Yet another reason why ACC sucks

[Steam]

Another reason ACC sucks

I was in Australia for three weeks on what was to be a year-long working and biking holiday
Then I broke a bone falling off the bike (after just three weeks out of the country) and had to come home.
ACC says "Sorry, since you intended to be out of the country for more than 6 months you aren't covered. For anything."
No physio, no help with anything. Bastards!

It's not too bad for me, as I will only be off work for another four weeks or so, but still! Imagine if someone had a serious accident meaning they'd be off work for a year, it would break them financially.
Something needs to change at ACC, big-time.
What the fuck is wrong with that place?

[The Pastor]

Travel insurance?

[Dargor]

Shouldnt it be more like.. "sorry you were out of the country when the accident happened.."

[Steam]

Travel insurance?

I didn't budget for that, I just expected to be covered by ACC if I came back, seeing as I am a fucking taxpayer and have lived here since my ancestors came over on goddamn sailing ships from England.

Lesson: Don't Expect anything. Or rather - Expect to be let down by ACC.

[Steam]

Shouldnt it be more like.. "sorry you were out of the country when the accident happened.."

Nah, they don't mind that, if you were on holiday in bumfuck Africa then ACC would still cover you, just not if your holiday was supposed to be more than six months. Even if it was JUST ONE WEEK that you were out of the country when the accident happened.

[The Pastor]

how do they know your holiday was going to be for more than 6 months?

[Headbanger]

The main goal of ACC is to NOT pay you any money.

The secondary goal of ACC is to stop paying you money if they have started to do so.

The third goal of ACC is to market themselves in such a way as to improve their image, at the cost of thousands upon thousands of our dollars.

[Cibby]

seriously dude, why would you expect to be covered by ACC???

Travel Insurance to Aussie is CHEAP, if you had died, needed emergency medical care that you couldnt afford, had all yoru stuff stolen, repatriation costs alone to get your body home are in the thousands. Your travel insurance would have also covered your trip back to aussie so you could have continued on with your trip when you were healed.

I've had some good and some bad experiences with ACC but I think that it is really shit if you to be giving them shit becuase you didnt plan ahead and protect yourself.

To much in this world people are blaming others for their mistakes/religions/responsibilities and expecting others to look out for them.

ALSO Aussie have an agreement with NZ where you could have had medical treatment over there. Yes you are a tax payer but you were not going to be for 12 months....

Sorry, i'm In england at the mo and every fuckwit is trying to make claims on my clients policies for them hurting themselves, its totally widing me up at the moment, i'm sorry to hear that you broke your leg, i hope it heals quick :)

Cibby

[NighthawkNZ]

The main goal of ACC is to NOT pay you any money.

The secondary goal of ACC is to stop paying you money if they have started to do so.

The third goal of ACC is to market themselves in such a way as to improve their image, at the cost of thousands upon thousands of our dollars.

Don't be such a mor....


Oh wait your right... bling awarded

[Steam]

how do they know your holiday was going to be for more than 6 months?

It was on my departure card, the one you fill out when going through customs at the airport.

[Steam]

s
...but I think that it is really shit if you to be giving them shit becuase you didnt plan ahead and protect yourself.

Guess I just expected the 50%+++ taxes we all pay the government to help return one of their own citizens to health.
For Fucks Sakes I was out of the country THREE WEEKS and can't get treatment here. I take full responsibility for everything else, but expect... no, DEMAND that as a kiwi I can access the NZ public health system.
Who can I vote for who'll change that.
Labour? Nope.
National? Nah.
Err... a tiny loser party? Ermmm...

In the end it's no biggie, I just spend my holiday savings on getting treated and work a few months to save up again, but still. It's annoyinig.

[Mikkel]

Hmmm this seems weird to me. Even if you intended to stay abroad for more than 6 months - if you return before 6 months you should still be covered...
Seems a bit rotten to me I must agree!
That being said I'd never go anywhere without a travel insurance myself...

[Robert Taylor]

Another reason ACC sucks

I was in Australia for three weeks on what was to be a year-long working and biking holiday
Then I broke a bone falling off the bike (after just three weeks out of the country) and had to come home.
ACC says "Sorry, since you intended to be out of the country for more than 6 months you aren't covered. For anything."
No physio, no help with anything. Bastards!

