ACC injury statistics are a useful and valuable way to illustrate the frequency, costs and trends of various injuries and accidents in New Zealand. The ACC Injury Statistics 2008 is split into sections. The first section of the statistics presents all ACC statistics; the remaining sections (2–21) show detailed information about frequency, cost and trends of entitlement claims. When using these statistics, you need to keep in mind the following information.
ACC statistical year
ACC injury statistics are collated and reported annually for the period 1 July to 30 June.
For example, statistics for the 2007/08 year include data from 1 July 2007 to 30 June 2008. Dates are presented as 2007-07/2008-06 or 2007/08.
ACC statistics based on lodged claims
ACC can only collect statistics on injuries where claims have been lodged. If an injury is not treated by a health professional and no claim is made to ACC, it will not be captured in our statistics.
Entitlement claims
Entitlement claims are claims that include entitlement payments, such as weekly compensation, rehabilitation services, housing modifications, etc. Generally these only need to be paid for moderate or serious injuries.
Most ACC statistics focus on entitlement claims, because these are the more serious injuries and incur the most costs.
Definition of ‘New’ and ‘Active’ entitlement claims
A 'New' entitlement claim is defined as a claim that has received an entitlement payment within the current financial year.
‘Active’ entitlement claims are the total number of all claims that ACC is still paying out on. This includes all ‘New’ claims as well as claims from previous years.
Note:
Entitlement claims reported in sections 2-21 of the ACC injury statistics exclude medical fee only claims, such as one-off visits to a doctor, physiotherapist etc.
Drop in recorded injuries during 1999/2000
The ACC statistics show a drop in number of recorded injuries during 1999/2000. These figures reflect the period when the Government privatised part of ACC’s operation. As a result, a number of work-related claims that would normally have been covered by ACC went instead to private insurers.
Comparing Injury Statistics 2008 costs with ACC financial statements
The ACC Injury Statistics 2008 costs may differ from the costs presented in ACC financial statements because each of these reports is produced for different purposes.
ACC Injury Statistics 2008 reports the cost of claims excluding:
- public hospital costs (which are bulk-funded)
- medical treatment only costs (where the health provider is reimbursed directly).
Injury coding
ACC injury coding is often very wide in its categories, so may not specify the severity of the injury.
For example, the injury code for a fracture is the same regardless of the complexity of the fracture, so the full nature and impact of the facture may not be captured.
Categories with fewer than three claims
For privacy reasons, if the number of claims reported is between 1 and 3 actual claims, this is displayed as ‘≤3’ claims.
Presenting cost of claims
Costs are rounded to the nearest $1,000, and percentages to the nearest 0.1%. Costs less than $500 are reported as ‘<$500’.
Information excluded from ACC statistics
- Injuries that resulted in less than one week off work are largely excluded from the Entitlement claims reported in Sections 2-21 of ACC Injury Statistics 2008. This is because ACC is not liable for costs incurred during the first week of incapacity.
- Claims for medical fees only (where the health provider was reimbursed directly) are excluded from the Entitlement claims reported in Sections 2-21 of ACC Injury Statistics 2008.
Last updated: 15 December 2008