26 August 2021
Anthony Jordan
[FYI request #16107 email]
Tēnā koe Anthony
Your Official Information Act request, reference: GOV-012469
Thank you for your email of 16 July 2021, asking for the following information under the Official
Information Act 1982 (the Act):
1.
Gross costs paid to Legal firms/Dispute firms/Courts (Col ectively) for Reviews held for each
respective year since 2004
2.
Gross costs paid to Legal firms/Dispute firms/Courts (Col ectively) for Appeals held for each
respective year since 2004
Information provided with this response
We only hold financial data in relation to these costs from the financial year 2011/2012. This complies
with our General Disposal Authority, which requires ACC to keep financial transactions from the general
ledger for no less than seven years. For this reason, we are refusing to provide information prior to
2011/12 financial year, as that information does not exist or cannot be found. This decision is made
under section 18(e) of the Act.
Review costs
ACC contracts two suppliers for its review hearings, Fairway Resolution Ltd and Independent Complaint
& Review Authority Ltd. The fol owing table provides the amounts paid to those suppliers. This is ACC’s
spend on the facilitation of review hearings, and does not include claim-related review costs, e.g.
settlements paid out fol owing a review.
Review costs (paid to reviewer suppliers)
Year
Amount paid
2011/12
$13,406,796
2012/13
$14,026,029
2013/14
$10,838,188
2014/15
$11,287,785
2015/16
$11,179,973
2016/17
$12,216,097
2017/18
$14,593,956
2018/19
$15,179,516
2019/20
$17,217,771
2020/21
$14,901,398
External legal representation at reviews
The costs paid by ACC for external legal representation at reviews is held on individual client files. To
provide a response to this part of your request we would need to search through claim files that were
subject to a review to determine if an external legal representative was engaged as well as the
associated costs.
GOV-012469
Due to the high number of review decisions it would not be possible to determine this information
without substantial col ation and research. For this reason, we are refusing this part of your request
under section 18(f) of the Act.
Appeals costs
We interpret your request as applying to statutory appeals, i.e. Court appeals that originate from
reviews and are conducted under Part 5 of the Accident Compensation Act 2001 (AC Act). Such appeals
general y relate to ACC cover, entitlements, and levies. Under the AC Act, at first instance they will be
heard at the District Court, and by leave or special leave they may proceed to the High Court and the
Court of Appeal (but not to the Supreme Court).
Until this financial year, ACC did not keep a separate cost code for statutory appeals but had one cost
centre for al legal spend. Therefore, any answer would have to be premised on the understanding that
the data includes statutory appeals as well as other spend on external legal providers. This would
include costs of defending civil (torts) claims, various proceedings in tribunals such as the Coroner’s
Court or the Human Rights Review Tribunal, legal advice provided by external providers in relation to
litigation, Court cases where ACC is invited as a third party intervenor and other matters.
Until this financial year, ACC recorded its financial data by references to two costs codes: Costs incurred
for District Court litigation (code 43027) and Costs incurred for all other litigation (code 43028). Table 3
below outlines the legal costs recorded under these codes. These amounts wil include statutory
appeals, as well as other litigation not included in your request.
Please note that the 2020 and 2021 District Court data reflects the increased output from that court
during those years (both in terms of decisions delivered and case management progressed), as well as
the rise in non-lawyer representation for claimants.
Table 3: Court related costs
Year
Costs for District Court matters
Costs for other litigation
2011/12
$745,889
$522,169
2012/13
$783,482
$352,902
2013/14
$1,086,857
$472,771
2014/15
$1,429,664
$303,514
2015/16
$1,988,835
$940,173
2016/17
$2,146,279
$808,232
2017/18
$1,936,451
$510,656
2018/19
$2,206,832
$929,060
2019/20
$3,342,660
$869,346
2020/21
$3,704,339
$672,573
Notes for financial information
• Information is provided by financial year (1 July to 30 June).
• The data is current to 2 August 2021 and may differ if re-run later.
• Costs exclude GST.
Accident Compensation Corporation
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GOV-012469
Questions about this response
If you have any questions, you can email me at
[email address].
If you are not happy with this response, you have the right to make a complaint to the Ombudsman.
Information about how to do this is available at
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or by phoning 0800
802 602.
Nāku iti noa, nā
Sasha Wood
Manager Official Information Act Services
Government Engagement & Support
Accident Compensation Corporation
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Document Outline
