anniiee

Hi,

I'm hoping someone has some info or can tell me where to go for it
My OH had quite a bad motorbike accident last weekend and is going to be off work for quite some time.
I've been told that ACC will pay 80% of his usual pay but how does this happen ? Will he recieve it directly into his bank account as usual, or is there some paperwork that we have to fill out ? He is still in hospital at the mo so we havent recieved any paperwork from them so far (if we even do recieve anything from them) I;ve tried having a look on the internet but can't make head nor tail of it.

Thanks in advance
Anniiee

Newfies

Firstly sorry that your hubby has been in an accident and I hope it is not too serious.

Which hospital is he in?

I know for a fact that so certain hospitals have what is called a trauma team which he should be under. There will be a nurse within this team that will be really good at assisting with sorting out all the ACC side of things.

The ACC paperwork would have already been completed by the staff at the hospital (it in commenced in ED) and will be process as time goes on. It is a sort of automatic process initially, then they will contact you directly to either confirm the claim or ask for further information from yourself or the hospital.

I know it is hard but try not to worry too much at this stage about ACC concentrate on getting hubby better.
HTH

Newfies

Just as another thought if you are suffering finacial hardship at the moment there may be some benefits that you can claim then you would have to repay when ACC comes through.

As a nusre to do a referal to a social worker they are very good out here unlike the UK ones.

P.S I do believe that it is paid into the bank accounts

Jan n Neil

I have been told (not confirmed) that you have to be here 12 months before you will qualify for it ?

Neil

Newfies

No not at all if you have residency and are a kiwi tax payer you are entitled to ACC. Even if you are on holiday here (from a country that has a recipricol agreement with NZ) and are injured you can claim ACC.

The big debat is whether they will uphold the claim, it is very rare that they dont though.

For example. If I were to burgle someones house and injured myself doing so breaking a bone or cutting my hand severely I would be able to claim (this has actually happened and been upheld).

A suckes is you have a spontaneous injury such as a spinal abcess which leaves you paraltsed, subarachnoid bleed (bleed in the brain, stroke type), cancer, MS etc these eople can not claim ACC.

There is an option that you can decline claiming ACC with a view to sue over the injury sustained but the claims are never won so it is rare that ACC is not claimed. Once yo claim ACC you can not sue.

anniiee

Thank you so much for the replies, he's in Auckland City Hospital, and yes he is under the Trauma team.
I will ask tomorrow about the ACC side of things, I never thought of asking them.

Thanks once again
Anniee

Newfies

They sure do have a trauma team as they liase with our team from time to time. I have heard about the nurse that runs that team I think her name is Rhondda (could be wrong). She will be able to help you as that is one of their objective to liase with ACC. Along side making sure that all the people that need to be involved in getting your hubby better are, and that they are all trying to achieve the same thing.
Nothing worse when one person or team have a very different opinion.

Our trauma nurse is called Jenny and she is fantastic.

for a speedy recovery

bananalana

You can't really sue in NZ....it doesnt happen.

You can place a malpractice suit if your injury is made worse by a medical person (which is pointless because they just walk all over you - experience) but you cant just go round suing people - its not USA.

Newfies

You can attempt to sue (often unsucessful) but you can not claim ACC. There is a clause within the ACC form that you have a period of time to decline claiming in favour of persuing a court case to recover moneys lost or incured by accidental injury.
Once ACC is claimed there is no option to sue hence why it does not happen, apart from the fact that it is nealy always unsucessful.

There has been incidences of medical/surgical negligence cases and again these are very rarely upheld. Of the 11 cases that I know about only one was upheld and the chap ran rings around the medical profession (being medical himself). HE claimed via ACC for surgical negligence and ACC upheld the claim. The other cases I know about tried to claim directly with the profession of person involved and they lost.

(Sorry about your unsucessful case)

ACC is a mine field and unless you ae working with it all the time it can be very mind blowing.
I am no expert on ACC but know a reasonable ammount about it, if I am unsure I know of several people that I can ask who are experts on it as that is their job.

cleverchap

Sorry to hear about the accident.

I was in the same sort of situation a little while ago.
I arrived in NZ October 2008 and I had a back injury in January 2009. ACC paid for the treatment and I ended up having surgery to remove a disk that had blown out.
ACC where very helpful and paid 80% of my wage direct to my bank account for the entire time I was off work, 10 weeks in total.
The paperwork was sorted on my initial visit to the phsiio and the ACC advisor contacted me all but straight away and everything went very well.

I have heard a few stories from the other side of the fence where people have been messed around but and left without funds but keep chasing and it'll all sort itself.

Best of luck and I hope your husband gets well soon.

pricklykina

Sorry to hear about your hubby. What a shock
Another great thing about ACC..when it comes time to it...they will assist with transport costs in getting to work. E.G taxi fare...so you needn't worry about that.
They are keen to get people back working so you'll have ready access to everything to support him in his rehabilitation

Newfies

Hows the hubby?

anniiee

Hi Newfies thanks for asking and for all the info !! He's home now, fed up lol but starting the slow road to recovery.
Thanks we spoke with Rhondda, you were correct the hospital had allready filled in all of the ACC paperwork. ACC sent us a later stating they accepted our claim
I must say so far, I am extreemley impressed with the whole health system over here.

Thanks once again for your help
Anniee

Newfies

You are welcome I am glad things are going well and that he is home already. I like it when there is a nice outcome.
Rhondda I hear is lovely I havent met her yet, I believe that I will do next week as she is coming to the Waikato to see how we do things in our traima service with our trauma nurse Jenny Dorrian.

Tell him to keep his chin up and he will be back at work before he knows it wishing he was at home again lol

Take care
Anna