The Direct General Group of Companies Statement of
Privacy Policy
At Direct General, we recognize that your
privacy and security of your nonpublic personal information
("personal information") and information regarding your
creditworthiness ("credit information") are of significant concern
to you. We want to assure you that we are committed to
protecting your personal and credit information. To help ease your
concerns, we have set forth below a summary of our policy followed
by a series of questions and answers that we believe addresses the
most important issues related to your privacy and our use of your
personal and credit information. You should be aware that
occasionally we may revise this Privacy Policy, so we encourage you
to periodically visit our website and click on our Privacy and
Security link to review the most current version. You can also stop
by any of our neighborhood offices at any time and request a
current copy or request a current copy by calling 1-877-GO
DIRECT (1-877-463-4732) or by writing to ATTN:
Privacy Policy, Client Services Administrator, Direct
Administration, Inc., 15151 Florida Blvd., Baton Rouge, LA
70819.
Summary
We collect your personal and credit
information from you, from transactions and interactions between
you and us, including on the internet, and from third parties like
credit reporting agencies or departments of motor vehicles.
We do not sell personal or credit
information we have collected and we do not disclose any
information about our customers or former customers to anyone,
except as permitted or required by law.
We secure and safeguard your personal and
credit information.
1. What type of information about me does
Direct General collect?
We may collect information, including
personal and credit information, about you when you obtain an
insurance quote, apply for one of our products, use one of our
services, or obtain other information from us. Depending on
your state of residence and the nature of your transaction with us,
the types of information we may collect could include: your name,
marital status, date of birth, the names and dates of birth of
other persons in your household, address, telephone number, social
security number, driving records, the types of vehicles you drive,
health information, income and tax data, employment, credit
history, bank information, lienholder information, information
about other insurance you have or have had, and/or your e-mail
address. We collect information about you from telephone
conversations with you; applications, or other information forms
you provide us; information about your transactions with our
affiliates, others, or us, such as claims and premium finance
information; and information we receive from state agencies, such
as state departments of motor vehicles and consumer reporting
organizations. We also collect information from you that you enter
into our website. We do not collect personal or credit information
about you unless you consent or we are otherwise permitted by law
to obtain it.
2. What if I visit, get a quote, or buy insurance
through Direct General's website?
In addition to the information described
above, when you visit our website we will record various data that
will help us better understand how our visitors use our site and
better serve our customers. This data includes, but is not
limited to: the IP address of the computer you are using, browser
and platform types, domain names, access times, how you linked to
and navigated through our website.
We may use technology such as cookies and
web beacons on our website which support site tracking and your
transactions with us, measure our website performance, and
facilitate product marketing. These technologies do not contain any
of your personal or credit information, and they will not damage
your computer. We use industry standard encryption techniques
when using these technologies so your security is not
compromised. In order to make maximum use of our website, you
will need to receive cookies.
We may use advertising companies to place
advertisements about Direct General on other websites. We may
use cookies and other technologies to collect and share information
about your internet activity for market research and to develop
marketing materials we think would be of interest to you.
If you have provided us with your email
address, we may send you communications and materials about other
products, services and features we offer that we think will be of
interest to you and to confirm transactions you have had with
us. If you do not wish to receive these types of
communications or materials from us, you can click the
"unsubscribe" link that will appear in the email or otherwise
instruct us by writing to: Direct Administration, Inc., Customer
Service Department - Attn: PRIVACY POLICY, 15151 Florida Boulevard,
Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 70819;
We may include on our website links to
other sites that do not belong to us and over which we have no
control. Our Privacy Policy applies only to our Companies and our
website. We make no representation or warranties regarding
those other websites or the technologies they may use. Any
time you visit a new website, you should review the privacy policy
for that site before providing any person or credit
information.
3. How does Direct General use the
information about me?
As a general matter, we use your personal
and/or credit information to: help underwrite and provide accurate
insurance premium rate quotes; provide insurance claim services;
provide premium financing services; provide or offer other
financial and consumer products and services; and to provide,
maintain and improve customer service.
4. Who else might receive or use the
information that I provide to Direct General?
Our affiliated companies may share
information about you with each other. Occasionally we also
may share your personal information with unaffiliated third
parties. However, we do not disclose any information about
our customers or former customers to anyone, except as permitted or
required by law. These disclosures are generally described as
follows:
Among our Group of Companies.
