We’d like to explain how motorists pay ACC levies, why they pay levies, how those levies are calculated and what they get in return. You can also learn how you can do your bit to reduce road injuries.
What are ACC levies?
ACC collects payments (called levies) to pay for the help we provide for people who are injured in accidents. They could be compared to insurance premiums.
As a motorist, you pay a levy in two ways: through a levy on the petrol you buy, and through a levy collected when you license your vehicle(s).
These levies that you and all other motorists’ pay go into the ACC Motor Vehicle Account, which funds ACC cover for all people injured as a result of accidents involving motor vehicles on New Zealand’s public roads.
There are four other ACC Accounts, which cover people injured who aren’t in the paid workforce, and those injured at work, outside work (at home and play) and through personal injury caused by treatment.
Why pay levies?
ACC levies are compulsory. If you’re injured in an accident, they ensure you’ll get the treatment and support, including financial, you need to recover and get back to normal life as quickly as possible.
Why do levies change?
In setting the levies we charge each year, we have to take into account a whole range of factors, including:
- the number of claims made in the past, and how many of them we’re still covering
- the number of claims we expect to receive in the current year – and how much they’ll cost in future years (especially serious injury claims)
- changes in New Zealand’s population
- accident, crash and hospitalisation rates and trends
- the costs of associated products and services, such as medical treatment and rehabilitation aids, including wheelchairs and hearing aids
- our own financial position (for example, we’re currently trying to eliminate a $10 billion deficit from when we were pay-as-you-go) because the Government has changed our Scheme to be fully funded
- inflation rates and other economic factors
- our own operating costs (such as salaries and levy-collection costs).
We also include a ‘funding adjustment’ to allow for any surplus or shortfall in our previous estimates that could affect the current year.
When these things change, levies often have to change too.
How – and how much – do I pay?
As a motorist, you pay levies into the Motor Vehicle Account in two ways:
- a levy collected from petrol sales – the ‘petrol levy’
- a levy collected when you license a vehicle – the ‘licence fee levy’.
The amount you pay depends on factors such as:
- how many vehicles you register
- the types of vehicle you register
- the fuel by which the vehicle is powered
- how much petrol you buy (if any).
The petrol levy
The current petrol levy (which applies from 1 July 2011 to 30 June 2012) is 9.9 cents per litre of petrol.
The current licence fee levy
The licence fee levy you pay depends on the ‘class’ of vehicle you license and whether it’s powered by petrol or diesel. The current levies (which apply from 1 July 2011 to 30 June 2012) are:
Vehicle class |
Petrol-powered |
Average petrol levy @ 9.90 cents/litre |
Non-petrol powered |
|---|---|---|---|
Passenger vehicles (cars, buses, taxis, mini vans) and hearses |
$198.48 |
$118.92 |
$311.38 |
Vintage/veteran vehicles |
$69.46 |
$39.91 |
$108.98 |
Trucks, vans and utes (goods service vehicles) |
$238.15 |
$144.87 |
$467.08 |
Why isn’t there a ‘diesel levy’?
To ensure fairness among all levy payers, we charge motorists with diesel-powered vehicles the entire levy for diesel when they pay their annual licence fee.
This is because only a fraction of diesel sold in New Zealand is used for powering vehicles that travel on public roads. The rest is for power generators, boats, trains and other industrial purposes.
What are my levies used for?
When you pay your levies they go into the ACC Motor Vehicle Account – one of five ACC Accounts that, together, pay for the services we provide to people who are injured in accidents.
The ACC Motor Vehicle Account pays for claims made by people who are injured in motor vehicle accidents on public roads.
So what do I get for my money?
Your levies are used to pay for:
- injury prevention programmes, which aim to reduce the incidence and severity of injuries, and therefore the costs to the ACC Scheme
- medical treatment - covering everything from doctor’s visits to major surgery
- vocational rehabilitation, which aims to help injured people to get back to work or living independent lives
- compensation:
- for people who can’t work because of their injuries (we cover 80% of their annual incomes after the first week)
- through one-off payments to people whose injuries have left them significantly and permanently impaired
- if someone dies in an accident, help such as funeral grants, survivors’ grants and weekly compensation for their spouse or partner, children and other dependants
- social rehabilitation services such as childcare and help at home
- social rehabilitation-related aids and appliances, attendant care (for seriously injured people), childcare and help at home
- the costs of managing the ACC Scheme, such as the costs involved in collecting levies.
How can I help reduce the levies I pay?
The best way for you to reduce the levies you pay is to do your bit to reduce the injuries that are happening – on our roads, at work, in our homes, and during the sports we play. By being safer, and encouraging others to be safer too, you could achieve some amazing results. The more injured people we need to support, the higher the levies.
It’s all about injury prevention – and you can start right now by keeping safe:
Can I have a say about the levies I pay?
Yes. We review all our levies every year and then make recommendations to the Minister for ACC - but before we make our recommendations to the Minister we invite New Zealanders to provide their feedback and ideas, this is what we call levy consultation. Public consultation on our proposed levies for the 2012/13 levy year has now closed. Find out more about the process and what happens next, in our Levy Consultation section.
What should I do if I get injured?
Find out about the first steps to get help when you’ve been injured, what to expect when you make a claim and how cover is decided.
Resolving issues
ACC aims to provide a high standard of customer service at all times. If you’re unhappy about how you have been dealt with or with a decision that has been made, please let us know.
Last updated: 16 August 2011