Privacy Notices

    Our Commitment to Privacy

    PDF of this notice

    We understand your privacy is important. We value our relationship with you and are committed to protecting the confidentiality of nonpublic personal information (NPI). This notice explains why we collect NPI, what we do with NPI and how we protect your privacy.

    Collecting Information

    We collect NPI about our customers to provide them with insurance products and services. This may include telephone number, address, date of birth, occupation, income and health history. We may receive NPI from your applications and forms, medical providers, other insurers, employers, insurance support organizations and service providers.

    Sharing Information

    We share the types of NPI described above primarily with people who perform insurance, business and professional services for us, such as helping us pay claims and detect fraud. We may share NPI with medical providers for insurance and treatment purposes. We may share NPI with an insurance support organization. The organization may retain the NPI and disclose it to others for whom it performs services. In certain cases, we may share NPI with group policyholders for reporting and auditing purposes. We may share NPI with parties to a proposed or final sale of insurance business or for study purposes. We may also share NPI when otherwise required or permitted by law, such as sharing with governmental or other legal authorities. When legally necessary, we ask your permission before sharing NPI about you. Our practices apply to our former, current and future customers.

    Please be assured we do not share your health NPI to market any product or service. We also do not share any NPI to market non-financial products and services. For example, we do not sell your name to catalog companies.

    The law allows us to share NPI as described above (except health information) with affiliates to market financial products and services. The law does not allow you to restrict these disclosures. We may also share with companies that help us market our insurance products and services, such as vendors that provide mailing services to us. We may share with other financial institutions to jointly market financial products and services. When required by law, we ask your permission before we share NPI for marketing purposes.

    When other companies help us conduct business, we expect them to follow applicable privacy laws. We do not authorize them to use or share NPI except when necessary to conduct the work they are performing for us or to meet regulatory or other governmental requirements.

    Unum companies, including insurers and insurance service providers, may share NPI about you with each other. The NPI might not be directly related to our transaction or experience with you. It may include financial or other personal information such as employment history. Consistent with the Fair Credit Reporting Act, we ask your permission before sharing NPI that is not directly related to our transaction or experience with you.

    Safeguarding Information

    We have physical, electronic and procedural safeguards that protect the confidentiality and security of NPI. We give access only to employees who need to know the NPI to provide insurance products or services to you.

    Access to Information

    You may request access to certain NPI we collect to provide you with insurance products and services. You must make your request in writing and send it to the address below. The letter should include your full name, address, telephone number and policy number if we have issued a policy. If you request, we will send copies of the NPI to you. If the NPI includes health information, we may provide the health information to you through a health care provider you designate. We will also send you information related to disclosures. We may charge a reasonable fee to cover our copying costs. 

    This section applies to NPI we collect to provide you with coverage. It does not apply to NPI we collect in anticipation of a claim or civil or criminal proceeding.

    Correction of Information

    If you believe the NPI we have about you is incorrect, please write to us. Your letter should include your full name, address, telephone number and policy number if we have issued a policy. Your letter should also explain why you believe the NPI is inaccurate. If we agree with you, we will correct the NPI and notify you of the correction. We will also notify any person who may have received the incorrect NPI from us in the past two years if you ask us to contact that person. 

    If we disagree with you, we will tell you we are not going to make the correction. We will give you the reason(s) for our refusal. We will also tell you that you may submit a statement to us. Your statement should include the NPI you believe is correct. It should also include the reason(s) why you disagree with our decision not to correct the NPI in our files. We will file your statement with the disputed NPI. We will include your statement any time we disclose the disputed NPI. We will also give the statement to any person designated by you if we may have disclosed the disputed NPI to that person in the past two years.

    Coverage Decisions

    If we decide not to issue coverage to you, we will provide you with the specific reason(s) for our decision. We will also tell you how to access and correct certain NPI.

    Contacting Us

    For additional information about Unum’s commitment to privacy and to view a copy of our HIPAA Privacy Notice, please visit: unum.com/privacy or coloniallife.com. You may also write to: Privacy Officer, Unum, 2211 Congress Street, C476, Portland, Maine 04122. We reserve the right to modify this notice. We will provide you with a new notice if we make material changes to our privacy practices. 

