7 May 2003
Pitkethley v Accident Compensation Corporation
- Citation
- [2003] NZACC 79
- Court
- District Court
The court held that monthly Internet account payments were not an 'aid or appliance' or a key aspect of social rehabilitation payable by the insurer because the claimant had alternative means (fax/writing), had already installed equipment, and the ongoing service cost was not a direct result of the covered injury; and that the cochlear implant was excluded because the need for treatment arose wholly or substantially from the claimant's well documented pre-existing progressive otosclerosis, not solely from the medical misadventure.
- Entitlement to aids and appliances
- Definition of social rehabilitation
- Treatment cost liability
- Pre-existing condition exclusion
- Causation of personal injury