Who we are

In this Privacy Policy “we”, “our”, and “us” refers to General Reinsurance Australia. We offer property and casualty reinsurance in Australia, New Zealand, other Oceania countries and Guam.

Our commitment to privacy and responsible use of personal information

1. We respect rights to privacy and are committed to safeguarding the privacy of our customers and information they share with us.
2. This policy sets out how we collect, store, use, protect, handle and disclose personal information. We will do this in accordance with the Privacy Act 2020.
3. “Personal information” means information about an identifiable individual. This includes information such as name, date of birth, gender, marital status, email address, details about employment including salaries and employment history, or any other type of information that can identify an individual, either directly or indirectly.
4. By providing us with personal and information, whether directly or indirectly, the individual agrees to this Privacy Policy.

What personal information is collected

1. As a company offering reinsurance products, we collect and hold a range of personal information from and about individuals who are insured under policies issued by our customers (insurance companies). We only collect information from individuals that is necessary for our business functions or activities and in accordance with the provisions of the Privacy Act.
2. We may, from time to time, receive and store personal information from third parties either provided to us directly or given to us in other forms. We will receive basic information such as:
   • name;
   • phone number;
   • address;
   • email address;
   • date of birth.
   This will be used only to send information, provide updates and process the product that is necessary to carry out our business functions or activities.
3. We may also collect additional personal information at other times either directly or indirectly, including but not limited to:
   • employment details;
   • income including but not limited to, salary and wages, investments, fee income;
   • sources of income;
   • citizenship status;
   • financial information including, but not limited to, assets and liabilities;
   • claims history;
   • pastimes and pursuits;
   • lifestyle;
   • travel plans;
   • occupational duties;
   • feedback; and
   • information about personal or business affairs.

How we collect and hold personal information

1. Where it is reasonable and practicable to do so, we collect personal information about an individual directly from the individual and not from third parties.
   
   In many circumstances though, in view of our business as a reinsurer, this is not practicable. We may collect personal information indirectly from various third parties (whether based in New Zealand or overseas) including:
   • insurance companies;
   • claims assessors;
   • loss adjusters;
   • investigators;
   • claims managers;
   • legal representatives;
   • accountants;
   • the individual’s employer (if applicable); and
   • other General Reinsurance group entities.
   If such information is not provided to us, we may not be able to provide your insurer with the reinsurance services they have requested and this may affect the insurer’s ability to provide you with the relevant insurance.
   
   If we do collect such information identified above, we will not use it for any other purpose and hold it in accordance with the Privacy Act.

How we use personal information

1. We may collect, hold, use and disclose personal information collected from individuals, whether directly or indirectly, for various purposes associated with our business, including:
   
   • to undertake and complete reinsurance transactions;
   • risk analysis and reinsurance underwriting;
   • management of claims;
   • accounting and auditing;
   • risk management;
   • portfolio analysis;
   • complaints management; and
   • legal, regulatory and compliance purposes.

   If personal information is withheld, it may not be possible for us to provide our products and services.

2. If there is a change of control in our business or a sale or transfer of business assets, we reserve the right to transfer to the extent permissible at law our user databases, together with any personal information, and non-personal information contained in those databases.

How we disclose personal information

1. We may disclose personal information to comply with a legal requirement, such as a law, regulation, court order, subpoena, warrant, legal proceedings or in response to a law enforcement agency request.
2. We may disclose an individual’s personal information to the following:
   • auditors;
   • legal representatives and other external advisors;
   • other General Reinsurance group entities and related parties;
   • third party service providers who we engage to assist us to conduct our business;
   • government or regulatory bodies (as required or authorised by law);
   • other organisations who in conjunction with us provide goods and services to the individual;
   • professional associations or organisations with whom we conduct an affinity relationship;
   • any person or organisation which the individual wishes to authorise to act on their behalf or to whom the individual provides consent (we require the individual to notify us of this, in writing); and
   • any person or organisation that has information that is necessary for one or more of our business functions or activities.
3. We will comply with all our legal obligations when we disclose an individual’s personal information including our obligations under the Privacy Act if we do disclose personal information to a third party.
4. Where we disclose personal information, we require the receiving parties to adhere to our strict confidentiality requirements for the use and handling of personal information and also seek to ensure that they adhere to the Privacy Act.
5. We may also disclose personal information to overseas recipients, including General Reinsurance group entities with locations in Canada, China, European Union, Hong Kong, India, Australia, Singapore, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States. If personal information is disclosed to overseas recipients, we will require the receiving parties to adhere to and handle the personal Information in accordance with the Privacy Act.

