DESPAIR: Allan Payne is at the end of his tether after battling ACC over his toxicity from spraypainting. PHOTO/LYNDA FERINGA WTA070414LFALLEN06QR
Man can't pay bills after pain damage forces him out of work
"No one wants to help me."
This is how Allan Payne feels after months of numerous appointments and frustrating correspondence with ACC.
Diagnosed in 2001 with solvent induced neurotoxicity from at least 18 years working as a spraypainter, Mr Payne had no idea of the health problems he would face.
He says he has been put in the "too hard basket" by ACC to get compensation for the wages lost because of his health.
Standing up, the Featherston man grimaces in pain. He can barely walk - he is 48 and needs his hips replaced.
Because of his health, he stopped working in October last year and started lodging claims which has turned into "a rigmarole" with ACC.
While his partner of two years, Nicole Nation, works as a caregiver, they don't have enough money to pay their bills or rent which are stacking up.
After months of waiting, he is at the end of his rope.
"I'm just over it.
"None of them will help you, that's wrong, that's what we pay all the levies for."
He has asked for extensions on their bills but they will be cut off soon.
He doesn't eat if Nicole and her teenage daughter haven't, and they go without food sometimes.
If he does eat, he eats cornflakes for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Mr Payne has carpal tunnel syndrome in both arms and is confined to his house because of the pain.
"I can't do anything because I can't walk. I shouldn't be like this at my age."
He said he has thought about ending his life.
"I feel like a burden."
A photo on the wall of his home shows Mr Payne with his dog Yogi, in happier days, looking like a different man.
Mr Payne has been diagnosed with clinical depression, a known effect of the neurotoxicity disorder.
Caused by exposure to certain organic solvents, the disorder insidiously affects the nervous system over a number of years. It can also affect motor skills, brain function and indirectly cause structural damage to the body.
He takes 90mg of morphine a day for pain but it doesn't help.
Mr Payne said since the diagnosis, he continued working.
"The damage was already done after 18 years of exposure.
"We didn't know the effects, back in the 80s we used to wash the paint off our faces with thinners, now you wear masks, gloves, suits and everything."
There were two periods where he was on the sickness benefit and ACC had covered him because of the disorder over 2002-2003.
He can't get the sickness benefit now because Nicole works at least 30 hours a week, which is full-time according to WINZ.
"I want to work, I don't want to be on a benefit.
"I want them to get me fixed up so I can go back to work.
"I've got a lot to teach, I can teach young people how to do this trade."
He filed a claim in October to try and get cover for private surgery for the hip replacements but it was rejected.
"They think these [his hips] are not part of the neurotoxicity."
He said he was then asked by ACC to file separate claims so he claimed for the carpal tunnel, depression and work-related hip pain. The amount of waiting time and the lack of answers is unacceptable, he said.
But he has had a minor breakthrough, he has just got a letter accepting the claim he lodged in January for the carpal tunnel.
However, he still doesn't know when or how much they will pay him.
There's no word yet on his depression or hip-pain claim but he has been booked in by Wairarapa DHB for a publicly-funded hip replacement.
"They are not prepared to pay for my depression until they get a report."
Despite all the problems they are facing, they have kept a sense of humour.
"You have to," they said.
An ACC spokeswoman said after Mr Payne's first claim in October, an independent specialist assessed him in December and found no causal link between the hip incapacity and the neurotoxicity.
She said the carpal tunnel claim had been accepted and the hip pain claim was still being investigated.
"ACC is working with Mr Payne to assess cover in as timely a fashion as possible considering the complexities of this claim."
She said Mr Payne had been assessed for depression but ACC hadn't received the specialist's report yet.
The spokeswoman said ACC doesn't capture the number of people who claim for solvent induced neurotoxicity.
"It would require detailed examination of each physical file to see if we could identify it."
Claims lodged for gradual work-related disorders have decreased since 2011/12 from 16,370 to 11,760 in 2013/14 year.
The 19-year-old disappeared without her wallet or mobile phone.