Claimant High Court Hearings and Costs Awarded to the ACC
Anthony Jordan made this Official Information request to Accident Compensation Corporation
The request was partially successful.
From: Anthony Jordan
Dear Accident Compensation Corporation,
1/ Please disclose the number of High Court Hearings that have been Initiated by Claimants in taking the ACC to the High Court for respective years 2010 to date
2/ Please disclose the number of High Court Hearings that have been Initiated by Claimants in taking the ACC to the High Court for respective years 2010 to date that have resulted in Favor of the ACC ie Claimant lost
3/ Please disclose the number of High Court Hearings that have been Initiated by Claimants in taking the ACC to the High Court for respective years 2010 to date that have resulted in Favor of the ACC Where the ACC has been Awarded Court Costs to be Paid by Claimant
Yours faithfully,
Anthony Jordan
From: Government Services
Accident Compensation Corporation
Kia ora,
Thank you for contacting ACC’s Government Services inbox.
If your request falls within scope of the Official Information Act, we
will endeavour to respond as soon as possible, and no later than 20
working days after receipt of your request. If we are unable to respond
within the statutory timeframe, we will notify you of an extension.
The information you have requested may involve documents which contain the
names and contact details of individuals. Please let us know whether you
are seeking that information as part of your request. We may need to
consult before deciding whether we can release this information, and this
may take a bit more time. If we do not hear from you, we will assume that
you do not require it.
For more information about Official Information Act requests, please
visit: [1]Ombudsman New Zealand | Tari o te Kaitiaki Mana Tangata.
If your request relates to your claim, or you’d like more information
about lodging a claim, please contact ACC’s claims team at 0800 101 996
or [2][email address].
For personal information requests or privacy matters,
please visit [3]Request for personal information (acc.co.nz).
For general queries, please visit: [4]Contact us (acc.co.nz).
Ngâ mihi,
Government Services
PO Box 242 / Wellington 6011 / New Zealand / [5]www.acc.co.nz
ACC cares about the environment – please don’t print this email
unless it is really necessary. Thank you.
Disclaimer:
"This message and any attachments may contain confidential and privileged
information. If you believe you have received this email in error, please
advise us immediately by return email or telephone and then delete this
email together with all attachments. If you are not the intended
recipient, you are not authorised to use or copy this message or any
attachments or disclose the contents to any other person."
References
Visible links
1. https://www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/
2. mailto:[email address]
3. https://www.acc.co.nz/contact/request-fo...
4. https://www.acc.co.nz/contact/
5. http://www.acc.co.nz/
http://www.acc.co.nz/
From: Government Services
Accident Compensation Corporation
Kia ora Anthony
You have requested information relating to High Court Hearings involving
ACC since 2010. Providing this information would require an extensive
manual review of our legal files dating back to 2010, which would amount
to substantial collation and research. We would likely refuse your request
on this basis under Section 18(f) of the Official Information Act 1982.
However, if you are agreeable to amend your timeframe to the last 5 years
then this would enable us to provide with information on High Court
decisions. Please let us know if you agree to shortening the timeframe of
your request to the last five years (since 2019).
If we do not hear back from you by COB 3 July 2024 then we will proceed to
make a decision on your original request as it stands.
Ngâ mihi
Christopher Johnston (he/him)
Manager | OIA Services
* PO Box 242, Wellington 6011
ACC cares about the environment – please don’t print this email unless it
is really necessary. Thank you.
show quoted sections
From: Anthony Jordan
Dear Government Services,
1/ I agree to the Five-year disclosure only if the ACC states they do not pro-actively keep such records independent of the Claimant's files
2/ I agree to the Five-year disclosure only if the ACC states they do not pro-actively keep such records for the Corporations future reference in any other Form/Policy
Yours sincerely,
Anthony Jordan
From: Government Services
Accident Compensation Corporation
Kia ora,
Thank you for contacting ACC’s Government Services inbox.
If your request falls within scope of the Official Information Act, we
will endeavour to respond as soon as possible, and no later than 20
working days after receipt of your request. If we are unable to respond
within the statutory timeframe, we will notify you of an extension.
The information you have requested may involve documents which contain the
names and contact details of individuals. Please let us know whether you
are seeking that information as part of your request. We may need to
consult before deciding whether we can release this information, and this
may take a bit more time. If we do not hear from you, we will assume that
you do not require it.
For more information about Official Information Act requests, please
visit: [1]Ombudsman New Zealand | Tari o te Kaitiaki Mana Tangata.
