Privacy & data protection policy

Data Protection Trustmark

Data Protection Trustmark Certified

Howden is the first insurance broker in Singapore to be awarded the Data Protection Trustmark (DPTM) by the Infocomm Media Development Authority, demonstrating our commitment to sound data protection policies.

Howden Insurance Brokers (S.) Pte. Limited ("HIB") is committed to the observance and fulfilment of the provisions in the Singapore's Personal Data Protection Act 2012 (the "PDPA") and all relevant data protection laws. We place utmost importance on the proper management, protection and processing of your personal data. HIB's Data Privacy and Protection Policy intend to assist you in understanding how we collect, use, disclose and/or process your personal data so that you can make an informed decision before providing us with your personal data. 

If you, at any time, have any queries on this policy or on the way we manage and process your data, please do not hesitate to contact us or our Data Protection Officer ("DPO"):

Data Protection Officer
Tel: 65-62581919
Email: [email protected]

Office General Number/Email
Tel: 65-62581919
Email: [email protected]

Office Address
79 Robinson Road, CapitaSky, #13-01
Singapore 068897

Operating Hours
8.45 am to 6.00 pm, Mondays to Fridays


This Data Protection Notice (“Notice”) sets out the basis which Howden Insurance Brokers (S.) Pte. Limited (“we”, “us”, or “our”) may collect, use, disclose or otherwise process personal data of our customers in accordance with the Personal Data Protection Act (“PDPA”). This Notice applies to personal data in our possession or under our control, including personal data in the possession of organisations which we have engaged to collect, use, disclose or process personal data for our purposes.

Personal Data

1. As used in this Notice:

“customer” means an individual who (a) has contacted us through any means to find out more about any goods or services we provide, or (b) may, or has, entered into a contract with us for the supply of any goods or services by us; and

“personal data” means data, whether true or not, about a customer who can be identified: (a) from that data; or (b) from that data and other information to which we have or are likely to have access.

2. Depending on the nature of your interaction with us, some examples of personal data which we may collect from you include name, identification numbers such as nric, fin, work permit and birth certificate, residential address, email address, telephone number, nationality, gender, date of birth, marital status, bank account/payment details and employment information. 

3. Other terms used in this Notice shall have the meanings given to them in the PDPA (where the context so permits).
 

Collection, use and disclosure of personal data 

4. We generally do not collect your personal data unless (a) it is provided to us voluntarily by you directly or via a third party who has been duly authorised by you to disclose your personal data to us (your “authorised representative”) after (i) you (or your authorised representative) have been notified of the purposes for which the data is collected, and (ii) you (or your authorised representative) have provided written consent to the collection and usage of your personal data for those purposes, or (b) collection and use of personal data without consent is permitted or required by the PDPA or other laws. We shall seek your consent before collecting any additional personal data and before using your personal data for a purpose which has not been notified to you (except where permitted or authorised by law). 

You have choices regarding our collection, use or disclosure of your personal data. If you choose not to provide us with the personal data described in this notice, we may not be able to provide our service/products to you. You have the right to object to the processing of your personal data and withdraw your consent in the manner described in section 8

We may collect, disclose or use your personal data pursuant to an exception under the Personal Data Protection Act or other written law such as during the following situations:

- To respond to an emergency that threatens your life, health and safety or of another individual; and
- Necessary in the national interest, for any investigation or proceedings 

If you have supplied third party personal data to us, you represent and warrant that you have obtained the consent of the insured person(s) you enrolled, except to the extent such consent is not required under relevant laws: (i) to collect their personal data; (ii) to disclose their personal data to us; and (iii) we and third parties to use any of their personal data in the manner and for the purposes described herein.

5. We may collect and use your personal data for any or all of the following purposes

  • sourcing for and objectively recommending the products to meet your insurance needs for your consideration;
  • processing your application for underwriting and acceptance of insurance with the insurers;
  • administering and/or managing your relationship, account and/or policy(ies) with insurers;
  • carrying out your instructions or responding to any enquiries by you;
  • processing, handling and/or dealing with any matters relating to the services and/or products which you are entitled to under the insurance that you are applying or have applied for (including the mailing of correspondences, statements, invoices, reports to you which involve disclosure of certain personal data necessary for the delivery of services and/or products; claims including the settlement of claims and any necessary investigations relating to the claims under your and/or enrolled dependents’ individual insurance policy(ies);
  • processing payment or credit transactions;
  • carrying out due diligence or other screening activities (including background checks) in accordance with legal or regulatory obligations or risk management procedures that may be required by law or internal compliance policy and procedures;
  • investigating fraud, misconduct, unlawful action or omission whether relating to your application, claims or other matter relating to your policy
  • complying to applicable laws, regulations, code of practice, guidelines or rules in management of our relationship and related insurance service providers;
  • transmitting to any unaffiliated third parties including our third-party service providers and agents, and relevant governmental and/or regulatory authorities, whether in Singapore or abroad, for the aforementioned purposes;
  • for customers of Howden MediHub, please click here to read the MediHub Data Privacy policy;
  • any other incidental business purposes related to or in connection with the above.

