Privacy Policy
May 2024
MetLife Insurance Limited (ABN 75 004 274 882) (“We/us/our”)
In the course of providing its financial products and services, MetLife may collect personal information relating to its policyholders (actual or potential), insured persons (actual or potential), third parties, prospective or actual employees or contractors, and advisers,– (collectively referred to as “you” or “your”). Any personal information collected by us is treated with strict confidence and used for the purpose for which it was collected or where permitted, a secondary related purpose, or as authorised by law.
This is our Privacy Policy that sets out how we collect, store, use and disclose your personal information. We recommend that you read this Privacy Policy carefully.
By applying for insurance cover, renewing your cover, varying your cover or using any of our products or services such as visiting any of our websites, entering competitions we run, requesting a service through MetLife 360Health, accessing the MetLife Adviser campus or otherwise providing us with your personal information, you agree to your personal information being collected, held, used and disclosed as set out in this Privacy Policy.
In this Privacy Policy any reference to:
'Act’ means the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).
‘Personal information’ means information or an opinion about an identified individual, or an individual who is reasonably identifiable:
(a) whether the information or opinion is true or not; and
(b) whether the information or opinion is recorded in a material form or not.
'Privacy Principles’ means the Australian Privacy Principles made under the Act.
‘Sensitive information’ means a sub set of personal information and concerns particular topics including information about health (including predictive genetic information), racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, philosophical or religious beliefs or affiliations, sexual orientations or practices, memberships of professional or trade associations or trade unions, criminal records or biometric information.
Our Commitment
MetLife recognises that your privacy is very important to you. We are committed to protecting the privacy of your personal information in accordance with the Act.
You do not have to provide us with your personal information, but if you do not do so we may not be able to provide you with our products or services.
The Personal Information MetLife Collects
We collect personal information necessary for us to:
- consider your application for insurance cover or any application to vary your insurance cover;
- provide you with financial products and services;
- allow you to transact with us on behalf of a policyholder or insured person;
- address any complaints or queries you have raised with us;
- facilitate your access to and use of MetLife 360Health or the MetLife Adviser Campus;
- manage your claim;
- consider your application if you have applied for a job with us; and
- if you are a Metlife employee or a contractor, manage your working relationship with us.
The personal information we collect and store generally includes your name, address, date of birth, and contact details (such as your phone number, and/or email address).
However, we may also collect and store other personal information required to provide our products, services or assistance to you, including your gender, employment, details of your previous insurances, financial information (which may include your tax file number, transactional or account information), sensitive information (such as health information and criminal records- see below), and claims history.
Where you enter a competition that we are conducting, we will also ask you for your postcode to abide by the competition regulations and we may ask for your address should it be necessary for delivery of the prize.
How MetLife May Collect Your Personal Information
We may collect your personal information in various ways, including via telephone, our website, hard copy forms or email. Whenever you choose to deal with us directly, we will where possible collect this personal information directly from you.
We may also seek to collect personal information about you from someone else. For example, if you request a product or service through an adviser or your employer, or if personal information (including sensitive information) is collected by us from medical professionals (including your doctor) for underwriting or claims purposes.
We may also seek to collect personal information about someone else from you (for example, if you request a product or service jointly with another person). However, you must not provide us with personal information about another person unless you have clear consent from that person to do so and let them know about this Privacy Policy and where to find it.
What About Sensitive Information?
Sensitive information we hold is subject to greater restrictions.
We will only collect your sensitive information (from you or from another person such as, for health information, a medical professional) if we have your consent to do so.
Sensitive information is usually needed for applications for life insurance products (but may be necessary for other financial products we offer) and to manage claims on those products. Sensitive information will be used and disclosed only for the purposes for which it was provided, unless you agree otherwise or the use or disclosure of this information is allowed by law.
MetLife will not request sensitive information that is not necessary to provide you with a financial product or service.
How MetLife Uses Your Personal Information
Unless otherwise required by law we only use your personal information
for the purpose for which it was provided to us and related purposes. Such
purposes include:
- responding to your enquiries;
- providing you with the assistance you requested of us in relation to our products and services (including processing requests for quotes, applications for insurance, verifying your identity, underwriting and pricing your policy, issuing you with a policy, assessing and managing your claim, processing payments, etc);
- assessing and responding to any complaint or dispute;
- facilitating a 360Health service;
- if you are an adviser, providing you with the MetLife Campus CPD service, or allowing you to transact with us on behalf of your client;
- where requested by you, to enter you into promotions and competitions;
- maintaining/administering your account and policies and processing payments you have authorised;
- processing your survey or questionnaire responses for the purpose(s) notified in the survey or questionnaire (if you have chosen to participate in such);
- for market research so that we can better understand our customers' needs and tailor our future products and services accordingly;
- quality assurance audits and training purposes;
- monitoring and controlling illegal activity, including potential fraud, money laundering or terrorism funding;
- for the purposes of your employment or contracting services if you are a contractor or an employee;
- the discussion around engaging your services, negotiation and provision of your services or the employment relationship; and
- any other purposes identified at the time of collecting your personal information.
