This is suited to the employed who are receiving a wage or salary.  More often than not this is not suited to business owners or the self-employed who should have CoverPlus Extra.

Some important ACC facts:

Most people pay their ACC Levies without really knowing what they get for their money; after all, unlike a traditional insurance product you are not issued with a policy document that sets out exactly what you get for the premium you pay.  Your ACC coverage can also be easily changed without your consent or approval.  Some facts, for standard ACC CoverPlus are:

• ACC provides cover only for accidents and not for an illness.
• Weekly compensation is based on up to 80% of your previous year’s taxable earnings.  Did you income split with your spouse?  If so this will not be included as part of your income. 
• Did you divert income in other ways? If so this will likely reduce the compensation payable to you.
• If your business earnings fluctuate from year to year, and you have an accident after a lower salary year, this will be the level of earnings your compensation is based upon.
• Weekly Compensation is abated if you return to work part time; in other words if you return to work for 10 hours a week your compensation will be reduced by 25%.  For many business owners, 10 hours work per week will just be dealing with administration and will not produce revenue.
• The amount of ACC Compensation payable is subject to a ceiling (which is reviewed annually) and this may be below the level of your earnings.
• We often find people are on the wrong ACC classification for the work they do, and are therefore paying more in ACC Levies than they need to.
• If you die ACC will pay your spouse up to 60% of what you would have received if you were alive (e.g. 60% of the 80%).  Also each dependent child may receive 20% of the 80% (child must be under 18, or 21 if in full time study, compensation is basically paid for 5 years, some other conditions apply).

These are some of the benefits for our clients after they have restructured their ACC cover with Iconic Financial and used the savings in ACC Levies to fund additional protection:  

• They are covered if they are unable to work due to both accident and illness.
• They have Agreed Cover with ACC, so they know exactly what benefit they will be paid if they have an accident.  They do not have to worry about having income split with a spouse, this will not affect the ACC Compensation they are paid.
• If they have a lower salary year, this will not affect the ACC Compensation they receive should they have an accident.
• If they return to work part time, for example 20 or 30 hours per week, this will not reduce the amount of ACC Compensation they receive.  When on claim they will receive 100% of the benefit payment that has been agreed with ACC until they fully return to work.  This is a huge benefit and most people off work will return part time (often for a significant period) before they are on their feet sufficiently to work full time.
• Protection can be put in place to ensure 75% of their gross earnings will be paid should they have an accident, or become sick and unable to work, with no ceiling on the level of earnings.
• There is no need to prove your income at the time of claim.
• They have superior risk protection for themselves, their families, and their business.

If you want to know whether you have the most appropriate ACC protection contact us now.