Privacy Policy

How The Plan Collects, Uses and Discloses Personal Information

What information do we keep?
We collect and store non-public personal information. It comes from a variety of sources such as the applications or other forms that you complete (for example, your name, your Social Insurance number, and your address), from your employers, or from correspondence with you and service providers you have engaged to provide medical or other benefits. We collect only the information we need for the purpose of providing and servicing health benefit and retirement programs we administer on your behalf.

In order to provide certain benefits, we may be required by legislation (such as the Pension Benefits Standards Act) to collect and store your Social Insurance Number.

We do not sell your personal information.

Why do we need the information?
We need to collect personal information to:

• determine your eligibility for benefits,
• administer and adjudicate your benefits,
• determine the cost and financially manage these programs,
• meet regulatory or contractual requirements relating to the benefits and related services provided to you.

We will make sure you understand why we need the information by using clear, understandable language when describing the purpose.

We will obtain your permission
We collect, use or disclose your personal information with your permission. Your permission may be expressed in writing or be implied and you may give it to us verbally, electronically, or through your authorized representative.

With reasonable notice, and subject to legal and contractual restrictions, you may withdraw your permission to collect, use and disclose your personal information at any time.

We will obtain your consent to collect or release medical information about you. Before we make information available to third parties, other than an agent or authorized service provider who needs it, we will tell you at the time we obtain your consent or before we make the information available, who those persons or organizations are, the kind of information we want to share with them and why.

Of course, you can choose not to provide us with some or all of your personal information. However, this choice may hinder our ability to adjudicate any claims you have for benefits to which you may be entitled.

How long do we keep information?
We will keep your personal information as long as it is necessary, or as required by law. When personal information records are destroyed, we will use appropriate safeguards to prevent unauthorized parties from gaining access to the information during the process.

The Plan Will Protect Your Personal Information

We are responsible for your information
We are responsible for all personal information in our possession; including information transferred to a third party service provider or agent  so that we can provide you with benefits and related services.

How we protect information
Only the Plan Administrator's employees, the Trustees of the Plan, Plan sponsors, agents and authorized service providers who need it to do their jobs may access your personal information. Where possible, when we provide information to third parties such as actuaries, we attempt to eliminate any references that allow identification of the individuals. We require all employees, agents and authorized service providers to comply with this Privacy Policy.

We have developed and are continuing to enhance security procedures to safeguard and protect personal information against loss, theft, unauthorized disclosure, copying, and unauthorized use or modification. We will maintain appropriate safeguards and security procedures that reflect the types of documents, including electronic or paper records, organizational measures including security clearances and limiting access on a "need-to-know" basis, and technological measures such as the use of passwords and encryption. While we endeavour to protect all information, the most sensitive information, such as medical information, receives the highest level of protection.

For telephone inquiries to the Plan's Benefit Administration staff, the information provided varies based on the relationship of the person making the inquiry to the Plan Member (e.g., authorized service provider, Plan Member, or dependent). After the caller has been screened for appropriate identification, only information pertaining to the specific claim, treatment, or benefit in question is shared.

Your Right to Access Your Personal Information

Your rights
You have the right to ask whether we hold any personal information about you. You have the right to see that information, as provided by law. Where we have obtained medical information about you from a third party, we will release this information only through your permission.

You also have the right to know:

• how we collected your personal information,
• how we are using it,
• and to whom it may have been disclosed.

How to request an update or correction
If you believe any of the information we have collected about you is incorrect or incomplete, you have the right to ask us to change it.

You may make a request to change the Plan's records about you by writing to our Privacy Officer, at:

Attention: Privacy Officer
Southern Interior Health Benefits Plan
4250 Canada Way
Burnaby, British Columbia
V5G 4W6

If you show that your personal information is inaccurate or incomplete, we will make the necessary changes, and where appropriate, we will contact any third parties with whom this information has been shared.

How to register complaints
If you feel we have not dealt with your request to your satisfaction, you may register a privacy-related complaint by contacting the Plan's Privacy Officer. We will explain our complaint procedure to you and investigate all complaints.

If a complaint is justified, the Trustees will take all appropriate steps to set the situation right, including changing our policies and practices if necessary. We will also let you know what other complaint procedures may be available to you.

We reserve the right to revise our privacy policy as needed. If changes are made, the new policy will be posted on this page. A copy can also be obtained by contacting the Plan's Privacy Officer.

Web Site Policy
This Web site does not automatically gather any specific personal information from you, such as your name, phone number or e-mail address. We would only obtain this type of information if you supply it by sending us an e-mail or registering in a secure portion of the site. 

We employ software programs to monitor network traffic to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information, or otherwise cause damage. This software receives and records the Internet Protocol (IP) address of the computer that has contacted our Web site, the date and time of the visit and the pages visited. We make no attempt to link these addresses with the identity of individuals visiting our Web site unless an attempt to damage the Web site has been detected. 

We occasionally uses "cookies" to track how our visitors use this site or to determine sites previously visited. The cookies we use do not allow us to identify individuals. They are compiled into statistical information on traffic patterns and are used to assess site efficiency. If this site is using cookies that collect personal information, a notice will appear on the site advising of such use and you will be provided with an opportunity to refuse them. Such refusal will not affect the site performance or restrict your ability to access information from this site. (A "cookie" is a file that may be placed on your hard drive without your knowledge by a web site to allow it to monitor your use of the site.)

Visitor information is not disclosed to anyone except the Plan's Benefit Administration personnel who need the information to carry out responsibilities of their job. Any further disclosure of the personal information you give us will be in accordance with the Plan's Privacy Policy.

External Service Providers
In order to effectively operate its Web site, the Plan uses external service providers. These service providers are bound by a contract with the Plan to treat any personal information they may receive in a manner that is consistent with the provisions of the Plan's Privacy Policy.

For More Information
For more information, please contact our Privacy Officer at 604-299-7482 (if you are located outside the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, call 1-800-663-1356) or e-mail us