4 February 2016
Lee M
[FYI request #3530 email]
Dear Lee M
Official Information Act Requests
Thank you for your Official Information Act 1982 (OIA) request of 6 January 2016 asking
questions about section 52 of the Accident Compensation Act 2001 (AC Act):
Section 52(1) of the AC Act states that a person must lodge a claim "in a manner
specified by the Corporation". Under the OIA can you please advise me what is the
manner specified by the ACC, whether or not the manner is specified in any legislation,
and if so what legislation specifies the manner.
Section 52 (3) of the AC Act states that the ACC "may impose reasonable requirements
on the person, such as, for example, requiring the person to lodge a written claim."
Under the OIA can you please advise me what requirements the ACC impose on
persons lodging ACC claims, whether or not the requirements are specified in any
legislation, and if so what legislation specifies the requirements.
ACC’s response to your questions is set out below:
The wording of section 52 enables ACC to specify the manner of claim lodgement and
impose reasonable requirements outside of legislation. Therefore none of these
specifications are contained in legislation or regulations.
The manner specified by ACC for claim lodgement is that claims are submitted via an
approved ACC45 claim lodgement form.
The reasonable requirements include the requirement to lodge a written claim (compared
to a verbal claim), and provide information that completes the fields on the claim form.
This includes verifiers such as name, date of birth, and contact details, and information
relating to the injury being claimed for.
ACC is happy to answer your questions
If you have any questions about the information provided, ACC will be happy to work with
you to answer these. You can contact us at
[email address] or in writing to
Government Services, PO Box 242, Wel ington 6140.
You have the right to complain to the Office of the Ombudsman about our response. You
can call them on 0800 802 602 between 9am and 5pm on weekdays, or write to The Office of
the Ombudsman, PO Box 10152, Wel ington 6143.
Yours sincerely
Government Services
Government Services