If your request relates to your claim, or you’d like more information
about lodging a claim, please contact ACC’s claims team at 0800 101 996
or [2][email address].
For personal information requests or privacy matters,
please visit [3]Request for personal information (acc.co.nz).
For general queries, please visit: [4]Contact us (acc.co.nz).
Ngâ mihi,
Government Services
PO Box 242 / Wellington 6011 / New Zealand / [5]www.acc.co.nz
ACC cares about the environment – please don’t print this email
unless it is really necessary. Thank you.
Disclaimer:
"This message and any attachments may contain confidential and privileged
information. If you believe you have received this email in error, please
advise us immediately by return email or telephone and then delete this
email together with all attachments. If you are not the intended
recipient, you are not authorised to use or copy this message or any
attachments or disclose the contents to any other person."
References
Visible links
1. https://www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/
2. mailto:[email address]
3. https://www.acc.co.nz/contact/request-fo...
4. https://www.acc.co.nz/contact/
5. http://www.acc.co.nz/
http://www.acc.co.nz/
From: Government Services
Accident Compensation Corporation
Kia ora Anthony
Please find attached our response to your official information request
dated 11 June 2024. If you have any questions about the response you can
contact us at this [1]address, for all other matters please use our
contact form at: [2]https://www.acc.co.nz/contact/ alternatively give us a
call on 0800 101 996.
If you are having trouble viewing the PDF, please ensure you have the
latest version of Adobe Acrobat Reader. To download this freeware please
click [3]here.
Ngâ mihi
Christopher Johnston (he/him)
Manager | OIA Services
* PO Box 242, Wellington 6011
ACC cares about the environment – please don’t print this email unless it
is really necessary. Thank you.
show quoted sections
From: Anthony Jordan
Dear Government Services,
with refrence to
Our response
Thank you for your response, however, we don’t consider your request that ACC makes particular
statements is reasonable. Given this, we have taken your response to mean that you are declining to
amend your request.
Noting this, we are refusing your request as the information cannot be made available without substantial
collation and research. This decision is made under section 18(f) of the Act. In doing so, we considered
extending our timeframe to respond and charging (as allowed under the Act). However, we have
determined that neither of these options would enable us to grant your request due to the impact on ACC’s
operations.
If you would like to make a new request for the past 5 years of information, we would be happy to consider
this.
1/ Please supply the past five years
Kind Regards
Anthony
From: Government Services
Accident Compensation Corporation
Kia ora,
Thank you for contacting ACC’s Government Services inbox.
If your request falls within scope of the Official Information Act, we
will endeavour to respond as soon as possible, and no later than 20
working days after receipt of your request. If we are unable to respond
within the statutory timeframe, we will notify you of an extension.
The information you have requested may involve documents which contain the
names and contact details of individuals. Please let us know whether you
are seeking that information as part of your request. We may need to
consult before deciding whether we can release this information, and this
may take a bit more time. If we do not hear from you, we will assume that
you do not require it.
For more information about Official Information Act requests, please
visit: [1]Ombudsman New Zealand | Tari o te Kaitiaki Mana Tangata.
If your request relates to your claim, or you’d like more information
about lodging a claim, please contact ACC’s claims team at 0800 101 996
or [2][email address].
For personal information requests or privacy matters,
please visit [3]Request for personal information (acc.co.nz).
For general queries, please visit: [4]Contact us (acc.co.nz).
Ngâ mihi,
Government Services
PO Box 242 / Wellington 6011 / New Zealand / [5]www.acc.co.nz
ACC cares about the environment – please don’t print this email
unless it is really necessary. Thank you.
Disclaimer:
"This message and any attachments may contain confidential and privileged
information. If you believe you have received this email in error, please
advise us immediately by return email or telephone and then delete this
email together with all attachments. If you are not the intended
recipient, you are not authorised to use or copy this message or any
attachments or disclose the contents to any other person."
References
Visible links
1. https://www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/
2. mailto:[email address]
3. https://www.acc.co.nz/contact/request-fo...
4. https://www.acc.co.nz/contact/
5. http://www.acc.co.nz/
http://www.acc.co.nz/
From: Government Services
Accident Compensation Corporation
Kia ora Anthony
Please find attached a letter extending the time limit for making a
decision on your request of 9 July 2024. If you have any questions about
the response you can contact us at this [1]address, for all other matters
please use our contact form at: [2]https://www.acc.co.nz/contact/
alternatively give us a call on 0800 101 996.
