Privacy Policy

Reliable Insurance Brokers Inc. (“Reliable,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) is an independent Ontario insurance brokerage. We help individuals, families, and businesses compare and obtain insurance products, including auto, home, condo, tenant, business, commercial vehicle, specialty, and travel insurance.

Protecting your privacy and the confidentiality of your personal information is important to us. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, retain, and protect personal information in connection with our insurance services, website, online forms, phone calls, email, SMS/text communication, and related business operations.

We comply with the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (“PIPEDA”) and applicable privacy laws.

“Personal information” means information about an identifiable individual. This may include your name, address, contact information, date of birth, driver’s licence information, driving record, claims history, insurance history, property information, vehicle information, financial or banking information, employment information, and other information needed to provide insurance quotes, insurance advice, policy service, billing support, or related services.

Reliable Insurance Brokers Inc. is responsible for personal information in our possession or control. We have appointed a Privacy Officer to oversee privacy-related matters and help ensure compliance with this Privacy Policy and applicable privacy laws.

All Reliable employees, brokers, contractors, and representatives who handle personal information are expected to follow this policy and our internal privacy safeguards.

We collect, use, and disclose personal information for purposes related to insurance services, including:

• Providing insurance quotes;
• Assessing your insurance needs;
• Recommending coverage options;
• Submitting applications, quote requests, endorsements, renewals, cancellations, and policy changes to insurance companies;
• Servicing existing insurance policies;
• Communicating with you about quotes, applications, renewals, billing, claims, policy documents, and coverage questions;
• Setting up or assisting with monthly billing or direct payment arrangements with insurers;
• Confirming your identity and verifying information you provide;
• Obtaining information required by insurance companies for underwriting, rating, eligibility, payment, and policy administration;
• Assisting with claims guidance and insurer contact information;
• Meeting legal, regulatory, audit, accounting, compliance, and error-and-omissions obligations;
• Protecting against error, misrepresentation, fraud, unauthorized activity, or misuse of services;
• Improving our website, communications, and client service;
• Sending service-related communications and, where permitted by law, occasional marketing or educational communications.

We do not sell personal information.

Depending on the insurance product or service requested, we may collect information such as:

• Name, address, phone number, email address, and other contact details;
• Date of birth, marital status, occupation, and employment information;
• Driver’s licence number, driver history, driving record, convictions, suspensions, and prior insurance history;
• Vehicle information, including VIN, ownership, usage, annual kilometres, commute, parking, lienholder, leasing, financing, and claims details;
• Property information, including home details, construction, updates, occupancy, mortgagee information, rental status, prior losses, and property value information;
• Business information for commercial insurance, including operations, revenue, payroll, employees, subcontractors, prior insurance, contracts, premises, vehicles, and risk details;
• Claims history and insurance loss history;
• Prior insurer information and policy history;
• Banking information, such as void cheque or pre-authorized payment details, where required to set up direct billing or monthly payment schedules with an insurer;
• Credit-related or insurance score information where requested by insurers, permitted by law, and required for accurate quoting or underwriting, particularly for property insurance;
• Documents, signatures, authorizations, and communications related to quotes, applications, policy changes, billing, renewals, cancellations, and claims;
• Information submitted through our website forms, Squarespace forms, email, telephone, SMS/text message, or other communication channels.

We collect only the information reasonably necessary for the purposes identified.

We may collect personal information directly from you when you:

• Complete an online quote form;
• Contact us by phone, email, SMS/text, website form, or in person;
• Request a quote, policy change, renewal, cancellation, certificate, or claim support;
• Send us insurance documents, driver information, banking documents, property details, or business information;
• Sign applications, consent forms, policy change requests, or other insurance documents.

We may also collect information from authorized third parties where necessary, including insurance companies, insurance rating systems and insurer portals, Applied Rating Services, broker management systems including Sig XP, prior insurers or brokerages, licensing authorities, claims databases, financial institutions, mortgagees, lienholders, leasing companies, payment processors, adjusters, lawyers, appraisers, contractors, or other claims or insurance professionals.

We collect, use, and disclose personal information with your knowledge and consent, except where otherwise permitted or required by law.

Consent may be express or implied. For example, when you provide information to obtain an insurance quote, apply for coverage, request a policy change, set up billing, or service an insurance policy, you consent to our reasonable collection, use, and disclosure of that information for those purposes.

You may withdraw consent at any time, subject to legal, contractual, regulatory, underwriting, or record-retention restrictions. However, withdrawing consent may limit or prevent our ability to provide quotes, arrange coverage, make policy changes, set up billing, or service your policy.

To provide insurance quotes and services, we may disclose personal information to insurance companies and their underwriters, rating platforms, insurer portals, broker management systems, technology providers, payment processors, insurers, financial institutions, mortgagees, lienholders, leasing companies, claims adjusters, appraisers, lawyers, contractors, regulatory bodies, auditors, insurers, legal authorities, and service providers that support our website, forms, email, e-signature, data storage, communications, analytics, security, and business operations.

We limit disclosure to what is reasonably necessary for the purpose. We require service providers to protect personal information using appropriate safeguards.

When you use our website, we may collect limited technical and usage information, such as IP address, browser type, device information, pages visited, referral source, approximate location, and interactions with website forms.

We use Google Analytics and Squarespace Analytics to understand website traffic, improve website performance, and evaluate user experience. These tools may use cookies or similar technologies. You can control cookies through your browser settings, although disabling cookies may affect website functionality.

