurance (Australia) Limited
GPO Box 82
Sydney NSW 2001
Telephone: (02) 9375 4656
Fax: (02) 8275 9022
Email: compliance.manager@qbe.com
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If a complaint arises during your dealings with QBE or our representatives,
you should first discuss the matter with the person with whom you have been dealing.
Where your complaint is not resolved to your satisfaction you should request that the matter be dealt with by QBE's Internal Complaints Handling Process.
The Distributor can assist you to lodge your complaint or our Customer Service Centre 1300 791 948 or (02) 9701 6500 can take the details for you.
You will be provided with a copy of QBE's brochure detailing their complaints handling process.
Your complaint will be handled by a person with authority to resolve the matter.
Your complaint should be dealt with within 15 business days unless we notify you of the reasons why it cannot be dealt with within that time.
If the complaint remains unresolved to your satisfaction, you can request that it be reviewed by the Financial Ombudsman Service (the FOS).
The FOS resolves certain insurance disputes between consumers and insurers and will provide an independent review at no cost to you.
QBE Insurance is bound by the determination of the FOS but the determination is not binding on you. |