ACC: Court of Appeal to be asked to clarify law

Court of Appeal to be asked to clarify law on weekly compensation late payments

ACC is to ask the Court of Appeal to clarify the law regarding interest on the late payment of weekly compensation.

ACC’s longstanding practice of applying a “simple interest” formula (i.e. a formula which calculates interest on the amount of weekly compensation for the period that it was due) was called into question this week by the High Court decision on Robinson v ACC (CIV 2005-485-0127).

In the Robinson case, Justice Heath ruled that any interest payable in respect of the late payment of weekly compensation should include interest calculated on a “compound interest” basis (interest calculated by including not just the weekly compensation due but also the interest, as it accumulates over the period that it is due).

The Judge also said he was sympathetic to granting leave for ACC to appeal to the Court of Appeal and to granting a stay on the implementation of his judgment if ACC gave an assurance that it would promptly prosecute any appeal. Chief Executive Garry Wilson says it’s important the law is clarified so that both ACC and claimants are left in no doubt about the interest formula that applies.

To this end, ACC will offer to fund reasonable legal costs incurred by Mr Robinson as a result of the Court of Appeal proceedings.

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