Self Employed ACC Reviews

There are a number of risks in life, such as natural disasters, loss of income, and sickness. There are insurance policies which can protect you and your dependents and reduce financial loss should these events occur.

If you suffer an accidental injury that stops you working or means that you can only work in a lower paying job, ACC will pay medical and rehabilitation costs as well as up to 80% of pre-injury income. However, ACC does not pay benefits if you cannot work because of illness or death from disease or degenerative conditions that weren’t caused by your work.

Your ability to earn an income is your greatest asset. On an income of $50,000, lifetime earnings could easily exceed $2m while major assets (house, contents and car) may only be a quarter of that. While 98% of homeowners and 95% of car owners are insured, 4 in 5 New Zealanders have not insured their income against sickness or disability.

ACC Standard Cover – CoverPlus

If you’re self-employed or a contractor you’ll automatically be on CoverPlus. If you’ve had an accident and can’t work, ACC will pay you compensation at up to 80% of your taxable income based on the most recently completed finanical year. For example, if you earn $52,000 per year on CoverPlus you’d get up to 80% of that each week, which is $800 before tax.

Weekly compensation payments start a week after your injury, and ACC also help cover the cost of your treatment and rehabilitation.

ACC CoverPlus Extra

CoverPlus Extra is an optional cover product that allows you to choose how much of your income you want covered if you have an accident and can’t work. ACC will pay 100% of the agreed cover divided into weekly payments until you can get back to full-time work. For example, if you’re entitled to $52,000 per year as your cover, ACC will pay 100% of that amount each week, which is $1,000 before tax.

CoverPlus Extra is especially suited to those who:

• have fluctuating income, either yearly or seasonal as you’ll know exactly how much ACC will pay out
• want to apply for more of less cover than your actual income
• are newly self-employed with no earnings history and want assurances around your cover

Benefits include:

• Your levy invoices are predictable as ACC calculate them by using the level of cover you nominate and agreed with. So, no surprises at invoice time.
• Like ACC standard cover, the injury that leads to time off work doesn’t have to be work-related. CoverPlus Extra covers injuries that happen anywhere, eg at home, on the road, during sports, etc…
• More control over how much you pay in levies as you can choose to pay a lower levy in return for lower weekly compensation or a higher levy and receive higher weekly compensation.

To find out if this is an option for you contact us for a free consultation 0800 120 449