004_ACC_April_2016

BACK
COVER FOR NON-WORK
RELATED PERSONAL INJURY
As well as accidents in the workplace resulting
in injury and incapacity, the Corporation covers
injuries suffered by non-earners and by earners
who are injured other than at work. It also covers
motor vehicle accidents and accidents caused
by one or other of the forms of treatment injury
identified by the Act—medical error and medical
mishap. Such accidents are funded from a number
of accounts apart from the Work Account, allowing
the Corporation to cover them without crosssubsidisation
between the various injury categories.
Earners’ account
The account finances statutory entitlements for
employees who suffer non-work injuries. It is funded
through levies payable by employees set at a rate
prescribed in regulations made under the Act. The
levy is paid in instalments as if it were income tax,
that is, it is deducted at source as PAYE and the rules
governing PAYE apply to it. However, an earners’
levy deduction is not to be treated as part of a tax
deduction payment.
If an employee’s earnings include a benefit such as
board and lodging, or any other benefit in kind which
is included in the employee’s wages, or any payment
by way of pension, superannuation, retiring allowance,
other allowance, or annuity, that amount must be
taken into account when determining the deduction
to be made for levy purposes. If an employer makes a
deduction but fails to deal with it in the way the Act
requires, the deduction, for Tax Administration Act
purposes, will rank equally with the amount of any tax
deduction the employer has not paid.
Non-earners’ account
As its name indicates, the account funds accidents to
non-earners. Funds come from general taxation and
provide for treatment costs, rehabilitation and the
like. Non-earners are people who are neither in paid
employment nor self-employed, including retired
people and children.
Motor vehicle account
The account funds injuries involving the use of
motor vehicles, including some arising in a work
context, which are also categorised as work-related
injuries for the purposes of employer-paid first week
compensation (see under ‘Work-Related Personal
Injury’). Funds for motor vehicle injuries come from a
levy paid by every registered motor vehicle owner, by
everyone who holds a trade licence, and from a petrol
tax on every litre of motor spirits in respect of which
duty is payable under the Customs and Excise Act
1996.
Treatment injury account
Funds for this account come from any levies payable
by registered health professionals or any organisation
that provides treatment under the Act. If there is no
such levy, or the levy relates only to funding part of
the Account, funds will come from either the Earners’
or Non-Earners’ Account, as appropriate.
CODE OF ACC CLAIMANT’S
RIGHTS
The Act provides for a Code of ACC Claimants’ Rights
to be developed so that claimants can know what
they can reasonably expect when dealing with the
Accident Compensation Corporation. Among other
things, the Code will:
• provide remedies where the Corporation
has breached the Code;
• explain a claimant’s right to a review
of any decision the Corporation makes
about a claimant’s complaint.
A claimant who wants a review will be able to use
the dispute resolution procedures set out in the Act.
The Code’s rights and obligations are additional to
any other claimant rights or Corporation obligations.
They do not affect claimants’ entitlements or
responsibilities under the Act itself, under any
other enactment, or under the general law. The
Code applies both to the Corporation itself and
to accredited employers under ACC’s Partnership
Programme in their dealings with accident
compensation claimants.
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