Insurance information and privacy protection act

Purpose

Purpose of the insurance information and privacy act is to do the following: -establish standards for the collection, use and disclosure of info gathered in connection with insurance transactions -maintain a balance between the need for information by those conducting the business of insurance and the publics need for fairness in insurance info practices -limit disclosure of info collected -enable insurance applicants and policyholders to obtain the reasons for any adverse underwriting decision A person is considered to be a resident of this state if the persons last known mailing address is located in this state

Federal privacy disclosure notices

-agent must provide the following to all applicants and policyholders before the initial disclosure of personal info or at the time of the delivery of the insurance policy: -disclosing nonpublic personal info to third parties -disclosing nonpublic personal info of persons who have ceased to be customers of the financial institution -protecting the nonpublic personal info of consumers In the case of policy holder, the notice required must be provided at least once in any period of 12 consecutive months during which the policy is in effect

Notice of insurance info practices

-an insurance agent must provide a notice of information practices to all applicants in connection with insurance transactions The insurance agent may provide an abbreviated notice informing the applicant or policyholder of the following: -personal info may be collected from persons other than the individual for coverage -such info may be disclosed to third parties -a right of access and correction exists with respects to all personal info -the notice will be furnished to the applicant upon request

Individual remedies

-if an insurance institution fails to comply with regulations regarding consumer info privacy and consumer rights, the person may apply to the superior court for appropriate equitable relief. -an action under this section must be brought within 2 years from the date the violation is discovered

Access to recorded personal info

if an individual submits a written request to an insurance institution or agent for access to recorded personal info about the individual, the following must occur within 30 business days after the date the request is received -inform the individual of the nature and substance of the recorded personal information -disclose to the individual the identity of those persons to whom the insurance institution, agent, or insurance-support organization has disclosed such personal info within 2 years prior to the request

Content of disclosure authorization forms

insurance institutions may only use disclosure authorization forms to obtain personal or privileged info about an individual if the forms meet the following criteria: -comply with the provisions of general statutes -are dated -specify the types of persons authorized to disclose info about the individual -specify the length of time that the authorization is valid, which can be no longer than the following: in the case of authorizations signed for the purpose of collecting info in connection with an application for an insurance policy: -30 months from the date the authorization is signed if the application or request involves life, health, or disability insurance -1 year from the date its signed if it involves property or casualty insurance

Pretext interviews

Interviews conducted in an attempt to obtain info about a natural person, performs one or more of the following acts, during which a person does any of the following -pretends to be someone else -pretends to represent a person -misrepresents the true purpose of the interview -refuses to identify him or herself A pretext interview may be used to obtain info from a person that does not have a recognized privileged relationship with the subject of the interview for the purpose of investigating a claim

Limits on sharing account number information in marketing practices

General prohibition on disclosure of account numbers- an insurance institution, insurance agent, or insurance-support organization must not disclose, other than a consumer reporting agency, an account number or similar form of access number or access code for a credit card account, deposit account, or transaction account of a consumer to any nonaffiliated third party for use in telemarketing, or other marketing through electronic mail to a consumer Account number- number or similar form of access number Transaction account- an account other than a deposit account or credit card account Exceptions- the general prohibition provisions on disclosure of account numbers does not apply if an insurance instituition discloses an account number to the insurance institution's agent or service provider solely in order to perform marketing

Exceptions

The notices are not required to disclose to the following: -Any applicant whose last known address is deemed invalid -any policyholder whose policy is lapsed, expired or inactive and has not communicated with the policyholder for a period of 12 consecutive months, other than annual privacy notices