Cookies

To make full use of our website and to purchase online, you will need to accept cookies, as they enable us to provide you with quotations and to set up a personalised policy. However, it is important that you have the information needed to be able to disable cookies if you wish to do so.

What are cookies?

A cookie is a piece of data that a website places in your computer's memory. The information the cookie contains is set by a website's server and it can be used when the user visits the website.
Cookies are useful for remembering things that you did when you last visited that website, which may include commencing a quote or purchase, putting products in a basket, logging in, or clicking on links.

Are cookies risky to my computer or to my privacy?

No - They are not computer programs and cannot be used to circulate viruses which could damage your computer. Cookies are text files which contain a reference to a website or page and a relevant piece of information which will help the website to provide a better service to you. When you first vist a website, a cookie is downloaded onto your computer so that next time you visit, the data contained within the cookie can be uploaded to the site. The data may tell the site what you were looking at last time so that you do not need to repeat the process, or may remember certain preferences you made such as text size, colour or layout.
Cookies do not store sensitive information about you such as your name, address or payment details.

What's good about cookies?

As explained above, cookies can be very beneficial to you because they save you time; they can help a site remember that you are halfway through a purchase; can enable recommendations to be made to you which relate to previous purchases; they can also indicate where the site is not working well, by recording the point at which a customer leaves, to help improve service.

Cookies can sometimes be used to add your name to marketing lists or to recommend particular offers to you. This may be acceptable to you, but if you feel uncomfortable about this, you may want to place restrictions on the cookies or disable them altogether. However, this will result in a loss of function of certain elements of most websites, so it may be better for you to check whether a site specifies that cookies are used for marketing purposes. We do not use cookies to market products to you.

Types of cookies:

Session (Transient) Cookies
These are only stored in your computer's memory for the length of your browsing session to help you to move from page to page without re-entering your details. They become inaccessible after a period of inactivity and are automatically deleted when you close your browser.
    Our site uses the following Session cookies:
  • homePage - remembers the relevant 'home page'
  • __utmc - a Google cookie
Persistent (Permanent) Cookies
These are stored in your computer's memory and are not deleted when the browser is closed. They can used to keep your preferences for the website, so they will be remembered on your next visit. They may also be used to collect general information about visitor numbers, average time spent on a particular page and to analyse shopping behaviour on a website. This information can lead to improvements in service on the website.
    Our site uses the following Persistent cookies:
  • WWpartner - holds the reference name of a partner
  • WWpartnerID - holds the partner ID to track referred sales
Flash Cookies (Locally Shared Objects)
Although the worldwideinsure.com website does not use Flash, other websites may use Flash to store small files on your computer that are used in the same way as cookies. Flash cookies can also back up data from other cookies. If you delete cookies, any Flash cookies will remain, so a website may still recognise you if the Flash cookie had already backed up the deleted information.
Third-party cookies
A third party might set cookies on a website to provide additional content and services. This may enable site monitoring to ensure any web promotion is effective, or may be used to allow users to write reviews or to give feedback.
    Our site uses the following Third party cookies:
  • __utma - a Google cookie (expires in 365 days)
  • __utmb - a Google cookie (expires in 365 days)
  • __utmz - a Google cookie (expires in 182 days)
Social networks
If you use the buttons allowing you to share products and content with your friends via social networks like Twitter and Facebook, these companies may set a cookie. You can read their cookie policies:

https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy/
http://twitter.com/privacy
http://www.google.com/intl/en-GB/policies/privacy/

What happens if I opt out of all cookies?

We use cookies to track the effectiveness of our online advertising and to reward external websites who may have recommended us. If you opted out of all cookies, it would not affect your ability to purchase insurance from us but may affect our ability to improve customer service in future.

How do I opt out of cookies?

You can manage the cookies that you allow on your computer through the internet browser that you use. You can also ask to be alerted every time a cookie is offered so that you can retain the ability to choose. Here are instructions on how to manage your cookies using the most popular internet browsers:

Which internet browser are you using?

  1. On a PC: click on 'Help' at the top of your browser window and select 'About'
  2. On an Apple Mac: click on the Apple menu and select 'About' (make sure the browser is open)
Opting out of cookies in Internet Explorer
Internet Explorer allows you to select the level of cookie filter on the basis of the source of the cookie and whether the source has a privacy policy.
  1. Choose 'Tools'
  2. Click on 'Internet Options'
  3. Click the 'Privacy' tab
  4. Move the slider to choose your settings
  5. For more detailed privacy settings click on 'Advanced'
Opting out of cookies in Safari
  1. Choose 'Preferences' from Safari menu
  2. Select 'Security'
  3. Cookie settings are shown
  4. Choose your settings
Opting out of cookies in Google Chrome
As a default, Google Chrome allows all cookies. You can manage the behaviour of first-party and third-party cookies or even block them completely.
  1. Click on the 'Tools' menu
  2. Select 'Options'
  3. Click the 'Under the Bonnet' tab
  4. Find the 'Privacy' section
  5. Click 'Content settings'
  6. Click the 'Cookie settings' tab and choose your settings
Opting out of cookies in Mozilla Firefox
You can configure which sites are allowed to set cookies, how long to keep them for, and view and manage your existing cookies.
  1. Click on 'Menu', then 'Options'
  2. Select 'Privacy'
  3. Select 'Cookies'
  4. Choose your settings
Opting out of cookies in AOL
  1. From the AOL toolbar, select 'Settings'
  2. Select 'Internet Options'
  3. Select 'Use your Internet Explorer Settings to set advanced browser options'
  4. Select the 'Privacy' tab
  5. Select 'Advanced'
  6. Deselect override automatic cookie handling button
  7. Choose your settings
Opting out of Flash Cookies
If you'd like to control the use of Flash Cookies on your computer, Adobe's website offers tools to do this.
If you use Firefox to browse the internet, you can read some security and privacy tips here.