ACC $1m tourism bill a benefit to NZ

1520 of the claims in Otago related to skiing and snowboarding. Photo / Thinkstock

Overseas tourists claimed $1 million from the ACC in the last financial year, but the payouts benefited New Zealanders, the organisation says.

Of the 1.6 million claims lodged in the 2009-10 year, 3600 came from tourists who injured themselves.

Of these claims, 2145 were lodged by tourists in Otago and 1520 of them related to skiing and snowboarding.

The cost of treatment and support involved in the tourists' claims was about $1 million.

The total cost of all claims to ACC was $3.8 billion.

ACC claims are funded separately from care requiring a hospital stay, which is controlled by the Ministry of Health through an annual ACC payment.

Ambulance costs, including helicopters, are also controlled separately by the National Ambulance Sector Office, which receives funding from ACC and the ministry.

The national manager of rehabilitation services Mike Tully said because ACC was a no-fault scheme, tourists could not sue a person or business for causing them injury.

"If they were allowed to sue, the cost to New Zealand would be significantly more than ACC pays to cover their treatment," he said.

A large number of small businesses, including the tourism and adventure tourism ventures in Otago, benefited from the design of the scheme.

"New Zealand's not being unfairly burdened by paying ACC to visitors," Mr Tully said.

Tourists often made contributions to the scheme if they bought things such as petrol, the price of which included a levy to pay for the cost of road-related injuries.

The majority of overseas visitors also generally required only a one-off visit to a doctor or to hospital emergency department and ACC covered their medical costs for treatment only while they were in New Zealand, he said.

ACC was not a replacement for travel insurance as once an injured tourist went home, he or she had to pay for any treatment they received.

New Zealand had reciprocal arrangements with the United Kingdom and Australia.

NZ Ski chief executive officer James Coddington believed that ACC cover of tourists for injuries was "certainly a benefit".

"It's a good thing to be able to look after tourists that come to our country."

He did not know of any instances of the scheme being exploited by tourists, but believed many did not know they were covered by it.

THE NUMBERS

1.6 million claims in 2009-10
3600 from injured tourists
$3.8b cost of all claims
$1m spent on tourists