Introduction

Limitations

Section 0. Introduction

<< Section< PageContentsPage >Section >>

Limitations

Limitations of the Statistics

The injury coding used by ACC is very wide in its categories and of limited use in differentiating the severity of the injury. For example, the injury code of ‘Soft Tissue Injury’ covers injuries ranging from strained muscles to dislocated discs to paraplegia and tetraplegia.

The entitlement claims statistics (Sections 2 to 21) largely exclude those accidents resulting only in:

  • incapacity during the first week (for which ACC is not liable);
  • medical treatment (for which the healthcare provider is normally reimbursed directly).

Entitlement claim statistics also exclude injuries (even fatal ones) sustained by non-earners, unless compensation has been paid. This applies particularly to children and older people.

The total cost of entitlement claims for each account does not balance with ACC’s financial statements because the costs reported in this publication are on a ‘cash basis’, include PAYE, and exclude:

  • medical treatment costs (where the healthcare provider rather than the client is normally reimbursed directly --except where compensation has been paid for dental treatment which has been claimed for by the patient)
  • public hospital costs (which are bulk-funded, see the Public Health Care Costs table).

Back dated attendant care payments are reported separately.

Under the pre 1999 Accredited Employer programme, some large employers managed their own claims for the first year in return for reduced premiums. When the programme ended on 30 June 1999, about 10% of the workforce was covered in this way.

On 1 July 2000 the new Accredited Employer programme, ‘The Partnership Plan’ was introduced. Under this plan employers can take responsibility for the cost and management of injured employees for a nominated period from one to five years. ‘The Partnership Plan’ claims are reported in this publication.

For publication, costs are rounded to the nearest $1,000, and percentages to the nearest 0.1 percent. Costs less than $500 are reported as ‘<$500’.

For privacy reasons if the number of claims in a given cell is between 1 and 3 actual claims, this is displayed as ‘≤3’ claims.

Browser Limitations
  • Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5 may truncate cell column headings when Print Previewing and Printing tables. This can cause ‘Cost of Claims ($000)’ to print as ‘Cost of Claims’, etc.
  • Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5 may truncate the rightmost columns when Print Previewing and Printing tables. Try setting the orientation to landscape or using a different browser.

© 2008 Accident Compensation Corporation

<< Section< PageContentsPage >Section >>