Privacy Policy

The Andover Companies Notice of Our Privacy Policy

NOTICE OF PRIVACY POLICY

Cambridge Mutual Fire Insurance Company
Merrimack Mutual Fire Insurance Company
Bay State Insurance Company

Customer Privacy Is Our Concern

We at The Andover Companies—a group of affiliated, jointly managed insurance companies named above—are committed to protecting the privacy of our customers and the confidentiality of their personal information. This Notice of Privacy Policy describes our privacy practices regarding information about applicants who seek, and customers who obtain, insurance products and services from us for personal, family, or household use. Our collection, use, and disclosure of nonpublic personal information (“personal information”) about such applicants and customers are governed by this Notice of Privacy Policy and regulated by law.

We maintain physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards that comply with state and federal regulations to guard the personal information in our records. We also limit employee access to personal information to those with a business reason for knowing such information. Employees are required to know and comply with our privacy and confidentiality rules, and we take measures to enforce employee privacy responsibilities.

We do not disclose personal information about our applicants, customers, or former customers to anyone except as permitted or required by law. We make no disclosures of personal information to other companies for their direct marketing activities; for example, we will not sell customer names to catalog companies.

The Types And Sources Of Personal Information We Collect

We obtain most of our personal information from applicants and customers, directly or through independent insurance agents, on application or other forms, by phone, by mail, via online submissions, or in person. Such information may include identifying and biographical information—for example, Social Security number; driver’s license number; information about employment status and history; marital status; residency and home ownership; and insurance coverage, premium, and claim history—and investigative information related to claims, such as witness statements and police reports. We may also use information about customers from their other transactions with us and our independent insurance agents.

Depending on the nature of an insurance transaction, we may need additional information about an applicant or a customer. As an example, for personal umbrella coverage, we may need information from motor vehicle records; for property coverages, we may send someone to inspect the property and verify information about its value and condition. A photograph of any property to be insured might be taken. We may review claim and loss histories, such as insurance claims information and other loss information reports, and we may also obtain financial information to adjust some claims.

We may obtain the additional information we need from third parties, such as other insurance companies, government agencies, insurance support services, information clearinghouses, courts, and other public records. We may receive consumer credit information from a consumer reporting agency. The agency that prepares a consumer report for us may retain that report and disclose it to other persons as permitted by law. We do not gather information through investigative consumer reports (i.e., a consumer report in which information about a natural person’s character, general reputation, personal characteristics, or mode of living is obtained through personal interviews with the person’s neighbors, friends, associates, acquaintances, or others who may have knowledge concerning such items of information).

Our Uses Of Personal Information

We collect and use personal information for business purposes in connection with our insurance relationship with our customers and prospective customers. These business purposes include evaluating applications for our insurance products and services, administering our products and services, responding to claims for coverage and benefits, and processing other transactions requested by our customers. We review such personal information in acting on applications for insurance coverage and in determining premium rates, issuing and servicing insurance policies, and settling claims.

If coverage is declined or the charge for coverage is increased because of information contained in a consumer report we obtain, we will inform the applicant or customer as required by state law and the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act. We also will give the applicant or customer the name and address of the consumer reporting agency making the report.

The personal information we collect may be retained both in our records and in the customers’ agents’ files. We may retain personal information about our former customers and may disclose that information as described in this Notice of Privacy Policy.

Disclosure Of Personal Information

We will disclose personal information to others only when it is necessary to conduct our business or is required by law. We may disclose all information we collect, as described above, to the following types of third parties for the following purposes:

  • Providers of various business services, to enable them to perform such services for us or on our customers’ and/or on our behalf, such as assisting us in evaluating and processing requests for insurance or benefits, assisting with other transactions requested by applicants and customers, and performing general administrative tasks for us. Such recipients may include, though would not necessarily be limited to:
    • insurance agents and brokers;
    • claim adjusters, appraisers, investigators, and attorneys who need the information to investigate, defend, or settle claims involving our customers;
    • our auditors, data processors, and reinsurance companies;
    • consumer reporting agencies; and
    • insurance support organizations, to whom we may provide policy and claim history information for use in insurance transactions, including for the purpose of detecting and preventing insurance crimes, misrepresentation, nondisclosure, and fraudulent claims;
  • Certificate holders or policyholders, to inform them about the status of an insurance transaction;
  • Lienholders, mortgagees, lessors, or other persons shown on our records as having a legal or beneficial interest in a customer’s property or policy;
  • Insurance regulatory agencies in connection with the regulation of our business;
  • Law enforcement or other governmental authorities to protect our legal interests or in cases of suspected fraud or illegal activities;
  • Authorized persons as ordered by a subpoena, warrant, or other court order or as required by law; or
  • Other third parties as permitted by law.

Access To And Correction Of Information

Customers, applicants, and other individuals about whom we collect and maintain information in connection with insurance transactions have the right to be informed whether we have certain types of personal information in our files about them, to have reasonable access to it, and to receive a copy. However, we may elect not to disclose certain types of information collected in connection with evaluation of claims or possible lawsuits.

To exercise the right to access described above, a written inquiry must be submitted to our Chief Privacy Officer at the contact address provided below. Such inquiry must state the requesting individual’s name, address, and date of birth; the type of policy held or applied for; and the number(s) of all policies issued by us to the individual. The inquiry must also provide a copy of personal identification of the individual, such as a driver’s license, as well as a reasonable description of the information to which the individual wishes to have access.

If such information is in our possession and is reasonably locatable, retrievable, and available, we will, within thirty days of our receipt of the request, inform the individual in writing of the nature and substance of such information and will, upon request, send the individual a copy of such information. In addition, we will disclose to the individual the identity, if recorded, of persons to whom we have disclosed the individual’s personal information within two (2) years prior to the request or, if such identity is not recorded, the names of organizations and persons to whom we normally disclose such information. We will also inform the individual of the name and address of any consumer credit reporting agency that prepared a report about the individual so that the individual may contact the agency for a copy of that report.

If, after reviewing such information, the individual notifies us that any of it is incorrect and should be corrected, amended, or deleted, we will consider the request and within thirty business days either change our files or inform the individual that we did not change our files and provide the reason for that determination. If we do not make changes, the individual will have the right to insert in our file a concise statement containing what the individual believes to be the correct, relevant, or fair information and explaining why the individual believes the information on file to be improper. We will notify persons designated by the individual to whom we have previously disclosed the information of the change or the individual’s statement. Subsequent disclosures we make also will include the individual’s statement.

Contact Information

We may be contacted in writing at:
Chief Privacy Officer
The Andover Companies
95 Old River Road
Andover, MA 01810-1078