Privacy

Your personal information

You can use the NZCRS website without disclosing any personal information.

You may choose to voluntarily provide personal information through the NZCRS website, for example on the NZCRS registration form or in order to access the NZCRS portal.

This information will be viewable by:

• NZCRS staff, including any contractors, as required for delivery of the NZCRS
• MBIE website administrators; and
• third-party contractors who administer or work on the NZCRS website or MBIE systems.

Collection of personal information

The NZCRS may require you to provide certain information, including personal information, if you wish to receive support for the management and resolution of your outstanding or potential residential insurance claim(s) resulting from a natural disaster event.

If you do not provide all of the information that is required on an application form, the NZCRS may be unable to provide you with assistance and support.

For example, in order to register for support from the NZCRS, the following information is required: your name, your preferred contact details, the address of the insured property and the details of any relevant insurance policy or claim.

NZCRS may also collect information that you voluntarily disclose, for example through the NZCRS website, during a call to NZCRS or the MBIE service centre.

Holding of information

When you provide personal information, it will be held by the NZCRS.

We will store and keep personal information secure in accordance with the Privacy Act 2020 and agents will be subject to MBIE’s information security and privacy requirements.

It may be stored or accessed on behalf of the NZCRS by authorised third parties (such as third-party contractors) to the extent that is necessary, for example for them to administer or work on the NZCRS website.

Disclosure of information

The NZCRS will generally not share personal information that is provided or collected through this website or through the service, unless it is necessary to do so for the purpose for which you gave us the information (for example to support you in the management or resolution of a claim through discussions with an insurer) and/or where you authorise the disclosure of your information. The NZCRS will not otherwise disclose personal information provided or collected through this website unless required or otherwise permitted by law.

From time to time the NZCRS may develop and publish reports containing aggregated data on the NZCRS. You will not be personally identifiable in any such report, without your express consent.

Use of personal information

We will generally only use personal information provided to us for the purpose you provided it, or otherwise with your authorisation. These purposes include: administering the NZCRS; assisting in the resolution of a claim; and monitoring compliance with any obligations under the NZCRS. We may also use the information you provide to deliver our services, including to administer, evaluate and improve the NZCRS and the NZCRS website; and to action or respond to the information you have provided.

We may contact you, for example, with information about the progress of a claim, or to get further information to assist you in the resolution of a claim.

We may use personal information provided to us, including through the NZCRS website, for other reasons permitted under the Privacy Act (for example, for a directly related purpose, or where the law permits or requires it).

We may also use the information you provide to us for statistical or research purposes, including to provide aggregated reports on the NZCRS. You will not be personally identifiable when we use your information for these purposes.

Records and retention of personal information

The NZCRS will only retain personal information as long as it is required for the purposes for which the information may lawfully be used.

Public records

Where any information provided (which may include personal information) to or through this website constitute public records, it will be retained to the extent required by the Public Records Act 2005. MBIE may also be required to disclose information under the Official Information Act 1982 or to a Parliamentary Select Committee or Parliament in response to a Parliamentary Question.

Security

MBIE websites, including the NZCRS website, have security measures in place to prevent the loss, misuse and alteration of information under our control. In order to maintain the cyber security of MBIE systems and information, MBIE systems are subject to ongoing monitoring (including activity logging), analysis and auditing.

We may use information about your use of our websites and other IT systems to prevent unauthorised access or attacks on these systems or to resolve such events. We may use this information even if you are not involved in such activity. MBIE may utilise services from one or more third party suppliers to monitor or maintain the cyber security of its systems and information. These third-party suppliers will have access to monitoring and logging information as well as information processed on MBIE websites and other IT systems.

Call recording

As part of our commitment to providing the best possible service to our customers we record all telephone calls answered in the MBIE service centre. This helps us to identify ways that we can provide you with a better service.

We record calls:

• for staff training purposes, helping us to improve the quality of our customer service and to ensure the information we provide is consistent and accurate
• so we can find ways to simplify our service to you; and
• to ensure we have an accurate record of your call, which may be needed to document any actions that take place over the phone and/or if there is a dispute.

We understand your personal information is important to you, and we are committed to protecting your privacy. We store the recordings securely for two years and destroy them after this period.

Unless we have lawful reason for withholding this information, it will be made available if you. You can request access to a transcript or copy of your call by emailing the Privacy Officer at oia@mbie.govt.nz.

Rights of access and correction

You have the right to:

• find out from us whether we hold personal information about you
• access that information; and
• if applicable, request corrections to that information

If MBIE has a good reason for refusing a request for correction, you are entitled to request that a statement be attached to the information of the correction that was sought but not made.

If you want to access your personal information, please email oia@mbie.govt.nz or write to:

Privacy Officer
Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment
PO Box 5488
Wellington 6011

For more information on the privacy laws in New Zealand and contact details for the Office of the Privacy Commissioner, please visit the Privacy Commissioner’s website.

Privacy Commissioner website(external link)

Statistical information

We may collect statistical information about your NZCRS website activity and use this information to help us improve this website. This information is aggregated and non-personally identifying. The statistical information referred to below will be viewable by website administrators and other MBIE staff for the purpose of improving this website. It may also be shared with other government agencies.

Statistical information includes:

• the search terms you used
• the pages you accessed on our website and the links you clicked on
• the date and time you visited the website
• the referring website (if any) through which you clicked through to this website
• the device you used to access the website
• your operating system (e.g. Windows 10, macOS)
• the type of web browser you use (e.g. Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome); and
• incidental matters such as screen resolution, the release of the version of Flash software installed on your computer (if any) and the language setting of your browser.

Cookies

Browser or ‘web’ cookies are small files that are sent by a website and stored on your computer's hard drive. Cookies are generally used to improve your experience of a website (for example by remembering preferences you have set) and to track site usage.

We use cookies to gather data about trends in use of the NZCRS website using a tool called Google Analytics. We also use cookies to gather data about your browsing history on the NZCRS website. We may use this data to enhance your browsing experience, improve the NZCRS website, identify whether you have seen our marketing material before you visited our website, and target advertising to you.

You can read Google’s privacy statement, and access a Google Analytics opt-out tool, at the Google Privacy Center.

Google Privacy Center(external link)

You can manually disable cookies at any time – check your browser's 'Help' to find out how. Disabling cookies will not affect your ability to browse the NZCRS website.

Please contact us at: contact@nzcrs.govt.nz if you have an enquiry about this privacy statement.

This privacy statement was last updated 30 January 2023.