    Unum is providing this notice to you on behalf of the following insuring companies: Unum Life Insurance Company of America, First Unum Life Insurance Company, Provident Life and Accident Insurance Company, Provident Life and Casualty Insurance Company, Colonial Life & Accident Insurance Company, The Paul Revere Life Insurance Company and The Paul Revere Variable Annuity Insurance Company.

    Colonial Life products are underwritten by Colonial Life & Accident Insurance Company, for which Colonial Life is the marketing brand.

    HIPAA Privacy Notice

    NOTICE OF PRIVACY PRACTICES FOR COLONIAL LIFE & ACCIDENT INSURANCE COMPANY

    For expense-based Cancer, Hospital Confinement, and Intensive Care policies Pursuant to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act ("HIPAA")

    THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW MEDICAL INFORMATION ABOUT YOU MAY BE USED AND DISCLOSED AND HOW YOU CAN OBTAIN ACCESS TO THIS INFORMATION. PLEASE REVIEW THIS INFORMATION CAREFULLY.

    We Understand the Importance of Your Privacy

    This Notice describes your rights concerning "protected health information" (PHI) about you. PHI is information that may identify you and that relates to (a) your past, present, or future physical or mental health or condition or (b) the past, present or future payment for your health care.

    We are committed to preserving the confidentiality of PHI about our customers and in accordance with the requirements of the law, we commit to:

    • Maintain the privacy of PHI about you.
    • Provide you with a notice of our legal duties and privacy practices with respect to PHI.
    • Abide by the terms of our current notice of privacy practices.

    We may need to change the terms of this Notice in the future. We reserve the right to make changes and to make the new notice effective for all PHI that we maintain about you, including PHI that we created or maintained in the past. If we make material changes to our privacy practices, we will mail copies of the revised notices to all policyholders who were then covered by a health plan.

    Uses and Disclosures of Protected PHI for Treatment, Payment or Operations

    • For Treatment – We are not a health care provider and do not engage in “treatment” of individuals as a health care provider (a doctor, for example) would. Accordingly, although we are permitted to use or disclose PHI about you for treatment purposes, we do not do so.
    • For Payment – We may use and disclose PHI about you to obtain premiums or to determine or fulfill our responsibility to provide you with insurance coverage or benefits under your policy. For example, we may use or disclose PHI about you to help us determine whether you are eligible for coverage or to review your claim for benefits under your policy.
    • For Health Care Operations – We may use and disclose PHI about you to operate our business. For example, we use PHI about you to underwrite your insurance policy.

    Uses and Disclosures in Special Circumstances

    Public Health Activities. We may disclose PHI about you in order to notify public health authorities of public health risks, such as potential exposure to a communicable disease, or to report child abuse or neglect.

    Health Oversight Activities. We may disclose PHI about you to a health oversight agency for oversight activities, including for investigations relating to possible insurance fraud.

    Judicial and Administrative Proceedings. We may disclose PHI in the course of a judicial or administrative proceeding, such as in response to a subpoena, discovery request or other lawful process.

    Law Enforcement. We may disclose PHI to law enforcement, for purposes such as reporting a crime on our premises or in an emergency. We may also disclose to law enforcement or a correctional facility any PHI that relates to inmates as necessary for health, safety and security.

    Prevention of Serious Harm. We may use or disclose PHI about you if we believe it is necessary to prevent or lessen serious harm (abuse, neglect, or domestic violence) to you or to other potential victims.

    Serious Threat to Health/Safety. We may use or disclose PHI when it is necessary to prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to the health or safety of a person or the public.

    Specialized Government Functions. We may use or disclose PHI about you for certain government functions, including but not limited to military and veterans’ activities and national security and intelligence activities.

    Workers’ Compensation. We may disclose PHI about you to comply with Workers’ Compensation laws.

    Research Organizations. We may disclose PHI to research organizations if the organization has met certain conditions about protecting the privacy of PHI.

    Plan Sponsors. We may disclose PHI to the plan sponsor of a group health plan for plan administrative functions if the plan documents contain provisions concerning restrictions on how the plan sponsor may use or further disclose PHI.

    Related Benefits and Services. We may contact you to inform you of benefits or services related to your policy that may be of interest to you.

    Decedents. We may disclose PHI to a coroner, medical examiner, or funeral director to permit them to carry out their legal duties.

