Credit Information (Insurance Companies) Regulations

Regulations Respecting the Use by a Company or Foreign Company of Information Supplied by its Customers His Excellency the Governor General in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister of Finance, pursuant to sections 489a and 607 of the Insurance Companies Actb, is pleased hereby to make the annexed Regulations respecting the use by a company or foreign company of information supplied by its customers. S.C. 1996, c. 6, s. 80 S.C. 1991, c. 47 These Regulations may be cited as the Credit Information (Insurance Companies) Regulations. In these Regulations, authorized type of insurance means credit or charge card-related insurance, creditors’ disability insurance, creditors’ life insurance, creditors’ loss of employment insurance, creditors’ vehicle inventory insurance, export credit insurance, mortgage insurance, or travel insurance; (assurance autorisée) credit customer means a natural person who has at any time applied for or received a loan from a company or foreign company, other than a loan from a company or foreign company to assist the person to purchase a policy, or a loan made on the security of a policy, that is issued by the company or foreign company, a loan referred to in section 88 of the Canadian and British Insurance Companies Act, as that section read on May 31, 1992, and, in the case of a loan referred to in paragraph (a) of that section, read without reference to the limits established in sections 94, 95 and 96 of that Act, a loan, from a foreign company that, under the Canadian and British Insurance Companies Act, was a British company, that the foreign company would have been authorized to vest in trust pursuant to subsection 209(2) of that Act and sections 1 to 3 of Schedule II to that Act, as those provisions read on May 31, 1992, subject to the limits referred to in paragraphs 5(a) and (b) of that Schedule, a loan from a foreign company that the foreign company would have been authorized to vest in trust pursuant to subsection 28(2) of the Foreign Insurance Companies Act and sections 1 to 3 of the schedule to that Act, as those sections read on May 31, 1992, subject to the limits referred to in paragraphs 5(a) and (b) of that schedule, or a loan under the National Housing Act or the Small Business Loans Act from a company or foreign company that is an approved lender under that Act; (client du crédit) credit information means information in respect of a customer of a company or foreign company who is resident in Canada, an employee of such a customer who is resident in Canada, where the customer is an entity with members, any member of such a customer who is resident in Canada or where the customer is a partnership, any partner of such a customer who is resident in Canada, which information the company or foreign company has obtained by reason that the customer has applied for or received a loan from the company or foreign company, other than a loan from the company or foreign company to assist the person to purchase a policy, or a loan made on the security of a policy, that is issued by the company or foreign company, a loan referred to in section 88 of the Canadian and British Insurance Companies Act, as that section read on May 31, 1992 and, in the case of a loan referred to in paragraph (a) of that section, read without reference to the limits established in sections 94, 95 and 96 of that Act, a loan under the National Housing Act or the Small Business Loans Act from a company or foreign company that is an approved lender under that Act, by reason that the customer has applied for or uses a credit or charge card issued by the company or foreign company, or from a trust or loan corporation incorporated by or under an Act of the legislature of a province; (renseignements sur le crédit) credit or charge card-related insurance, in respect of a company or foreign company, means a policy of an insurance company that provides insurance to the holder of a credit or charge card issued by the company or foreign company as a feature of the card, without request and without an individual assessment of risk, against loss of, or damage to, goods purchased with the card, under which the insurance company undertakes to extend a warranty provided by the manufacturer of goods purchased with the card, or against any loss arising from a contractual liability assumed by the holder when renting a vehicle, when the rental is paid for with the card; (assurance carte de crédit ou de paiement) creditors’ disability insurance, in respect of a company or foreign company, means a group policy that will pay all or part of the amount of a debt to the company or foreign company, or to a loan company or bank that is an affiliate of the company or foreign company, in the event of bodily injury to, or illness or disability of, where the debtor is a natural person, the debtor or the spouse or common-law partner of the debtor, a natural person who is a guarantor of all or part of the debt, where the debtor is a body corporate, a director or officer of the body corporate, or where the debtor is an entity, any natural person who is essential to the ability of the debtor to meet the debtor’s financial obligations to the company, foreign company, loan company or bank; (assurance-invalidité de crédit) creditors’ life insurance, in respect of a company or foreign company, means a group policy that will pay to the company or foreign company, or to a loan company or bank that is an affiliate of the company or foreign company, all or part of the amount of a debt or, where a debt is in respect of a small business or a farm, fishery or ranch, all or part of the amount of the credit limit of a line of credit, in the event of the death of where the debtor is an entity, any natural person who is essential to the ability of the debtor to meet the debtor’s financial obligations to the company, foreign company, loan company or bank; (assurance-vie de crédit) creditors’ loss of employment insurance, in respect of a company or foreign company, means a policy of an insurance company that will pay to the company or foreign company, or to a loan company or bank that is an affiliate of the company or foreign company, without an individual assessment of risk, all or part of the amount of a debt of a debtor to the company, foreign company, loan company or bank in the event that where the debtor is a natural person, the debtor becomes involuntarily unemployed, or a natural person who is a guarantor of all or part of the debt becomes involuntarily unemployed; (assurance crédit en cas de perte d’emploi) creditors’ vehicle inventory insurance, in respect of a company or foreign company, means a policy of an insurance company that provides insurance against direct and accidental loss of, or damage to, vehicles that are held in stock for display and sale purposes by a debtor of the company or foreign company, some or all of which have been financed by the company or foreign company; (assurance crédit pour stocks de véhicules) export credit insurance means a policy of an insurance company that provides insurance to an exporter of goods or services against a loss incurred by the exporter