If you are having trouble viewing the PDF, please ensure you have the
latest version of Adobe Acrobat Reader. To download this freeware please
click [3]here.
Ngâ mihi
Christopher Johnston (he/him)
Manager | OIA Services
* PO Box 242, Wellington 6011
ACC cares about the environment – please don’t print this email unless it
is really necessary. Thank you.
Disclaimer:
"This message and any attachments may contain confidential and privileged
information. If you believe you have received this email in error, please
advise us immediately by return email or telephone and then delete this
email together with all attachments. If you are not the intended
recipient, you are not authorised to use or copy this message or any
attachments or disclose the contents to any other person."
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. https://www.acc.co.nz/contact/
3. https://get.adobe.com/nz/reader/
From: Government Services
Accident Compensation Corporation
Kia ora Anthony
Please find attached our response to your official information request
dated 09 July 2024. If you have any questions about the response you can
contact us at this [1]address, for all other matters please use our
contact form at: [2]https://www.acc.co.nz/contact/ alternatively give us
a call on 0800 101 996.
If you are having trouble viewing the PDF, please ensure you have the
latest version of Adobe Acrobat Reader. To download this freeware please
click [3]here.
Ngâ mihi
Christopher Johnston (he/him)
Manager | OIA Services
* PO Box 242, Wellington 6011
ACC cares about the environment – please don’t print this email unless it
is really necessary. Thank you.
Disclaimer:
"This message and any attachments may contain confidential and privileged
information. If you believe you have received this email in error, please
advise us immediately by return email or telephone and then delete this
email together with all attachments. If you are not the intended
recipient, you are not authorised to use or copy this message or any
attachments or disclose the contents to any other person."
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. https://www.acc.co.nz/contact/
3. https://get.adobe.com/nz/reader/
Sue left an annotation ()
You also might want to ask for the details of which cases the claimant was successful. I can find none in 2024 or 2023. I think the most recent favourable outcome I could find was Carey v Accident Compensation Corporation (Leave to appeal) [2020] NZACC 95 (31 July 2020) by Judge Harrison. However, I have not searched the HC special leave decisions.
A person would have more success at Judicial Review than following the AC Act process. I suspect because it is different judges.
Things to do with this request
- Add an annotation (to help the requester or others)
- Download a zip file of all correspondence
Sue left an annotation ()
Hi Anthony,
ACC's response to your OIA request was demonstrably false. if you search NZLII or the District Court decisions you will find that costs were sought and awarded in at least two matters in the last two years.
1. Smith v Accident Compensation Corporation (Interest on weekly compensation) [2024] NZACC 139 (19 August 2024).
2. Smith v Accident Compensation Corporation ( Leave to appeal to the High Court) [2023] NZACC 181 (8 November 2023).
In the following cases, the Court directed the parties to make submissions regarding costs (by memorandum), but I've not found the final Judgement of the Court so you may want to request copies of ACC's submissions and the Court's decisions regarding costs on the following:
1. Van Wey Lovatt v Accident Compensation Corporation (Leave to appeal to the High Court) [2024] NZACC 150.
2. LR v Accident Compensation Corporation ( Leave to appeal to the High Court) [2023] NZACC 109 (10 July 2023).
3. Howard v Accident Compensation Corporation ( Leave to appeal to the High Court) [2023] NZACC 25 (21 February 2023)
In the following, costs were reserved . I understand costs being reserved as to mean that ACC sought costs and the Court hadn't made a decision. I cannot find the final decision on the matter, so you may want to request ACC's submissions and the Court's decisions regarding costs on the following:
1. Kumar v Accident Compensation Corporation ( Leave to appeal to the High Court) [2023] NZACC 105 (29 June 2023)
2. Stryder v Accident Compensation Corporation ( Leave to appeal to the High Court) [2024] NZACC 125 (24 July 2024).
3. McKenzie v Accident Compensation Corporation ( Leave to appeal to the High Court) [2024] NZACC 65 (11 April 2024).
4. Chandra v Accident Compensation Corporation ( Leave to appeal to the High Court) [2024] NZACC 82 (16 May 2024).
5. Murphy v Accident Compensation Corporation ( Leave to appeal to the High Court) [2024] NZACC 71 (22 April 2024).
6. JD v Accident Compensation Corporation ( Leave to appeal to the High Court) [2024] NZACC 62 (9 April 2024).
7. Feaver v Accident Compensation Corporation [2024] NZACC 51 (26 March 2024).
8. KC v Accident Compensation Corporation ( Leave to appeal to the High Court) [2024] NZACC 37 (23 February 2024).
9. MacNaughtan v Accident Compensation Corporation [2024] NZACC 33 (19 February 2024).
10. Hristovski v Accident Compensation Corporation ( Leave to appeal to the High Court) [2024] NZACC 6 (12 January 2024).
