Privacy Policy
I)This Notice applies to you if you:
Are a policyowner or insured; or
Are a consumer, customer, client, or anyone else involved with both life insurance products and This Agency; or
Are a claimant or beneficiary related to life insurance products involving this Agency.
II) Definitions and Interpretations
These will apply in This Notice:
“This Agency” refers to Ralph Cortez Insurance Agency.
“You” or “Your” refers to the insurance consumer, policyowner, insured, beneficiary, and anyone else who This Notice applies to.
“Us” and “Our” refers to both “This Agency” and “You”.
III) Categories of Collected Personal Information
During a suitability assessment or an initial quote, these categories may be collected:
Identifiers:
Full name; or
Date of Birth & Age; or
State of Residence. or
Financial Non-Public Information
Income Needs & Safety Nets:
Recurring Monthly Expenses of the Family; or
includes the amount of years to cover those expenses; or
Future Earned Income of the Surviving Family; or
includes the amount of years that income will last; or
Future Income from the leftover assets of the surviving family; or
Future Welfare; or
Future Survivor Benefits.
Assets & Debts:
Current Sum of all Account Balances with all Financial Institutions; or
Leftover Mortgage Balance; or
Leftover Balance of All Debt. or
Other Cash Needs:
Future Costs for College; or
Funeral and Estate Costs. or
Sensitive Personal Information and Current Coverage:
Tobacco use; or
Family History of Cancer; or
Family History of Heart Disease; or
Face Value of all Existing Life Insurance Policies.
In regards to categories collected from the application:
This Notice will not list the categories collected; and
The insurer's privacy notice will be included when presented with application; and
The insurer’s privacy notice will list the categories collected.
Besides what is asked on the application, these categories may also be collected by the insurer as well:
Driving Record & History; or
Work History; or
Hobbies; or
Other Insurance Coverages; or
General Reputation; or
Health & Medical History; or
IV) Why this Agency collects Personal Information
This Agency collects and retains your personal data. The main reasons why This Agency collects data is in order:
to fulfill insurance services; and
to comply with all legal obligations; and
to keep data secured; and
to prevent & detect fraud.
Below is why This Agency collects data during:
The Suitability Assessment:
to comply with either Best Interest or Suitability Standard; and
to assess your coverage.
The Initial Quotes:
So illustration software will be able:
to estimate premium; and
to estimate coverage;
Insurance Application:
So the insurer's underwriters:
can figure whether a policy can be issued or not; and
can assess risk; and
can perform ratings.
Supplemental Collection to Application:
Extra personal data can be asked for in order to help underwriters with all policy decisions.
Servicing an Active Policy:
to give an answer the policyholder or insured about their policy
Claims:
to help an investigation; and
to help processing.
V) Retention of Personal Information
All personal data collected by This Agency is securely retained for a minimum of 7 years for the following, whichever comes latest:
from the last date an insurance consumer asked about life insurance;
when a policy expires;
when a policy terminates;
when a policy lapses;
when a policy settles, which includes the final payment of a death benefit claim.
The Purpose for This Agency’s retention window is:
to comply with legal obligations; and
for defense from errors and omissions (E&O) lawsuits.
In order to protect your nonpublic personal data, This Agency designs and maintains:
physical safeguards,
electronic safeguards,
and procedural safeguards.
This Agency’s safeguards are meant to protect your nonpublic personal data from:
unauthorized access,
destruction,
or disclosure.
This agency restricts access to your personal data to only authorized persons. Additionally, we mandate that our third-party vendors and business partners implement comparable security safeguards.
Sources of Collected Personal Information
This agency will collect personal data from this source:
Directly From You: during your coverage needs assessment, initial quote, and insurance application.
The insurer may collect personal data from these sources:
Public Records
Consumer Reporting Agencies
Medical Providers and Insurance Support Organizations:
Doctors, hospitals, clinics, and the Medical Information Bureau (MIB).
Industry Entities:
Other insurance companies and financial institutions.
Related Individuals:
Family members, employers, or other authorized parties associated with your insurance transactions.
VI) Exceptions to Disclosure Authorization of Personal Information
As the law permits or requires, personal data may be disclosed under certain moments without your written authorization to these third parties, which includes without limitation:
A person, such as a lawyer, for business or professional purposes; or
Other insurance companies, agents or insurance support organizations to prevent fraud, material misrepresentation or material nondisclosure; or
An insurance regulatory department; or
Law enforcement officials or governmental authorities, when the disclosure is:
required by law; or
in response to a valid judicial order, warrant, subpoena; or
an official administrative request.
Aid in conducting scientific research, including actuarial and underwriting studies.
Aid in audits of This Agency such as finance or other business purposes.
A group policyholder who needs the information to report claims experience or to conduct an operations or services audit.
VII) Disclosure Purposes of Personal Information
This Agency may disclose personal data to third parties for these reasons why:
to assist underwriting; or
to service policies; or
for everyday business purposes; or
to comply with legal obligations.
This Agency may disclose personal information to third parties, which includes:
Insurers & Other Agents:
in order to get coverage; or
for underwriting; or
to process your insurance transactions.
Legal & Regulatory Authorities:
To comply with legal obligations.
Service Providers:
For CRM software; or
For Cloud Services; or
For any other business purpose.
The insurer may disclose your personal information to third parties, which includes:
Insurance-Support Organizations such as but not limited to the MIB, Inc. (Medical Information Bureau):,
to prevent fraud,
perform risk assessments,
and process policy options.
Consumer Reporting Agencies:
To obtain official credit summaries,
driving records,
or claims history reports necessary for accurate policy pricing.
Medical Professionals & Facilities:
To verify underwriting requirements for life policies.