It's not too bad for me, as I will only be off work for another four weeks or so, but still! Imagine if someone had a serious accident meaning they'd be off work for a year, it would break them financially.
Something needs to change at ACC, big-time.
What the fuck is wrong with that place?

Private insurance would somewhat ease the burden on average heavily overtaxed Kiwis. The money has to come from somewhere and the world does not owe one a living. Personal responsibility. There needs to be a seachange in this country.

[davereid]

Private insurance would somewhat ease the burden on average heavily overtaxed Kiwis. The money has to come from somewhere and the world does not owe one a living. Personal responsibility. There needs to be a seachange in this country.

The problem is, that having already lost 50% of my income in tax, I'm not exactly overwhelmed with the prospect of purchasing the very same services my tax was supposed to provide.

The cure is simple....

TAX FORM

Please select the services you require at the percentage tax listed :
( ) Shonky Health System 10%
( )Shonky Education System 5%
( )DPB entitlement 5%
( )Dole entitlement

Thank you.
You have selected no options and are not entitled to use the services listed.
You have a tax bill of : $ 0.00

[Finn]

I didn't budget for that, I just expected to be covered by ACC if I came back, seeing as I am a fucking taxpayer and have lived here since my ancestors came over on goddamn sailing ships from England.

Lesson: Don't Expect anything. Or rather - Expect to be let down by ACC.

Hey, aren't you that lefty that keeps going on about how good things are in NZ under Labour?

[bungbung]

You planned to be out of the country for 6 months, and you didn't budget for travel insurance? why on earth not?

[vifferman]

Never mind all that moral superiority, and "why didn't you get travel insurance" stuff, WTF is this "intended" bullshit?
"Because you intended to go to Mesopotamia some time in the future, we won't cover you."
"Because you were thinking about taking up skydiving, we won't pay for the costs incurred when you fell off the ladder at work".
Puh-leeeeease.....

[Jantar]

I had Travel insurance, same crash, similar location, and only a few days earlier than Steam. I have only received my credit card statement yesterday to make my claim with the travel insurance, but it would be of almost no use to Steam. Travel insuarnce will pay the costs of returning to New Zealand, and up to $1500 for any follow on costs after you return. They will still not meet the costs that ACC would.

ACC have accepted my claim, fortunately.

[LilSel]

dude that sucks... once again tho... travel insurance is a must when ya go away... everytime I've been overseas (been a fair bit) I've arranged insurance... one trip to aussie my insurance was only $60!!... to Venezuela/Argentina it was $150ish... not a lot of money if something does go wrong.

guess you've learnt that for next time tho :niceone:, heal up quick!

[MacD]

Never mind all that moral superiority, and "why didn't you get travel insurance" stuff, WTF is this "intended" bullshit?


Yep, it is the "intended" clause that appears to have caught Steam out, and I must admit I doubt many people realise it exists (I didn't), but it is stated on the ACC website (http://www.acc.co.nz/claims-and-care/whos-covered/WIM2_059653?ssSourceNodeId=8479&ssSourceSiteId=1494).



New Zealanders travelling overseas

Who can qualify
To qualify for our help, you must be ‘ordinarily resident’ in New Zealand. Usually that means:

• You must either hold the required citizenship, permits or visas, or be the spouse or dependent of a New Zealand resident and generally accompany them
• You must have a permanent place of residence in New Zealand
• You must have intended to return to New Zealand within six months of leaving. (my italics)


On the other hand people tend to forget that ACC is a state-owned insurance company, not "the health system". It pays for injury care and rehabilitation in "the health system" just like vehicle insurance pays for you car to be repaired by a panelbeater. People complain often enough about their motorcycle ACC levies and petrol levies which fund the OnRoadCover (http://www.acc.co.nz/levies-and-cover/other-cover/wcm001342).

If anything the issue arises because ACC extends the cover to accidents that occur overseas for short term travel. I doubt a private provider would do that at all, or at least insist that you took out travel insurance.