If you are not a customer or a current or prospective employee or contractor of MetLife (for example, if you are a medical practitioner, investigator, expert, claimant or other third party), your personal information will only be used for the specific purpose or claim for which it was provided to us, unless you have consented to other uses.
Direct and Social Media Marketing
On occasion, we, and our related companies, may use your personal information to provide you with information about the products and services we offer, including by email or on social media platforms.
If you do not wish to receive any of this information you may choose to opt-out of receiving marketing communications by using the unsubscribe facility in any SMS or email communication, contacting us on 1300 555 625 or by sending an email to auservices@metlife.com.
You can control your preferences to receive social media marketing through the social media platforms or channels that you choose to interact with.
How MetLife May Disclose, Use or Exchange Your Personal Information
Where appropriate we will disclose your personal information to our related entities and third parties who provide services to us or on our behalf. We may further disclose your personal information to a medical professional for claim or underwriting purposes.
The types of third party entities that we may disclose personal information to include:
| To |
For |
|---|---|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Withdrawing Consent
Once you have provided us with your consent for the collection, use and disclosure of your personal information, you are able to withdraw your consent.
To do this, contact us using the contact details below.
Please note that withdrawing your consent for the transaction may mean that we are unable to provide you with the financial product or service you have sought. For example: MetLife may no longer be able to process your application for insurance cover as we cannot proceed with the underwriting process or if you withdraw consent before a claim is finalised, we may be unable to complete the assessment of your claim due to lack of the necessary information being available to us.
Withdrawing your consent for the transaction will not impact previous transactions or other personal information held with MetLife. We will continue to hold all other personal information that you provided us with prior to the withdrawal of consent and it will not be deleted from our systems.
Anonymity and Pseudonymity
If you are subject to the Australian Privacy Principles, you have the option of not identifying yourself or of using a pseudonym, however we will not be able to provide you with services or issue products to you where we are required under Australian law or by a court/tribunal to identify you, or where it is impracticable to deal with you anonymously or by a pseudonym.
Please note that not identifying yourself or using a pseudonym may lead to MetLife no longer being able to provide you with our products or services, such as processing your current or any future underwriting applications, transactions or a claim.
Accuracy, Access and Correction
Please let us know as soon as possible if there are any changes to your personal information or if you believe the personal information we hold about you is not accurate, complete or up-to-date.
We will, on request, provide you with access to the personal information we hold about you unless otherwise required or permitted by law. We will notify you of the basis for any denial to access your personal information. We may ask you to complete a ‘Personal Information Access Request Form’ and may charge you a service fee for retrieving and sending the personal information to you.
This personal information will only be released to the policy holder or authorised recipient.
Cookies
A ‘cookie’ is a packet of information that allows the server (the computer that houses the website) to identify and interact more effectively with your computer. When you use one of our websites, we send you a cookie that gives you a unique identification number. A different identification number is sent each time you use one of our websites.
Cookies do not identify individual users, although they do identify a user's browser type and your Internet Service Provider (ISP). You can configure your browser to accept all cookies, reject all cookies, or notify you when a cookie is sent. Please refer to your browser instructions or help screens to learn more about these functions. If you reject all cookies, you may not be able to use our websites. To evaluate the effectiveness of our website advertising, we may use third parties to collect statistical data. No personal information is collected on these occasions.
Revision of Our Privacy Policy
We reserve the right to revise this Privacy Policy or any part of it from time to time. If we revise this Privacy Policy, we will take reasonably appropriate steps to notify you of any changes that we think would materially affect you. Please review this policy periodically for any changes.
Your continued use of our websites, products or services, requesting our assistance, applying for or renewal of any of our products or services or the provision of further personal or sensitive information to us after this Privacy Policy has been revised, constitutes your acceptance of the revised Privacy Policy.
How to Contact Us
If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or its implementation, please email us at auservices@metlife.com or call us on 1300 555 625.
What if You Have a Complaint?
If you wish to make a complaint about a breach of this Privacy Policy, the Australian Privacy Principles, or the Act you can contact us using the contact details below or contact us at aucomplaints@metlife.com . You will need to provide us with sufficient details regarding your complaint, as well as any supporting evidence and/or information.
We will refer your complaint to our Privacy Officer who will investigate the issue and determine the steps we will undertake to resolve your complaint. We will contact you if we require any additional information from you and will notify you in writing of the determination of our Privacy Officer.
MetLife Privacy Officer
Mail: PO Box 3319, Sydney NSW 2001
Telephone: 1300 555 625
If you are dissatisfied with our response, you should refer the matter to the Office of
the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC). The OAIC can be contacted on
1300 363 992 or on the internet at http://www.oaic.gov.au/