    Donation/Transplantation. We may use or disclose PHI for the purpose of facilitating organ, eye or tissue donation and transplantation.

    Business Associates. We may disclose PHI to our business associates, such as our third-party administrators, accountants, or attorneys if those business associates have signed a written agreement concerning appropriate uses and disclosures of PHI.

    Involvement in Individual's Care. We may disclose PHI about you to a family member, close personal friend or other person you identify if specifically needed or that person's involvement with your care or payment related to your health care. 

    Notification of Location/Condition. We may use or disclose PHI to give notice or assist in giving notice of your location, general condition or death to a family member, personal representative or another person responsible for your care.

    Disclosures Required by Law. We will use and disclose PHI about you when we are required to do so by federal, state, or local law.

    If applicable law, other than HIPAA, prohibits or materially limits our uses and disclosures of PHI, as described above, we will restrict our uses or disclosure of PHI in accordance with the stricter standard.

    Uses and Disclosures of PHI Made Only With Your Written Authorization

    • Other uses and disclosure of PHI about you will be made only with your written authorization, unless otherwise permitted or required by law as described in this notice. 
    • You may revoke your written authorization any time, in writing, except to the extent we have taken action in reliance on that written authorization before you have revoked it.
    • You may not revoke your authorization to the extent that other law provides us with the right to contest a claim under the policy or the policy itself, if the authorization was obtained as a condition of obtaining this insurance coverage.

    Your Rights

    Right to a Copy of this Notice. If you would like to have a paper copy of this Notice, send a written request to the Privacy Officer as indicated in this document

    Inspection and Copying. You have the right to access your information. Certain requests for access to your PHI must be in writing, must state that you want access to your PHI, and must be signed by you or your representative (such as requests for medical records provided to us directly from your health care provider).

    You have the right, upon written notice, to inspect and copy certain PHI that may be used to make decisions about your insurance coverage, including medical records and billing records, but not including psychotherapy notes. We may deny your request to inspect and/or copy in certain limited circumstances; however, you may request a review of our denial.

    Amendment. You may ask us to amend PHI about you (as long as the information is kept by or for us)and must include a reason for the request. If your request and reason supporting the request are not submitted in writing, we may deny the request. 

    Alternative Contact Information. You have the right to receive communications of PHI about you from us in a certain manner or at a certain location, as long as the request is reasonable under the circumstances. For example, you may prefer to have mail from us sent to your work address rather than to your home. Submit requests for an alternative method of contact in writing to the Privacy Officer.

    Requesting Restrictions. You have the right to request restrictions on our use or disclosure of PHI about you. We are not required to agree to your request. However, if we do agree, we are bound by our agreement except when otherwise required by law, in emergencies, or when the information is necessary for your treatment. Your request must clearly and concisely describe;
    (a) the information you wish restricted; 
    (b) whether you are requesting to limit our use, disclosure or both; and 
    (c) to whom you want the limits to apply. 

    Accounting. You have the right to request an “accounting of disclosures.” An “accounting of disclosures” is a list of certain disclosures we have made of PHI about you other than disclosures you authorized and other than disclosures made for treatment, payment or operations. The request must be in writing. The first request for an accounting that you make within a 12-month period is free; however, we may charge you for additional requests within the same 12-month period. We will notify you of the costs of the additional requests, and you may withdraw your request before you incur any costs.

    Complaints. If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you may file a complaint with us or with the Secretary of Health and Human Services. All complaints must be submitted in writing. We will not penalize you for filing such a complaint. 

    To exercise any of your rights as set forth in this Notice, please write to:

    Privacy Officer
    Colonial Life & Accident Insurance Company
    2211 Congress Street, M385
    Portland, ME 04122

    For further information about matters covered by this notice, please contact the Privacy Office at the above address or call 1-800-325-4368. You may also refer to the "Frequently Asked Questions" document regarding this notice that is included with this document on our web site.

    Whom do I contact for EDI Transactions?

    Any Covered Entity interested in submitting HIPAA EDI Transactions or obtaining a copy of the Colonial Life HIPAA EDI Companion Guide should contact our HIPAA EDI Coordinator.

    See below for e-mail link to initiate a request:

    claclaimsvendorreferrals@unum.com