Information submitted through Squarespace forms may be used to respond to your request, prepare a quote, contact you, or provide insurance-related service. Please do not submit sensitive information through a website form unless it is necessary for your insurance request.

We may communicate with you by email, phone, SMS/text message, website form, or other electronic communication methods.

Some brokers may use SMS/text messages with clients or prospective clients for convenience. SMS/text messaging is not a secure method for sending sensitive documents or highly confidential information. We encourage clients to use secure email or other secure methods when sending sensitive documents, such as driver’s licence details, banking information, or signed forms. If you choose to send information by SMS/text, you understand that SMS may carry security and privacy risks.

We primarily send transactional and policy-specific communications, such as quote follow-ups, renewal reminders, billing reminders, policy documents, coverage questions, claims information, or service updates. From time to time, we may send marketing, educational, or promotional communications where permitted by law.

You may unsubscribe from marketing communications at any time. Transactional or policy-service communications may continue where necessary to service your insurance relationship.

We may record phone calls for quality assurance, training, documentation, legal, compliance, dispute resolution, and service improvement purposes.

A phone call or voicemail does not automatically bind coverage, cancel coverage, or complete a policy change. Insurance coverage, policy changes, cancellations, endorsements, or other binding instructions may require insurer approval, documentation, and written or electronic authorization. We may use e-signature services, including Signature Master, to obtain required signatures or authorizations.

Reliable generally arranges insurance policies on a direct-bill basis, meaning premiums are paid to the insurance company or its payment provider. We may assist with setting up monthly payment schedules or pre-authorized payment arrangements where offered by the insurer.

To do this, we may collect banking information such as a void cheque or payment authorization details and store it in our broker management system. Banking information is used only for billing, payment setup, policy administration, and related insurance purposes.

We may use technology tools to support administration, drafting, summaries, internal notes, communications with underwriters, and client service.

From time to time, we may use AI-assisted tools to help draft or summarize communications, organize information, or prepare service notes. These tools are used to support human work, not to replace licensed broker judgment. We do not use AI to bind coverage, underwrite policies, make final coverage decisions, or replace insurer underwriting.

We take reasonable steps to limit personal information included in technology-assisted workflows and to protect confidentiality when using service providers or digital tools.

We use physical, organizational, and technological safeguards appropriate to the sensitivity of the information.

• Secure office procedures;
• Limited access to authorized personnel;
• Password-protected systems;
• Broker management systems and secure insurer portals;
• E-signature systems;
• Secure cloud or SaaS platforms;
• Access controls and user permissions;
• Employee confidentiality expectations;
• Reasonable administrative, technical, and physical security measures.

Our broker management system, Sig XP, is hosted through a Citrix SaaS cloud environment with SOC 2 compliance controls. No method of electronic transmission or storage is completely secure, but we take reasonable precautions to protect personal information.

Personal information may be stored or processed by us or by third-party service providers that support our business operations, including broker management systems, insurance rating systems, insurer portals, e-signature platforms, website hosting providers, analytics providers, email systems, and cloud-based software providers.

Some service providers may store or process information outside Ontario or outside Canada. Where information is processed outside Canada, it may be subject to the laws of that jurisdiction.

We retain personal information only as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, or as required for legal, regulatory, insurance, accounting, audit, claims, error-and-omissions, and business record purposes.

Client files, quote records, policy documents, communications, and related insurance records may be retained in accordance with regulatory expectations, insurer requirements, legal obligations, and brokerage best practices.

When personal information is no longer required, we securely destroy, delete, or anonymize it where reasonable.

We take reasonable steps to keep personal information accurate, complete, and up to date for the purposes for which it is used.

Please notify us promptly if your contact information, drivers, vehicles, property details, business operations, payment information, or other relevant insurance information changes. Inaccurate or outdated information may affect quotes, coverage, eligibility, billing, or claims.

If we become aware of a privacy breach involving personal information under our control, we will assess the incident and take appropriate steps to contain, investigate, and respond.

Where required by law, if a breach creates a real risk of significant harm, we will notify affected individuals and report the breach to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada. Organizations subject to PIPEDA must also keep records of breaches of security safeguards.

You may request access to personal information we hold about you, subject to legal and regulatory limits.

You may also request that we correct inaccurate or incomplete personal information. We may need to verify your identity before responding to an access or correction request.

In some cases, we may be unable to provide access, including where disclosure would reveal personal information about another individual, confidential commercial information, legally privileged information, or information that cannot be disclosed by law.

You may ask what personal information we hold about you, request correction of inaccurate information, ask questions about our privacy practices, withdraw consent subject to legal or service limitations, unsubscribe from marketing communications, and ask how your information is used or shared.

Please note that limiting or withdrawing consent may affect our ability to provide quotes, arrange coverage, set up billing, make policy changes, or service your policy.

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect legal, regulatory, operational, technological, or business changes.

The latest version will be posted on our website. Continued use of our website or services after changes are posted means you accept the updated policy, subject to applicable law.

If you have a question, request, concern, or complaint about our privacy practices, please contact:

Privacy Officer
Thomas Smith
Reliable Insurance Brokers Inc.
112 Pacific Ave
Toronto, Ontario
M6P 2P3

Phone: 289-812-4225
Email: contact@reliablebrokers.ca

We will respond as promptly as reasonably possible.

If you are not satisfied with our response, you may contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada at:
Website: www.priv.gc.ca
Phone: 1-800-282-1376