Since New Zealand did away with the right to sue for negligence causing physical injury in 1974, the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) is tasked with ensuring those with covered injures receive compensation, rehab and other supports.
For the majority of people making ACC claims the process is uneventful and uncomplicated. After a brief period of recovery, treatment and weekly compensation they return to their pre-injury life fully recovered. However, for many claimants the relationship with ACC can be problematic, complex and often unfair.
Not everyone is the same, and no two injuries are identical. A person may have suffered several ‘shoulder/back sprains’ throughout their life, all accepted by ACC at the time, only to be told in their 50’s that surgery funding is declined due to age-related ‘wear and tear’ or other exclusions. The decision can be confusing as their doctors assure them ACC should pay and they may know someone who had the same condition paid for by ACC.
The inconvenient truth in NZ is that without medical insurance it is generally beyond the means of individuals or DHB’s to fund elective surgery when ACC declines to pay.
The range of injuries covered by ACC is significant, from birth accidents to mental injuries, occupational disease and life impacting trauma requiring full-time care. In such cases the impact of ACC declining or reducing an entitlement can also be devastating.
Weekly compensation paid by ACC is 80% of pre-injury pay and is by most international measures quite generous. Here again the system is set up to efficiently manage short-term injuries, but becomes more complex and problematic when a person cannot return to work quickly or is disqualified from compensation as a non/casual earner at the time of their injury (e.g. a child, carer, part time worker or or prison inmate).
From these very simplified examples it is not difficult to see that ACC is an area where most injured people get by without issue, but where some can be left in the lurch, exhausting savings or relying on whanau or a meagre sickness benefit to pay for treatment and outgoings. For pensioners, minorities and the homeless, the inequities become more apparent.
Given the move away from dedicated ACC case managers to a more impersonal ‘transactional’ approach, It is crucial for those receiving adverse decisions to consider applying for Independent Review. As a specialist ACC lawyer Jason Lister of ACC SOS offers clients significantly improved chances of overturning an unfair or incorrect decision. Don’t go it alone, get the best advice, the best supporting evidence and proper representation. Call Jason today.