Companies within the Direct General Group may share information
about you, including information that: identifies you; describes
our transactions and experiences with you (such as your payment
record and claims history), and credit information that helps us
determine your insurance eligibility. Direct General provides a
variety of products and services through several separate
companies. To provide you with improved service and inform
you of product opportunities that may be available to you, the
companies within the Direct General Group may share such
information about you among themselves. For example, some of our
affiliated companies share or receive information to provide
technical or operational support services - such as to prepare
notices concerning your insurance policies or accounts with us or
to provide data processing services. In addition, insurance policy
information may be shared to assist in resolving a claim on your
policy. Other of our affiliated companies may provide you
information about other insurance products and non-insurance
consumer products and financial services offered by them directly
or through them acting as an agent on behalf of another
organization.
Outside our Group of Companies.
To better serve you, we sometimes contract with outside vendors who
provide various services, such as printing and mail services, on
our behalf. These third parties agree to safeguard and keep
confidential our personal information about you and the products
and services that you obtain from us. Those parties are
required by law to restrict the use and disclosure of your personal
information.
In addition, we
may provide your personal information to other third parties who
have a legitimate need for the information. These may include, for
example, third party claims adjusters and investigators, actuarial
consultants, reinsurers, governmental agencies, courts, and law
enforcement authorities. We may also provide personal information
to insurance industry statistical reporting organizations, but your
individual identity will not be revealed through such statistical
reports.
From time to
time, we may also contract with parties outside our affiliated
group so we can make available to you certain financial and other
consumer products and services. For example, we may contract with a
bank or other lending institution, tax return preparer or
processor, or money transfer provider to make available to you
various products and services they provide. We may also enter
into joint marketing agreements with other financial institutions
or third party service providers. In those cases, we may disclose
to those companies the types of information we collect about you as
described in response to question 1 above, (but not your bank
account or credit card information). Those companies would be
subject to confidentiality agreements with us as well as other
legal restrictions on using your nonpublic information, unless you
have affirmatively agreed or given your prior permission to them
for other uses.
5. Do I have a choice regarding the use and
distribution of information about me among Direct General
affiliates or with unaffiliated third parties?
There are circumstances where we are
lawfully allowed or required to share information about you. These
circumstances include but are not limited to: among our affiliates,
for example, if the information relates to your identification
(such as your name and address) or to your transactions and
experiences with us (such as your payment record and claims
history); with a third party, for example, if it is necessary to
provide services to effect, administer or enforce a transaction
requested by you; with any of our affiliated companies that provide
such services to you; with regulatory authorities; and when
otherwise required by law or legal process. In those
circumstances, it is our policy to share your information only to
the extent required or allowed by law.
However, you have the right to prevent our
sharing certain information about you in certain circumstances.
Sharing credit information among Direct General
affiliates. If you choose to, you
can instruct us not to share among our affiliates certain credit
information about you contained in consumer reports such as your
credit history. If you prefer that we not share your credit
information among our affiliated companies (unless the information
is otherwise required or allowed by law to be shared), then please
call us toll-free at 1-877-GO DIRECT (1-877-463-4732) with
your specific instructions.
Sharing personal information with third parties or
among Direct General
affiliates. If you prefer that
we not share your personal information with third
parties or among our own affiliated companies (unless the
information is otherwise required or allowed by law to be shared),
then please call us toll-free at 1-877-GO DIRECT
(1-877-463-4732).
In either case, please have all of your
relevant account numbers available when you call, including but not
limited to your insurance policy number(s), claim number, premium
finance account, memberships, or other account numbers. If
you are a new customer, please allow five (5) business days after
the date of your transaction with us before you call. You
understand that if you call and ask us not to share your credit
information or your personal information, you may not receive
valuable information about financial and other consumer products
and services (possibly including certain types of discounts on, or
other special offers related to, non-insurance products and
services) that could be of interest to you and your family.
6. If I ask you not to share my information, how
does this affect joint accounts, joint policyholders, and other
persons covered under any of my policies?
One joint account holder or policyholder
can bind the decision not to share on joint accounts and insurance
policies, including other covered persons. For example, if you and
your spouse are joint insureds on an auto policy and you choose not
to share, your decision will bind your spouse only for the joint
accounts or joint policies. Individual accounts and policies of a
spouse will not be affected by the other spouse's decision not to
share information with respect to their individual accounts and
policies.
7. How do you maintain the confidentiality
and security of my personal and credit information?
We maintain physical, electronic, and
procedural safeguards that comply with industry standards to
protect your personal and credit information.