How we store personal information

1. We take all reasonable steps to make sure your personal information is kept safe from loss, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure and/or misuse, in accordance with our obligations under the Privacy Act. We may store your personal information overseas.
2. We hold personal information electronically in various internal systems and databases including shared drives, email, document management systems and in hard copy. We have reasonable security measures in place to secure the personal information including firewalls, protection against malware and secure logon procedures. We also maintain reasonable security procedures for holding physical information, including electronic building entry and storage procedures.
3. All contractual arrangements with third parties (whether located within or outside of New Zealand) impose appropriate privacy and confidentiality obligations on those third parties to ensure that personal information that we impart is kept secure and in accordance with our obligations under the Privacy Act.

Access to personal information

1. An individual has the right to request details of personal information that we hold about them. We will attend to a request as soon as is reasonably practicable after receiving the request and in accordance with our obligations under the Privacy Act. If the individual would like a copy of the information which we hold about them they should contact our Privacy Officer. (See section “How to contact us” for contact details).
2. A reasonable fee may be charged for retrieving and sending an individual their personal information.
3. There may also be circumstances in which we cannot provide individual access to the personal information we hold. We reserve the right to refuse to provide information that we hold, in certain circumstances set out in the Privacy Act or any other applicable law. If we refuse to provide information, we will give you reasons.
4. If an individual is seeking information on another person’s behalf, we will require additional written authorisation from that individual.

Correction of personal information

1. We will take reasonable steps to make sure that personal information we collect, store, handle, use or disclose is accurate, complete, up-to-date, relevant and not misleading.
2. If any individual believes that any information we hold on them is inaccurate, out of date, incomplete, irrelevant or misleading, they have the right to request that we change the information by contacting our Privacy Officer. We will attend to each request as soon as is reasonably practicable after receiving the request and in accordance with our obligations under the Privacy Act.
3. In order to process any request for access or correction of an individual’s personal information, we will need to obtain a minimum level of information from an individual including the following:
   • full name;
   • date of birth; and
   • details of the request including supporting information, evidencing the individual’s right to access the data.
4. Where it is established that personal information in relation to an individual is inaccurate, out of date, incomplete, irrelevant or misleading, we will take all reasonable steps necessary to correct the information so that it is accurate, complete, up-to-date, relevant and not misleading. If we disagree about whether the information is accurate, complete, up-to-date, relevant and not misleading, and the individual requests us to associate with the information a statement claiming that the information is inaccurate, out of date, incomplete, irrelevant or misleading, we will take all reasonable steps to do so.

Complaints

1. If an individual believes that their privacy has been interfered with, including if they disagree with our reasons for withholding information from them, or believes that we have not complied with an obligation under the Privacy Act, the individual can make a complaint to our Privacy Officer or the Office of the New Zealand Privacy Commissioner.
2. If the complaint is made to our Privacy Officer, we will promptly acknowledge and investigate complaints in accordance with our obligations under the Privacy Act. The Privacy Officer’s contact details are provided at the end of this Privacy Policy.
3. If an individual is not satisfied with how we have dealt with an individual’s complaint after it has been through our internal process, then the individual may refer the complaint to the Office of the New Zealand Privacy Commissioner via their website here.

Further Information

1. Further information regarding the Privacy Act can be obtained through the Office of the Privacy Commissioner on their website.
2. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner can be contacted as follows:
   • 0800 803 909
   • enquiries@privacy.org.nz
   • https://www.privacy.org.nz/news/contact-us/

How to contact us

All correspondence relating to privacy matters should be addressed to:

• Privacy Officer
• General Reinsurance Australia
• Level 20, 1 O’Connell Street
• Sydney, 2000
• New South Wales
• Australia

• Phone	+61 2 8236 6148
  Email	PrivacyANZ@genre.com

This policy was last updated on 11 June 2025 and is current at the present time.