VIII) Your Privacy Rights
TO TRANSPARENT NOTICE
This Agency will be transparent and provide a Privacy Notice at the following intervals:
At Collection:
Shown during the collection of any personal information.
Upon Policy Delivery
Yearly:
Distributed to active policyholders and authorized persons once a year unless exemption conditions are met.
Exemption is usually due to a lack of change in privacy policies.
The most current version of this notice is always available to policyholders and the general public on our website.
TO ACCESS INFORMATION:
In regards to your right to access personal data:
This right only applies if the requested data can be found and obtained within reason.
This right only applies to the data collected and retained by This Agency.
This right does not extend to data collected in connection soon to be or already related:
to a claim case; or
to a civil case; or
to a criminal case.
To exercise this right, you must send a written request via mail or email listed in the “"How to Contact This Agency” section. If email, put “RE: Access to Information” on the subject line.
Sometimes, This Agency's obligations to you regarding your right to access may be satisfied by a referral to the insurer or an insurance-support organization.
After you submit a written request for access to personal data, within 30 business days This Agency will:
1) inform you of the nature and substance of the requested data:
in writing,
by telephone or
by other oral communication.
2) permit you:
to see and copy, in person, your own data (except medical-record information); or
to provide you with copies of this data by mail.
3) inform you of the persons, if recorded, to which the requested information (except medical-record information) has been disclosed in the two years prior to your request.
If there no identities on record, This Agency will give you the names of those to whom the requested information is normally disclosed to such as:
insurance institutions & agents; or
insurance-support organizations; or
other persons to whom such information is normally disclosed
4) Provide you with a sum of procedures to request correction, amendment or deletion of the data record.
5) Charge you a reasonable fee to cover the costs to provide you with a copy of the data record.
If the information applies to reasons for an adverse underwriting decision, there will be no charge.
TO CORRECT, AMEND, OR DELETE PERSONAL INFORMATION
In regards to your right to correct, amend, delete recorded personal data:
This right only applies if the requested data can be found and obtained within reason.
This right only applies to the data collected and retained by This Agency.
It does not extend to data collected in connection soon to be or already related:
to a claim case; or
to a civil case; or
to a criminal case.
To exercise this right, you must send a written request via mail or email listed in the “"How to Contact This Agency” section. If email, put “RE: Correct, Amend, OR delete personal Information” on the subject line.
Within 30 business days of receiving your written request to correct, amend or delete any recorded personal data, This Agency will either:
1) Correct, amend or delete the recorded personal data in dispute. If this happens, you will get a written notice and the personal data will be sent to:
any person you've designated who may have, within the preceding 2 years, received such old version of this personal data.
the insurer
any insurance-support organization that have an old version of this personal data from This Agency, unless this data is no longer maintained.
any insurance-support organization that furnished the old version of this personal data.
2) Notify you:
of This Agency's refusal to correct, amend, or delete the personal data in dispute; and
of the reasons for the refusal; and
of your right to file a protest statement. To exercise this right, you may file:
a concise protest statement that says what you think is relevant information; or
a concise protest statement that says why you disagree with This Agency’s refusal.
If you file a protest statement, This Agency will:
file the statement with the disputed personal information and provide a means to review both;
in any subsequent disclosure of the personal information in dispute:
clearly identify the information in dispute
and provide the statements that have been filed.
furnish the statements to any of the three categories of persons and organizations:
any person you've designated who may have, within the preceding 2 years, received such old version of this information.
the insurer
any insurance-support organization that furnished or received an old version of this information from This Agency, unless this information is no longer maintained.
TO KNOW REASONS FOR ADVERSE INSURANCE DECISIONS
1) You must submit your request in writing to This Agency or the insurance carrier within 90 business days of the date you received the adverse action notice.
To submit your request to This Agency do so via mail or email listed in the “"How to Contact This Agency” section. If email, put “RE: To Know Reasons for Adverse Insurance Decision” on the subject line.
2) Within 10 to 30 business days of receiving your written request, we will provide you with:
The specific reason(s) for the adverse decision.
The specific items of personal and privileged information that supported these reasons.
The names and addresses of the institutional sources or consumer reporting agencies that provided the recorded personal information.
If the adverse decision was based on medical records, we will forward your request to the insurer.
There is no charge for providing you with the recorded personal information used to determine reasons for an adverse underwriting decision
TO OPT OUT OF CERTAIN DISCLOSURES OF INFORMATION
Under current privacy laws, you have the right to opt out of the sharing of non-public personal data and sensitive personal information to third parties.
However, This Agency does not share your sensitive or non-public personal information with third parties for any purpose outside of processing your insurance transactions, providing core services, complying with the law, or business purposes.
To exercise this right, you must send a written request via:
email listed in the “"How to Contact This Agency” section. Make sure to put “RE: OPT OUT OF PERSONAL INFORMATION” on the subject line for the email. Explain whether it is sensitive personal information, non-public personal information or both.
The contact for on this website. Make sure to select the opt out checkboxes.
TO NON-RETALIATION FOR EXERCISING RIGHTS
This Agency will not discriminate against you for exercising any of your privacy rights. This Agency will not deny you service if you choose to exercise these options.
IX) HOW TO CONTACT THIS AGENCY
If you have questions or need further assistance regarding this Notice, or wish to exercise any of the above-mentioned rights, you may contact This Agency at via mail or email:
77711 Flora Road , Suite363 , Palm Desert , CA 92211
X) Disclaimer on Future Revisions to this Privacy Notice
I reserve the right to change my privacy practices, procedures, and terms as needed and without prior notice.
EFFECTIVE DATE
This Privacy Notice is effective January 1, 2026.
Last updated 06/01/2026