Hereafter referred to as ‘Hastings,’ is committed to respecting and protecting your privacy.
Hastings recognises that protecting personal information is very important to you. It is the intention of this privacy notice statement to explain to you the information practices of Hastings in relation to the information we collect, use and store about you. It is supplemental to the Data Protection Notice provided to you in our Terms of Business. It sets out in more detail how we handle and manage your personal information including sensitive data we may process. Personal data relates to you, anyone insured under your policy or anyone whose personal data we process in connection with your policy/portfolio and applies to all your dealings with us.
For the purposes of the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) the data controller is:
It is important that you read this document and show it to anyone else who is insured or named under your policy of insurance. Please make sure anyone else insured or named under your policy has provided you with consent to provide their personal information to us.
Our principal business as Insurance Broker is to provide advice and arrange transactions on your behalf in relation to life & pensions/savings & investments/mortgages and general insurance products including personal and commercial lines. Hastings has 8 branches located in Westport, Claremorris, Ballina, Castlebar, Sligo, Tuam, Galway and Dublin.
As an Insurance Broker, the personal data we collect from you is passed on to an insurance company in order to obtain a premium and provide you with a quotation in relation to a service you have requested, arrange a transaction on your behalf, administer, manage your policy, provide premium renewal details and assist with claims as part of our service. We may also collect your personal data to verify your identity or to compile and process your information for audit, statistical or research purposes, for compliance with regulatory and legal requirements, for internal record keeping and to protect your vital interests. We may also process your personal data where we have a legitimate interest to do so, subject to those interests not over-riding your fundamental rights and freedoms. This includes: market research and statistical analysis to improve our services and products, to protect our business, reputation, resources and equipment, manage network and information security and prevent and detect fraud, dishonesty and other crimes, investigating complaints, training and monitoring staff.
The personal data we require about you (and, if applicable, other people insured or named under your policy of insurance) will be gathered and stored safely as set out below. Where personal data is provided relating to a third party to us, you confirm that you have explained to them that you have provided their personal data to us and that we will process such personal data in accordance with and for the purposes outlined below.
We receive personal information about you, when you contact Hastings through various channels i.e. by requesting a quotation, using any of our website’s or the live online chat facility, submitting a claim, telephone, post, email or by visiting any one of our branches.
The personal data we will collect from you and process, where relevant, is dependent on the type of product you are seeking, this is not a limited list and may include:
Personal, such as title, full name, address, landline telephone number, mobile number, work number, email address
Your date of birth, gender and/or age, PRSI number,
Note: Some personal data is mandatory in order for the performance of the contract. In the event you decide not to provide the mandatory personal data we will be unable to provide you with a certain service or product. We will indicate to you where any personal data required is mandatory or optional.
In order for Hastings to provide you with any of the insurance services listed above, Hastings needs to collect personal data to be able to provide a quotation, arrange a transaction(s) on your behalf, administer, manage your policy and assist with claims as part of our service.
Our reason (lawful reason) for processing your data under the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is:
We are committed to ensuring that the information we collect and you give us is appropriate for this purpose, and does not constitute an invasion of your privacy.
We will process (collect, store and use) the information you provide in a manner compatible with the EU’s General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR). We will endeavour to keep your information accurate and up to date, and not keep it for longer than is necessary.
Where we collect any special categories of personal data, known as ‘sensitive data’ i.e. data about your health or information in relation to your criminal convictions such as penalty points/driving convictions, this will only be requested and processed where it is necessary for the performance of an insurance contract and will only be processed by way of a) explicit consent b) assessment of risk c) for the prevention of fraud d) for the establishment, exercise, enforcement or defence of legal claims or e) to protect the vital interests of a person.
As an Insurance Broker we share your data with the insurance companies we deal with in order to obtain a quotation, issue renewal terms and provide alternative quotations for you. We may also be required to share your data for example, with the National Vehicle and Driver File, Personal Injuries Assessment Board or other third parties involved in administering your insurance contract including any loss assessors/adjustors, witnesses to any incidents/accidents you are involved in, claimants and their legal or medical representatives. These third parties are obliged to keep your details secure, and use them only to fulfil the service they provide on your behalf. In order to fulfil our legal and regulatory obligations we may also share your personal data with any authorities for example: The Data Protection Commission, Revenue Commissioners, Central Bank of Ireland, Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman, our legal advisors or the Garda Siochana. When we believe we have been given false or misleading information, or we suspect criminal activity we must record this and inform the relevant authorities. Your data is held within the Hastings branch network and may be shared with any providers or suppliers where the firm outsources the processing of certain functions, for example: Auditors, Legal advisors, IT/Software providers, Payment Processes or other third parties involved in administering your contract. Your data may also be shared with any party where you have given us permission to speak with them i.e. a relative or friend, any party named under your insurance.
In the instance where we have to transfer data outside the European Economic Area (EEA) to help provide you with products and services, we will do so in compliance with obligations under Data Protection Legislation and would expect the same standard of data protection is applied outside of the EEA to these transfers and the use of the information, to ensure your rights are protected.
In certain contracts of insurance where, for whatever reason, you cannot be found or you become insolvent, or the court finds it just and equitable to so order, then your rights under the contract may be transferred to and vested in the third party even though they are not a party to the contract of insurance. The third party has a right to recover from the insurer the amount of any loss suffered by them. Where the third party reasonably believes that you as policyholder have incurred a liability the third party may be entitled to seek and obtain information from the insurer or from any other person who is able to provide it concerning:
All of the above requests will be forwarded on should there be a third party involved as we have indicated in the processing of your personal data.
Hastings intent is to strictly protect the security of your personal information; honour your choice for its intended use; and carefully protect your data from loss, misuse, unauthorised access or disclosure, alteration or destruction. We have taken appropriate steps to safeguard and secure information we collect online, including the use of encryption when collecting or transferring sensitive data such as credit card information. However, you should always take into consideration that the internet is an open forum and that data may flow across networks with little or no security measures, and therefore such information may be accessed by people other than those you intended to access it.
You have the right to object to profiling in certain cases only i.e. where it is not required for the performance of the contract or not required for any legal or regulatory reason.
If we intend to further process your personal data for a purpose other than for which the data was collected, we will provide this information prior to processing this data. Where we have your consent to send you information about any other products, services or offers which Hastings would like to communicate to you, we may contact you through a variety of means such as mobile phone, landline, email, SMS (text) and post. This can include you being contacted on or about the anniversary of your policy lapsing or your quote request. It is always your choice whether you want to receive any marketing based information. You can also change your preferences of how we contact you or amend how you receive any marketing at any time by calling your local branch or emailing Compliance@hastings.ie. If you choose not to receive this type of information, it will not affect any of the services provided to you, now or in the future.
Your privacy is important to us. If you have any comments or questions regarding this statement, please contact data protection on 098 27227 or email Compliance@hastings.ie.
We may change this privacy policy from time to time. When such a change is made, we will post a revised version on our website. Changes will be effective from the point at which they are posted. It is your responsibility to review this privacy policy periodically so you are aware of any changes. By using our services you agree to this privacy policy.
Version 4 – 8th May 2024