I'll fight on: ACC claimant

A Whangarei taxi driver walked out of a meeting with the Accident Compensation Corporation after trying to get the state insurer to pay him for lost earnings as directed by a court.

A frustrated Shaun Stanley said he has had enough of ACC but vowed to keep fighting despite not getting anywhere with discussions about his entitlement. Last month he won his claim in the Whangarei District Court for coverage from ACC for the time he was off work while sick.

For two-and-a-half years, Mr Stanley had to diagnose himself to get proper treatment and then, at his insistence, an orthopaedic appointment was made before he was operated on in July 2009. Following his surgery, ACC declined cover for treatment injury, but he appealed the decision and won.

Now, Mr Stanley said ACC refused to pay him a weekly entitlement because he was not working while off sick.

"They [ACC] said at the time of my MRI, I wasn't working so I won't be paid. It drove me crazy because you are supposed to be paid when you don't work," he said. "I explained to them that the reason I wasn't working was because I was sick."

He saw the acting branch manager for ACC in Whangarei last week but walked out in frustration. "I submitted a medical certificate that said I was unfit to work but they said that didn't mean anything if I was not earning."

But ACC spokesman Glenn Donovan said the state insurer had implemented the court's decision and granted cover for Mr Stanley.

"Once we grant cover for a client, we must then ensure they meet any specific criteria for entitlements they apply for, such as weekly compensation. In the case of weekly compensation, which is paid for injury-related loss of earnings, we must first determine that the client was in employment at the time of their injury."

He said ACC, at this point, had insufficient information to make a decision on weekly compensation, however, a meeting was planned for Thursday to advance his cause.