Pregnant grandmother wants ACC payout

A grandmother who fell pregnant after having her tubes tied is expected to lodge a claim for "personal injury" compensation - the second case of its type in a fortnight.

The woman's claim follows the case of a 31-year-old reported in the Herald on Sunday last week who won court backing to claim compensation for her pregnancy as a"personal injury" after having her tubes tied.

The woman's initial compensation claim was denied but she appealed, resulting in the district court judgment. ACC has since appealed to the High Court.

It is yet to be decided whether compensation would be sought for the period of the pregnancy or the course of the child's life.

In his decision, Wellington District Court judge John Cadenhead found the 31-year-old woman's pregnancy could be considered a "personal injury" and she had the right to lodge a claim with ACC.

Judge Cadenhead identified the "sole issue" as "whether pregnancy in this case could constitute an injury" for an ACC claim.

Now, a 40-year-old is considering filing her own claim after talking with the 31-year-old's lawyer, Sam Hood, and becoming a client.

The second woman became pregnant after a sterilisation procedure she had 14 months ago failed. She is five months' pregnant.

The woman, who did not wish to be named, said she already had two daughters, aged 19 and 21, and had not planned on having another child.

"I'm a grandmother," she said. "I didn't plan on being a mum again."

The initial case sparked controversy after Mr Hood said it was possible the judge's decision could be applied to other failed contraceptive measures - including broken condoms or falling pregnant while on the pill.

However, ACC expert and Victoria University law lecturer John Miller has largely dismissed that claim.

He said it was unlikely the case would lead to a backlog of women applying for compensation because they had forgotten to take their contraception.

The definition of personal injury by accident, he said, was very specific.

National MP Katherine Rich said the attempt to extend ACC to cover pregnancy went further than the architects of the scheme envisioned when it was created in 1972.

She said the law needed to be changed before the taxpayer was burdened with a flood of pregnancy claims.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY