Brokers sing praises of privatised cover

By BRIAN FALLOW

WELLINGTON - Evidence of lower premiums and service innovations since workplace accident insurance was privatised is being placed before the select committee considering a bill to re-nationalise it.

Wayne Wiffen, of Wilkinson Insurance Brokers, told the committee yesterday of one deal his firm had arranged, covering nearly 140 small sawmills.

Their levy costs are on average 40 per cent lower and they have the services of two fulltime people to provide risk management services.

This mainly consisted of identifying hazards in the sawmills and providing a mechanism for best practice to be disseminated, Mr Wiffen said later.

But it also includes advice on screening applicants for jobs (including drug testing) and on core employment contract terms and other legal services.

If they had to buy these services individually from other providers, Mr Wiffen said, it would cost them a fortune.

Such gains were substantial for small businesses struggling to compete in export markets and should not be undone, he said.

In many cases the savings had been reinvested in technology.

All four of the submissions presented yesterday argued for competition.

Tom Barstow, of Barstow Insurance Brokers, said the present system had delivered his clients insurance at competitive prices and given them the flexibility of various levels of self-insurance.

But he submitted that the disputes appeal system needed to be more transparent. "The way it is framed in the act, the average employer and employee don't know it's there."

Insurers should be given tighter timeframes to respond to claims or dispute liability, Mr Barstow said.

National MP Gerry Brownlee said that under the old ACC system about 5 per cent of claims were disputed, but that had dropped to 0.5 per cent in the first six months of the new regime.