as a result of non-payment for exported goods or services; (assurance crédit des exportateurs) group policy means a policy of an insurance company that provides insurance severally in respect of a group of identifiable persons who individually hold certificates of insurance; (police d’assurance collective) insurance company means a company or foreign company or any other entity that is approved, registered or otherwise authorized to insure risks under an Act of Parliament or of the legislature of a province; (société d’assurances) line of credit means a commitment on the part of a company or foreign company to lend one or more amounts to a debtor, without a predetermined repayment schedule, where the aggregate amount outstanding does not exceed a predetermined credit limit, which limit does not exceed the reasonable credit needs of the debtor; (marge de crédit) loan company means a body corporate to which the Trust and Loan Companies Act applies or a loan or trust corporation incorporated by or under an Act of the legislature of a province; (société de prêt) mortgage insurance, in respect of a company or foreign company, means a policy that provides insurance to the company or foreign company, or to a loan company or bank that is an affiliate of the company or foreign company, against loss caused by a default on the part of a debtor who is a natural person under a loan from the company, foreign company, loan company or bank that is secured by real property or by an interest in real property; (assurance hypothèque) personal accident insurance means a group policy that provides insurance to a natural person whereby an insurance company undertakes to pay one or more sums of money in the event of bodily injury to, or the death of, the person that is caused by an accident, or a certain sum for each day that the person is hospitalized in the event of bodily injury to the person that is caused by an accident or in the event of an illness or disability of the person; (assurance accidents corporels) small business means a business that is or, if it were incorporated, would be a small business corporation within the meaning of subsection 248(1) of the Income Tax Act; (petite entreprise) travel insurance means a policy of an insurance company that provides insurance to a natural person in respect of a trip by the person away from the place where the person ordinarily resides, without an individual assessment of risk, against loss that results from the cancellation or interruption of the trip, loss of, or damage to, personal property that occurs while on the trip, or loss that is caused by the delayed arrival of personal baggage while on the trip, or a group policy that provides insurance to a natural person in respect of a trip by the person away from the province in which the person ordinarily resides against expenses incurred while on the trip that result from an illness or disability of the person that occurs while on the trip, against expenses incurred while on the trip that result from bodily injury to, or the death of, the person that is caused by an accident that occurs while on the trip, whereby the insurance company undertakes to pay one or more sums of money in the event of an illness or disability of the person that occurs while on the trip or in the event of bodily injury to, or the death of, the person that is caused by an accident that occurs while on the trip, against expenses incurred by the person for dental care necessitated by an accident that occurs while on the trip, or in the event that the person dies while on the trip, against expenses incurred for the return of that person’s remains to the place where the person was ordinarily resident before death or for travel expenses incurred by a relative of that person who must travel to identify that person’s remains. (assurance voyage) No company or foreign company shall use credit information to promote, in Canada, an insurance company or insurance agent or broker unless the company, foreign company, insurance company or insurance agent or broker deals only in authorized types of insurance; or the promotion takes place outside the offices of the company or foreign company and is directed to all the holders of credit or charge cards issued by the company or foreign company who receive regularly mailed statements of account, all credit customers of the company or foreign company who receive regularly mailed statements of account, or the general public. No company or foreign company shall use credit information to promote, in Canada, a policy of an insurance company or of an insurance agent or broker, or a service in respect thereof, unless the policy is of an authorized type of insurance or the service is in respect of such a policy; the policy is a personal accident insurance policy, or the service is in respect of such a policy, and the promotion takes place outside the offices of the company or foreign company; or all holders of credit or charge cards issued by the company or foreign company who receive regularly mailed statements of account, Notwithstanding subsection (1) and section 3, a company or foreign company may exclude from a promotion referred to in paragraph (1)(c) or 3(b) persons in respect of whom the promotion would contravene an Act of Parliament or of the legislature of a province; who have notified the company or foreign company in writing that they do not wish to receive promotional material from the company or foreign company; or who are holders of a credit or charge card that was issued by the company or foreign company and in respect of which the account is not in good standing. No company or foreign company shall directly or indirectly provide an insurance company or insurance agent or broker with any credit information; permit any of its subsidiaries to directly or indirectly provide an insurance company or insurance agent or broker with any credit information that it receives from the company or foreign company; or provide any of its affiliates that are not subsidiaries of the company or foreign company with credit information unless the company or foreign company ensures that the affiliate does not directly or indirectly provide the information to an insurance company or insurance agent or broker. Subsection (1) does not apply in respect of a company or foreign company where the company or foreign company has informed the insurance company or insurance agent or broker that the information is credit information; the company or foreign company has established procedures to ensure that the credit information will not be used by the insurance company or insurance agent or broker to promote, in Canada, the insurance business of the insurance company or insurance agent or broker or to promote, in Canada, an insurance policy or a service in respect thereof; and the insurance company or insurance agent or broker has given an undertaking to the company or foreign company in a form acceptable to the Superintendent, that the credit information will not be used to promote, in Canada, the insurance business of the insurance company or insurance agent or broker or to promote, in Canada, an insurance policy or a service in respect thereof.