Accept ACC monopoly, insurers told

By Richard Braddell

WELLINGTON - Accident Insurance Minister Michael Cullen has told the insurance industry to accept that workplace insurance will be returned to ACC monopoly, or be left out of the policy process.

"The insurance industry is making an all-out effort to overturn the bill ... However, they need to understand that while they are fighting with us over the principle of private versus public provider, they are missing the opportunity to creatively and constructively engage in the debate that really matters: the detail in the new accident compensation bill," he said.

Dr Cullen said the Government was seeking feedback on the reintroduction of the accredited employer scheme under which employers manage their own risk in return for lower premiums.

But ACC was on notice that it must deliver a scheme which has an average premium rate no higher and preferably less than the present risk rated average. "They must behave with integrity, compassion and professionalism."

He was confident ACC would do so, based on its success in saving lives in the meat and forestry industries and in reducing the unfunded liability in the tail of residual claims by $2 billion in the last two years.

The private system, in contrast, would produce ever more litigation as insurers inevitably sought to control their costs.

"In the space of a few months we've heard noises within the industry about reducing the areas covering accident compensation and broadening the areas where we restore a tort-based system based on the right to sue."