Dear Accident Compensation Corporation,

This request under the Official Information Act is about the ACC Treatment Provider Hand Book last updated May 2017.

The book can be downloaded from the Accident Compensation Corporation web site as part of the providers information.

There are several error in this document and if relied on by Treating Providers will mislead Treating Providers what injuries have cover.

There is a number of simular statement;

gradual process injuries that are not caused wholly or substantially by work-related gradual processes, diseases or infections

claiming that these injuries are not covered

Legislation does include gradual process injuries if they align with the following sections.
Section 26 (2) described the legislation to include;
(2) Personal injury does not include personal injury caused wholly or substantially by a gradual process, disease, or infection unless it is personal injury of a kind described in section 20(2)(e) to (h).

Section 20(e) to (h) is as;
(e) personal injury caused by a work-related gradual process, disease, or infection suffered by the person:
(f) personal injury caused by a gradual process, disease, or infection that is treatment injury suffered by the person:
(g) personal injury caused by a gradual process, disease, or infection consequential on personal injury suffered by the person for which the person has cover:
(h) personal injury caused by a gradual process, disease, or infection consequential on treatment given to the person for personal injury for which the person has cover:

then there is the claim that mental injury caused by physical injury can only be accepted when the legislation at Section 26 (1) (c) is;
mental injury suffered by a person because of physical injury suffered by the person.

One can only look at this practice in an attempt to limit liability.

As the document is incorrect in fact and law one can only conclude it is deliberate to reduce the liability of the Accident Compensation Corporation and place the liability directly on to the general public of New Zealand.

Although the Chief Executive has endorsed the document please supply the name and position of the persons who carried out the necessary checks to make sure the document applied to the legislation.

If the Accident Compensation Corporation is claiming this is an update of Mr Ralph Stewart book, and other updates published since 2011, showing the same mistakes then one must request the name and position of the person who authored and check those documentation.

Yours faithfully,

Trevor Smith

Dear Government Services,
The refusal to supply the names of the persons who designed the Policy is of good reason to the Accident Compensation Corporation Executive staff and board. Currently a Mr Herwig Raubal is the person who is responsible to make sure that any policy is not advising the staff on how to dis-entitle or remove entitlements. This includes making sure the current document in question is explaining what injuries do have cover. The document does not do that and claims that a number of conditions because of injuries does not have cover.

Section 240 of the Crimes Act covers the action of the author and other staff responsible for the documentation.

240 Obtaining by deception or causing loss by deception
(1) Every one is guilty of obtaining by deception or causing loss by deception who, by any deception and without claim of right,—
(a) obtains ownership or possession of, or control over, any property, or any privilege, service, pecuniary advantage, benefit, or valuable consideration, directly or indirectly; or
(b) in incurring any debt or liability, obtains credit; or
(c) induces or causes any other person to deliver over, execute, make, accept, endorse, destroy, or alter any document or thing capable of being used to derive a pecuniary advantage; or
(d) causes loss to any other person.
(1A) Every person is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years who, without reasonable excuse, sells, transfers, or otherwise makes available any document or thing capable of being used to derive a pecuniary advantage knowing that, by deception and without claim of right, the document or thing was, or was caused to be, delivered, executed, made, accepted, endorsed, or altered.
(2) In this section, deception means—
(a) a false representation, whether oral, documentary, or by conduct, where the person making the representation intends to deceive any other person and—
(i) knows that it is false in a material particular; or
(ii) is reckless as to whether it is false in a material particular; or
(b) an omission to disclose a material particular, with intent to deceive any person, in circumstances where there is a duty to disclose it; or
(c) a fraudulent device, trick, or stratagem used with intent to deceive any person.

The NZ Police are not interested in prospecting the persons responsible as they think that a prosecuting the staff will harm the good will of the Accident Compensation Corporation.

Yours sincerely,

Trevor Smith