At HomeGuard HomeWarranty, protecting the confidentiality of personal information that we collect about our customers, potential customers, and proposed insureds (referred to collectively in this Privacy Policy as “customers”) is one of our top priorities. The term “personal information” is defined by the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), and generally includes all information we obtain about a customer and maintain in a personally identifiable way. In order to assure the confidentiality of the personal information we collect and in order to comply with applicable laws, all individuals with access to personal information about our customer are required to follow this policy.

Under the CCPA, California consumers have specific rights regarding their personal information. We do not discriminate in any way based upon whether a consumer exercises their CCPA rights.

Our Privacy Promise

Your privacy and the confidentiality of your business records are important to us. Information and the analysis of information are essential to the business of insurance and critical to our ability to provide you excellent, cost-effective service and products. We understand that gaining and keeping your trust depends upon the security and integrity of our handling of your personal information. Accordingly, we promise that:

1. We will follow strict standards of security and confidentiality to protect any information you share with us or information that we receive about you.
2. We will verify and exchange information regarding your credit and financial status only as permitted by law for the purposes of underwriting, contract administration, or risk management and only with reputable references and clearinghouses services.
3. We will collect and use the minimum amount of your personal information necessary to advise you about and deliver excellent service and products and to administer our business.
4. We will train our employees to handle your personal information in a secure and confidential manner, in accordance with governing law, and will only permit employees authorized to use your personal information to have access to it.
5. We will not disclose your personal information to any organization outside HomeGuard HomeWarranty, or to third party service providers except as permitted or required by law.
6. We will not disclose medical information about you or any claimants under any policy of insurance, unless you provide us with written authorization to do so, or as permitted or required by law.
7. We will attempt, with your help, to keep our records regarding you complete and accurate, and will advise you how and where to access your account information (unless prohibited by law), and will advise you how to correct errors or make changes to that information and
8. We will audit and access our operations, personnel, and third-party service providers to assure that your privacy is respected.
   
   

Collection and Sources of Information

We collect from customers or potential customers only the personal information that is necessary for (a) determining eligibility for the product or service sought by the customer, (b) administering the product or service obtained, and (c) advising the customer about our products and services. The information we collect generally comes from the following sources.

• Submission – During the submission process, you provide us with information about you, such as your name, address, phone, number, e-mail address, and other types of personal identification information.
• Quotes – We collect information to enable us to determine your eligibility for the particular insurgence product and to determine the cost of such insurance to you.
• Transactions – We will maintain records of all transactions with us, our affiliates, and our third-party providers, including your insurance coverage selections, premiums, billing and payment information, claims history, and other information related to your account.
• Claims – If you obtain insurance from us, we will maintain records related to any claims that may be made under your policies. The investigation of a claim necessarily involves collection of a broad range of information about many issues, some of which does not directly involve you. We will share with you any facts that we collect about your claim unless we are prohibited by law from doing so. The process of a claim investigation, evaluation, and settlement also involves, however, the collection of advice, opinions, and comments from many people, including attorneys and experts, to aid the claim specialist in determining how best to handle your claim. In order to protect the legal and transactional confidentially and privileges associated with such opinions, comments and advice we will not disclose this information to you and
• Credit and Financial Reports – We may receive information about you regarding your credit. We use this information to verify information you provide during the submission and quote processes and to help underwrite and provide to you the most accurate and cost-effective insurance quote we can provide.

Retention and Correction of Personal Information

We retain personal information only as long as required by our business practices and applicable law. If we become aware that an item of personal information may be materially inaccurate, we will make reasonable effort to re-verify its accuracy and correct any error as appropriate.

Storage of Personal Information

We have in place safeguards to protect data and paper files containing personal information.

Selling/Sharing/Disclosing Personal information

We do not sell your personal information to third parties.

We share your personal information with an unaffiliated third party for marketing purposes only as permitted by law. Personal information may be disclosed to an unaffiliated third party for other normal business transactions as permitted by law. We do not disclose personal information to an unaffiliated third party for servicing purposes or joint marketing purposes unless a contract containing a confidentiality/non-disclosure provision has been signed by us and the third party.

Access to Your Information

As permitted by law, our employees, employees of our affiliated companies, and third-party service providers will have access to information we collect about you as necessary to effect transactions with you. We may also disclose information about you to the following categories of persons of entities.

• Your independent real estate broker,
• An independent claim adjuster or investigator, or an attorney or expert involved in the claim.
• Persons or organizations that conduct scientific studies, including actuaries and accountants.
• A state insurance department or other governmental agency, if required by federal, state or local laws, or
• Any persons entitled to receive information as ordered by a summons, court order, search warrant, or subpoena.

Violation of the Privacy Policy

Any person violating the Privacy Policy will be subject to discipline, up to and including termination.

Additional Privacy Information and Practices

You may have additional rights to review and control your personal information. Access the HomeGuard HomeWarranty privacy webpage at https://hghw.com/privacy-policy/ to explore this further.