Thank you for your recent email about the Government’s plan to raise motorcycle levies.
The current ACC levy on motorbikes is $252.00.
The Government is proposing to treble that to $735.00 for bikes over 600cc, an increase of just under $500 a year.
That represents the biggest ever increase in ACC levies.
It is unacceptable, it's outrageous, and it's not warranted.
The clear message from the Government is that it wants motorbikes priced off the road.
It ignores the fact that bikers use less petrol, create less pollution, and cause less congestion.
It ignores the fact, too, that nearly two thirds of accidents involving motorbikes are caused by cars.
And what about the people who are motor bike enthusiasts who have a number of bikes, though don't necessarily do high mileage on them? They'll pay an extra $500 on each bike.
ACC Minister Nick Smith keeps saying that this is an insurance scheme and it should be user pays – each category should meet the cost of accidents in that area.
ACC was never designed as a pure user pays insurance system. It was intended as a no-fault comprehensive system of protection for people who suffered injuries.
If it were user pays:
· some occupational areas, like farming, would be priced out of existence
· levies would be charged on sports clubs and schools because it's riskier to play sport than sit on the couch and watch it on TV
· elderly people who have more falls because of frailty would be charged for growing old
· push bikes would pay huge levies because of a high rate of accidents, also often not their own fault
None of that makes sense, and the Government shouldn't be playing one sector of New Zealanders off against another.
The decision is arbitrary on a number of other fronts. The cut-off points in terms of cc ratings do not, for example, take into account the relative power of motorcycles and would treat a vintage 650cc motorcycle as more dangerous than a 250cc modern bike capable of doing more than 200kph.
National is undermining ACC by reducing the scope of entitlements for injured New Zealanders, while it disproportionately hikes up levies for groups like motorcyclists.
To make matters worse, the National/Act/Maori Party government is privatising major parts of ACC. The insurance and management of injuries is being privatised. Instead of being provided by ACC this will be provided by private insurance companies. ACC has very low administration costs. The profits that Australian owned private insurance companies expect to earn have been estimated by Merrill Lynch to total $200million per annum. New Zealanders will end up paying more for less cover.
The government has been claiming ACC is insolvent. But it’s scaremongering. ACC has over $11 billion of reserves and last year collected $1 billion more in levies than it spent on claims.
In Parliament, Labour has and will continue to fight against the unprecedented cost burden that the Government is trying to impose on bikers.
We will work with you to try to get some sense out of the Government and a fair deal for bikers.
New Zealand has the world’s best accident compensation scheme. Labour wants to keep it that way
Thank you for writing on this important issue.
Kind regards
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Originally Posted by skidmark
Oh bugger
You're just jealous because the voices only talk to me
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