By the way Steam, I presume you didn't have to pay for your care while in Australia as that is covered by a reciprocal care agreement.

The real anomaly in the NZ system is that if you are off-work due to injury you are covered (to an extent) for loss of earnings by ACC, whereas if you are off work due to illness you are not (until you actually no longer employed and eligible for the sickness benefit).

[spookytooth]

Acc is one of the biggest rip offs out there.Try being self employed and claiming .Oh you cut off your arm heres a plaster now go learn to use the other one

[jrandom]

I must say, when I highsided and smashed my hand up recently, the standard of ACC-covered care I received was very good. Fast, high-quality service.

I won't reiterate the points already made regarding travel insurance, but private health insurance is a great thing. Southern Cross don't really get it right, but check out Sovereign's policy offerings.

On the whole, ACC doesn't cost us that much, compared to private health insurance, and the service it provides is outstanding.

New Zealand has far worse administrative fuckups that are much more in need of attention from the electorate.

[Robert Taylor]

The problem is, that having already lost 50% of my income in tax, I'm not exactly overwhelmed with the prospect of purchasing the very same services my tax was supposed to provide.

The cure is simple....

TAX FORM

Please select the services you require at the percentage tax listed :
( ) Shonky Health System 10%
( )Shonky Education System 5%
( )DPB entitlement 5%
( )Dole entitlement

Thank you.
You have selected no options and are not entitled to use the services listed.
You have a tax bill of : $ 0.00

Yes I agree, this ''Government'' especially has raised taxes and therefore also the cost of living. ( But that shonky lot always do it ) Concurrently with that they have delivered lower quality services, especially in the health system. If they are overtaxing us all so much then why has the quality of service deteriorated? If you are an employer you can basically forget about acc if an accident incapacitates you, despite the fact you have contributed more in tax.

But my other point is that many who complain for various reasons that ''the government isnt looking after them'' conveniently forget where the money actually comes from in the first place, the overburdened taxpayer.

Middle New Zealanders are being screwed in this country, by those at the top and those at the bottom who know how to best manipulate the system to their advantage. Generations of Government handouts from both sides of the political spectrum have engendered a dependent mentality.

If you could have an apolitical leader with some of the qualities of Lee Kuan Yew ( spelling? ) and no elections for 10 years or so it would go a long way to fixing this country. A decent society where everyone has equal opportunity and contributes equally.

The current electoral system and the dependent mentality means that we would never have such a government.

[Ocean1]

Please select the services you require at the percentage tax listed :
( ) Shonky Health System 10%
( )Shonky Education System 5%
( )DPB entitlement 5%
( )Dole entitlement

Thank you.
You have selected no options and are not entitled to use the services listed.
You have a tax bill of : $ 0.00

... and the overall income from those choosing otherwise now allows:

(*) Shonky Health System 3%
(*)Shonky Education System 2%
(*)DPB entitlement 1%
(*)Dole entitlement 5%


If you could have an apolitical leader with some of the qualities of Lee Kuan Yew ( spelling? ) and no elections for 10 years or so it would go a long way to fixing this country. A decent society where everyone has equal opportunity and contributes equally.

The current electoral system and the dependent mentality means that we would never have such a government.

Almost all of the most impressive advances in living standards in history have occured under actual or virtual dictatorships. And some of the worst reverses.

Minor grumpiness in China at the moment, tax changes a couple of years ago and subsequent inflation resulted in the effective lower threshold for tax changing. A mere 3 years ago only incomes in the top 10% odd paid tax, (at all), that figure is now slightly below the mean income. The tax itself is not high though, even for those on high incomes.

Political security of tenure with minimal interferance is a prerequisite for fundimental change, good or bad. The three georges project was built entirely without the help of a resource consent system. So was the single child family. Both were arguably good ideas in their day, both will cause problems for the future.

[Timber020]

If you think Acc stinks, name a system anywhere in the world that would have covered him.

[Jantar]

Anywhere else in the world he could have sued me for giving him a potentially unsafe bike. :(

[Max Preload]

Simple solutiuon... even if you're moving overseas permanently just say you're intending on going for less than 6 months on your departure card.