Providing products and services to our customers requires us to obtain various types of personal information.  In entrusting your business to us, we understand that you expect your personal information to remain private and to be treated with the utmost confidence.  Please be assured we are committed to safeguarding your privacy, and have established a policy to maintain the confidentiality of your personal information.  We think it is important for you, as well, to understand how South-West Insurance obtains, uses and safeguards your personal information.

 
HOW WE OBTAIN, USE AND
PROTECT YOUR PERSONAL
INFORMATION

Information We Obtain:

The information we obtain will depend upon the type of insurance you request and may include (1)  information we receive from you in writing, by telephone or electronically on applications or other forms.  Examples: your name, address, social security number and income.  For some insurance products, the information may include your health history.  (2)  Information about your transactions with us.  Examples:  your policy coverage's, premiums, claims history and payment history, and (3) information we receive from a consumer reporting agency.  Examples: your credit score, credit history and motor vehicle report.
 

Information We Disclose:

Except as explained below, we may share any personal information about our customers and former customers within our agency in order to offer you other products and insurance services that are likely to be of value to you.

Unless, as explained below, we may share any personal information about  you within our agency.  Examples:  your credit score, credit history or motor vehicle reports.  We share this information in order to provide you with the appropriate insurance coverage.  If you prefer that we do not share this information within our agency, you may tell us not to by calling 1-800-523-2551, or in writing to our agency.

As permitted by law, we may disclose (without specific authorization) any personal information about our customers and former customers we obtain to third parties (which includes persons and companies within and outside our agency) as is necessary for these parties to help us service or process your transactions with our agency.

We may disclose the following information to companies that perform marketing services or provide insurance proposals for South-West Insurance or to other insurance companies with which we have agreements or access:  (1) Information we receive from you on applications or other forms.  Examples:  your name, address and telephone number.  (2) Information about your transactions with us, such as your policy coverage.  (3) These third parties must agree to maintain strict confidentiality protections and limit the use of the customer information we provide them. We do not sell or otherwise provide lists of our customers to third parties to market non-financial or financial services.

NOTICE OF OUR PRIVACY POLICIES

Your application is our main source of information  However, in order to make sure that the statements on your application are correct, and to better service your policy, we may ask for additional information or more details about you and any person who may be insured under the policy.  As our customer, we want you to know how we gather information, how we protect it, and how to help you assure its accuracy.

Information We Collect:

Sometimes, we may not be able to obtain all the information we need directly from you.  In these cases, we may secure this information from several sources.  For example, it is common for us to obtain information from motor vehicle reports, court reports, and photographs of the property you want insured.  We sometimes acquire information from talking or writing to members of your family, friends, neighbors, employers, other insurance companies with whom you have applied for insurance, and others who know you.  We may contact any physician, clinic or hospital where any persons to be insured have been treated.  All of these common sources of information which we need to help us decide if you qualify for the insurance for which you have applied, and to service any claims.  We may ask you to sign an authorization before requesting information from these sources.

We may gather this information ourselves, or we may ask an independent organization — a consumer reporting agency — to obtain some or all of the information for us.  On occasion, we may also need information pertaining to your mode of living, character, general reputation, and personal characteristics, such as health, job and finances.  If we ask a consumer reporting agency to obtain this information, we will notify you, and if you request, the consumer reporting agency will attempt to interview you in connection with its report.  The information may be kept by the reporting organization and may later be given to others who use its services.  It will be given only to the extent permitted by the Federal Fair Credit Reporting Act and your local state law, if any.  You may obtain a copy of the report by requesting it in writing and providing us with proper identification.

Disclosure of Information:

Information we collect about you will not be given to anyone without your consent, except as allowed by law to conduct our business.  There are some disclosures which may be made without your prior authorization.  These include:  (1) Persons or organizations who need the information to perform a professional, business or insurance function for us; such as businesses that assist us with data processing or marketing.  (2) Other insurance companies or consumer reporting agencies as needed, in connection with any application, policy or claim involving you.  (3) Adjusters, appraisers, investigators and attorneys who need the information to investigate or settle a claim involving you. (4) An insurance support organization which is established to collect information for the purpose of detecting and preventing insurance claims or fraudulent claims.  (5)  A medical professional or institution to verify your insurance coverage or inform you of a medical condition of which you may not be aware.  (6) Our affiliated companies or accessible markets for marketing an insurance product or service.

YOUR INSURANCE POLICY RECORDS

Information we collect about you will be kept in our policy records.  We may refer to this information if you file a claim for benefits under any policy you have with us or if you apply to us for a new policy.  You have the right to know what kind of information we keep in our records about you, to know whom it is disclosed, to have access to the information and to receive a copy.  There are some types of information however to which we are not required to give you access.  If your records contain medical information, we may ask you to name a licensed medical professional to whom we can send such information so that it may properly be explained.  Information collected from the evaluation of a claim, or when the possibility of a law suit exists, will not be disclosed.  If you want information from your records, please contact us to provide your name, address and policy numbers. 

If you think your file contains incorrect information, notify us in writing what you believe is incorrect, your reasons, and what should be corrected, amended or deleted.  We will investigate the matter and either correct the information in your policy file, or notify you of the reasons we refuse to correct, amend, or delete the information.  If we correct the information, we will send the correction to any person or organizations to whom we previously disclosed the information, to any other person you specifically designate and as required by law.  If we refuse to make the correction and we disclose the information in your file at a later date, we will include a copy of your correction request and any additional information you have provided. 

If you have questions about our information practices, please feel free to contact us. 

Big Stone Gap Office:  (276)523-4111
Norton Office:  (276)679-3511
Jonesville Office: (276)346-1932