6. We may disclose your personal data:

  • where such disclosure is required for performing obligations in the course of or in connection with our provision of the services requested by you; or
  • to third party service providers, agents (including and not limited to law firms / (re)insurers / advisors and consultants / risk assessors, and other organisations such as our affiliates whom we have engaged to perform any of the functions with reference to the above-mentioned purposes.

Generally, all your personal data will be processed in Singapore. In certain situations, we may transfer your personal data to a country outside of Singapore for the above Purposes. For instance, as part of corporate efficiency, we have adopted cloud-based solutions in our processes which means that your personal information will be transferred to our affiliates, related corporations and service providers, among others, located overseas. We have taken steps to ensure that personal information transferred overseas continues to receive a standard of protection at least comparable to that under the PDPA.

7. The purposes listed in the above clauses may continue to apply even in situations where your relationship with us (for example, pursuant to your employment contract should you be hired) has been terminated or altered in any way, for a reasonable period thereafter (including, where applicable, a period to enable us to enforce our rights under a contract with you).

Withdrawing your consent

8. The consent that you provide for the collection, use and disclosure of your personal data will remain valid until such time it is being withdrawn by you in writing. You may withdraw consent and request us to stop collecting, using and/or disclosing your personal data for any or all of the purposes listed above by submitting your request in writing or via email to our Data Protection Officer at the contact details provided below.

9. Upon receipt of your written request to withdraw your consent, we may require reasonable time (depending on the complexity of the request and its impact on our relationship with you) for your request to be processed and for us to notify you of the consequences of us acceding to the same, including any legal consequences which may affect your rights and liabilities to us. In general, we shall seek to process your request within thirty (30) business days of receiving it.

10. Whilst we respect your decision to withdraw your consent, please note that depending on the nature and scope of your request, we may not be in a position to continue providing our goods or services to you and we shall, in such circumstances, notify you before completing the processing of your request. Should you decide to cancel your withdrawal of consent, please inform us in writing in the manner described in clause 8 above.

11. Please note that withdrawing consent does not affect our right to continue to collect, use and disclose personal data where such collection, use and disclose without consent is permitted or required under applicable laws.

Access to and correction of personal data 

12. If you wish to make (a) an access request for access to a copy of the personal data which we hold about you or information about the ways in which we use or disclose your personal data, or (b) a correction request to correct or update any of your personal data which we hold about you, you may submit your request in writing or via email to our Data Protection Officer at the contact details provided below.

13. Please note that a reasonable fee may be charged for an access request. If so, we will inform you of the fee before processing your request.

14. We will respond to your request as soon as reasonably possible. In general, our response will be within thirty (30) business days. Should we not be able to respond to your request within thirty (30) days after receiving your request, we will inform you in writing within thirty (30) days of the time by which we will be able to respond to your request. If we are unable to provide you with any personal data or to make a correction requested by you, we shall generally inform you of the reasons why we are unable to do so (except where we are not required to do so under the PDPA).

Protection of personal data 

15. To safeguard your personal data from unauthorised access, collection, use, disclosure, copying, modification, disposal or similar risks, we have introduced appropriate administrative, physical and technical measures such as up-to-date antivirus protection, encryption, and disclosing personal data both internally and to our authorised third-party service providers and agents only on a need-to-know basis.

16. You should be aware, however, that no method of transmission over the Internet or method of electronic storage is completely secure. While security cannot be guaranteed, we strive to protect the security of your information and are constantly reviewing and enhancing our information security measures.

Accuracy of personal data 

17. We generally rely on personal data provided by you (or your authorised representative). In order to ensure that your personal data is current, complete and accurate, please update us if there are changes to your personal data by informing our Data Protection Officer in writing or via email at the contact details provided below.

Retention of personal data 

18. We may retain your personal data for as long as it is necessary to fulfill the purpose for which it was collected, or as required or permitted by applicable laws.

19. We will cease to retain your personal data, or remove the means by which the data can be associated with you, as soon as it is reasonable to assume that such retention no longer serves the purpose for which the personal data was collected, and is no longer necessary for legal or business purposes.

Data protection officer 

20. You may contact our Data Protection Officer if you have any enquiries or feedback on our personal data protection policies and procedures, or if you wish to make any request, in the following manner:

Contact No.      : + 65 6258 1919

Email Address  : [email protected]

Effect of notice and changes to notice

21. This Notice applies in conjunction with any other notices, contractual clauses, and consent clauses that apply in relation to the collection, use and disclosure of your personal data by us.

22. We may revise this Notice from time to time without any prior notice. You may determine if any such revision has taken place by referring to the date on which this Notice was last updated. Your continued use of our services constitutes your acknowledgement and acceptance of such changes.

Effective date: 19 August 2022
Last updated: 19 August 2022