Merchants Bonding Company (Mutual) “Merchants” is committed to maintaining the confidentiality of the personal information which it obtains.  Merchants recognizes that customers, agents and others with whom we deal have an expectation of privacy with respect to personal information.  Preserving that trust is one of the core values of the organization.  As part of the commitment to customers and agents, Merchants will abide by the following Privacy Policy for the responsible use and protection of personal information. 

Personal Information

Personal information is information that identifies an individual personally.  Personal information includes such information as name, address, telephone number, e-mail address, and any other identifier that permits the physical or online contacting of a specific individual.  It also includes information such as social security number, credit history, financial information, and policy or claim information.

How We Collect Personal Information

Merchants may receive and retain personal information about individuals from the following sources:

·        Information you submit to us when applying for insurance or surety products or when paying premiums, filing claims, or making changes to your policies or bonds.

·   Consumer Reporting Agencies, such as personal and business credit reports.

·        Financial Institutions, Banks, Suppliers, Attorneys, or other third parties identified by you as sources of information.

·   State Agencies, such as a Contractor License Board.

·        Insurance Agents or Brokers, such as any of the above types of information as well as information about other insurance or surety products you may have.

Protecting Personal Information

Merchants uses procedural, manual, and electronic security controls to maintain the confidentiality and integrity of personal information in our possession and guard against its unauthorized access.  We are responsible for identifying information that must be protected, providing an adequate level of protection for that data and granting access to protected data as permitted or required by law.

Merchants’ associates are held to the highest standard of conduct in ensuring the confidentiality of personal information.  Associates are prohibited from making unauthorized disclosure of personal information that we collect.  Associates who violate our policies on privacy may be subject to corrective action.

Disclosing Personal Information

Merchants does not disclose personal information to others unless it is permitted by law.  We do not give or sell our customers’ personal information to other companies for marketing purposes.  We may share such information with Merchants’ affiliated companies and independent insurance agents authorized to sell our products.  We may also disclose such information to unaffiliated third parties in order to service or process your transactions with us, including reinsurers, regulators, administrators, consumer reporting agencies, and as otherwise permitted or required by law.  We will require the companies we do business with to abide by Merchants’ standards of privacy and maintain the confidentiality of personal information.

Notification of Changes

This privacy policy may change from time to time.  If we change our Privacy Policy, we will post those changes on the web site www.merchantsbonding.com.  You may wish to visit this page periodically to review the most recent Privacy Policy.

Tell Us What You Think

Merchants welcomes your questions and comments about our privacy policy. Please send e-mail to info@MerchantsBonding.com

Effective Date

This Privacy Policy is effective May 10, 2004.