We handle your information securely. We
limit access to your personal and credit information and our
servers to personnel who have a legitimate business reason for such
access. We expect our personnel to adhere to high standards
of ethics and integrity in performing their jobs and conducting the
business and affairs of the company. We train our employees about
the importance of maintaining the confidentiality of your
information and your privacy, and we will take disciplinary or
other corrective action to ensure that our employees comply with
our privacy policy. Information stored by us is housed securely and
there is no access to this information via the Internet from
outside entities.
For internet users, we use a secure server
and security protocol to safeguard the information you provide
during the purchase and payment processes. Our secure server
implements the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol and 128-bit
encryption for when you interact with us including when you provide
personal information during the purchase and payment processes.
This state of the art technology encrypts your information so a
third party cannot read the information while in transit. We use
the digital certificate services of VeriSign so you can be
confident knowing you are transacting your business with Direct
General.
Even with safeguards and security measures,
you should still exercise discretion with respect to the submission
of any personal or financial information over the internet,
particularly via email which is never completely secure. We cannot
guaranty the security or confidentiality of email communications,
so if you are concerned about the security of those communications,
you can always send your correspondence through the postal service
or use the telephone to speak directly to us.
8. How will Direct General correct inaccuracies in
my information?
It is important to us that all information
about you in our files is accurate. You can help us by providing
up-to-date information and notifying us of any inaccuracies in your
information. You can notify us by writing to Direct Administration,
Inc., Customer Service Department, 15151 Florida Boulevard, Baton
Rouge, Louisiana, 70819; or by calling our Customer Service
Department at 1-877-GO DIRECT
(1-877-463-4732). Please include all of your
relevant account numbers including but not limited to your
insurance policy number(s), claim number, premium finance account,
memberships, or other account numbers when you write, or have these
numbers available when you call.
9. I'm concerned about my information security and
identity theft, what can I do to improve my security?
Following are just a few examples of how
you can improve your information security and guard against
identity theft. For more information you can visit the
Federal Trade Commission's website at www.ftc.gov.
- Install anti-virus, firewall and anti-spyware software and keep
those and your operating system up to date.
- Keep your User ID and PIN or password confidential. Utilize a
PIN or password unique to you and, if possible, change it
frequently.
- Make sure others are not watching you enter your User ID, PIN
or password
- Do not leave your computer unattended while logged onto your
secured site and log off when you are finished transacting your
business.
- Use caution before answering email requests for your personal
information.
- Do not enter personal information in an email or pop up. Direct
General will never ask you to disclose your account information or
personal information in an unsolicited email
- Be aware of your billing cycles and shred documents that
contain personal information such as your account numbers and
credit card offers with your name and address
- If you suspect identity theft or fraud on your Direct General
account, notify us and your local law enforcement agency
************
We hope that this information has answered
any questions you may have about why we need to collect certain
information about you and how we strive to protect that
information. Maintaining your trust and confidence is an
important part of our commitment to providing superior customer
service to you.
The Direct General Group of
Companies. Our Privacy Policy applies to all companies
within the Direct General Group of Companies:
Direct General Corporation ▪ Direct
Insurance Company ▪ Direct General Insurance Company ▪ Direct
National Insurance Company ▪ Direct General Insurance Company
of Louisiana ▪ Direct General Insurance Company of Mississippi ▪
Direct Life Insurance Company ▪ Direct General Life Insurance
Company ▪ Direct General Financial Services, Inc. ▪ Direct
General Premium Finance Company ▪ Direct General Insurance Agency,
Inc. (Arkansas) ▪ Direct General Insurance Agency, Inc.*
▪ Direct General Agency of Georgia, Inc. ▪ Direct
General Agency of Kentucky, Inc. ▪ Direct General Insurance
Agency of Louisiana, Inc. ▪ Direct General Insurance Agency, Inc.
(Mississippi) ▪ . Direct General Insurance Agency of North
Carolina, Inc. ▪ Direct General Insurance Agency of South
Carolina, Inc. ▪ Direct General Insurance Agency of
Tennessee, Inc. ▪ Direct General Insurance Agency, Inc.
(Texas) ▪ Right Choice Insurance Agency, Inc. ▪
Direct Administration, Inc. ▪ Direct Adjusting Company, Inc.
▪ Direct General Consumer Products, Inc.**
*Doing business in Florida also as Florida No FaultSM
, Cash Register Auto AgencySM
** Also doing business as Direct Tax ServicesSM