11. Easthope v Accident Compensation Corporation ( Leave to appeal to the High Court) [2024] NZACC 1 (5 January 2024).
12. Brunton v Accident Compensation Corporation ( Leave to appeal to the High Court) [2023] NZACC 217 (20 December 2023).
13. Saunders v Accident Compensation Corporation ( Leave to appeal to the High Court) [2023] NZACC 215 (20 December 2023).
14. Brown v Accident Compensation Corporation ( Leave to appeal to the High Court) [2023] NZACC 204 (14 December 2023).
15. Rapatini v Accident Compensation Corporation ( Leave to appeal to the High Court) [2023] NZACC 206 (14 December 2023).
16. Austin v Accident Compensation Corporation ( Leave to appeal to the High Court) [2023] NZACC 180 (7 November 2023).
17. BI v Accident Compensation Corporation ( Leave to appeal to the High Court) [2023] NZACC 178 (30 October 2023).
18. Southern Transport Company v Emtage ( Leave to appeal to the High Court) [2023] NZACC 166 (16 October 2023).
19. DN v Accident Compensation Corporation ( Leave to appeal to the High Court) [2023] NZACC 145 (13 September 2023).
20. Boulton v Accident Compensation Corporation ( Leave to appeal to the High Court) [2023] NZACC 135 (11 August 2023)
21. Williamson v Accident Compensation Corporation ( Leave to appeal to the High Court) [2023] NZACC 134 (10 August 2023).
22. Hurricanes Crusaders Chiefs v Accident Compensation Corporation ( Leave to appeal to the High Court) [2023] NZACC 128 (2 August 2023).
23. Smith v Accident Compensation Corporation ( Leave to appeal to the High Court) [2023] NZACC 123 (26 July 2023).
24. Rapatini v Accident Compensation Corporation ( Leave to appeal to the High Court) [2023] NZACC 97 (19 June 2023).
25. Erwood v Accident Compensation Corporation ( Leave to appeal to the High Court) [2023] NZACC 92 (8 June 2023)
26. TR v Accident Compensation Corporation ( Leave to appeal to the High Court) [2023] NZACC 82 (19 May 2023)
27. KC v Accident Compensation Corporation ( Leave to appeal to the High Court) [2023] NZACC 30 (6 March 2023)
28. Curgenven v Accident Compensation Corporation ( Leave to appeal to the High Court) [2023] NZACC 26 (21 February 2023)
29. O'Neill v Accident Compensation Corporation ( Leave to appeal to the High Court) [2023] NZACC 1 (9 January 2023)
In the following cases, there was no reference to costs in the judgement, so who is to say. You would need to request ACC's submissions for the matter of costs and the Court's final decision regarding costs.
1. Soulsby v Accident Compensation Corporation ( Leave to appeal to the High Court) [2024] NZACC 102 (18 June 2024).
2. Buist v Accident Compensation Corporation ( Leave to appeal to the High Court) [2024] NZACC 86 (21 May 2024).
3. Panchalingam v Accident Compensation Corporation ( Leave to appeal ) [2024] NZACC 75 (26 April 2024);
4. Alliance Group Ltd v Accident Compensation Corporation & McLennan ( Leave to Appeal to the High Court) [2023] NZACC 172 (25 October 2023)
5. Mostafa v Accident Compensation Corporation ( Leave to appeal to the High Court) [2023] NZACC 155 (21 September 2023).
It is noteworthy that Judge Spiller will never approve leave to appeal to the High Court. He almost always writes "Even if the qualifying criteria had been made out, this Court would not have exercised its discretion to grant leave, so as to ensure the proper use of scarce judicial resources and the finality of litigation. This Court is not satisfied as to the wider importance of any contended point of law.". I have only seen one case in which the leave for appeal was granted despite ACC's opposition (Carey in regards to costs for advocates). I've only found one judge to approve leave to appeal to the High Court in the last 7 years, so I don't think there really is a right to appeal to the High Court since every application is shot down unless ACC agrees. I would say this also indicates the Court is inherently biased towards ACC, or does not want a higher court to weigh in on their decision making and possibly overturn the decision.
Link to this