New Zealand Case Law: Decisions & Judgments

Topic

Incapacity assessment

Legal area

Court

2 Aug 2022

WATERFORD v ACCIDENT COMPENSATION CORPORATION [2022] NZHC 1883

Citation

[2022] NZHC 1883
Court

High Court

Special leave to appeal declined because the statutory definitions require that, to qualify for earnings-related weekly compensation, the claimant must have been engaged in work for the purpose of remuneration at the deemed date of injury; unpaid voluntary placements undertaken as part of study are for learning not for pecuniary gain and are addressed by the separate 'potential earner' category, so there is no viable legal basis to construe those placements as 'employment' or the participant as an 'earner' for the more generous earnings-related compensation.
30 Nov 2020

MAY v MAY [The May Property Trust] [2020] NZHC 3152

Citation

[2020] NZHC 3152
Court

High Court

Given the medical evidence of Dorothy May's incapacity, the replacement of the incapacitated trustee under s43, the consents of the continuing trustees, and the limitation of an enduring power of attorney in respect of trust-held interests, the Court properly exercised its statutory power under s52 Trustee Act to vest the Trust's assets, including the specified property, in the named trustees.
24 Oct 2018

Tonner v Accident Compensation Corporation (Leave to Appeal)

Citation

[2018] NZACC 166
Court

District Court

Leave to appeal was dismissed because the District Court applied the correct legal test and the available contemporaneous and later evidence was insufficient on the balance of probabilities to establish continuous incapacity since 1997; no serious or arguable question of law was shown and Crothers' reasonable adaption test, while good law, was not material to the decision.
11 Apr 2017

Aria v Accident Compensation Corporation (Weekly Compensation)

Citation

[2017] NZACC 38
Court

District Court

On the medical evidence the appellant's incapacity from 28 December 2009 was caused by the 1974 motorcycle injury (fixed flexion deformity and vascular insufficiency), not by the 2007 abrasion; clause 48 does not apply to transfer payments to a pre-existing earlier injury; therefore there is no entitlement to weekly compensation beyond 28 December 2009 and the appeal is dismissed.
16 Sept 2014

M v Accident Compensation Corporation

Citation

[2014] NZACC 219
Court

District Court

The Court preferred the balanced and comprehensive medical evidence of Robyn Salisbury (22 Nov 2011) and Mark Davis (21 Nov 2013), found Mr M suffers PTSD and depressive disorder from the sensitive claim which caused periods of incapacity during the specified dates, and concluded the Corporation and Review Officer erred; therefore their decisions were quashed and the Corporation must calculate and pay entitlements including top-up compensation for the covered periods.
7 Mar 2014

Bensdorp v Accident Compensation Corporation

Citation

[2014] NZACC 55
Court

District Court

First interval (3 Dec 2007–11 Feb 2008): insufficient evidence of incapacity; the 3 December 2007 event was not medically significant and appellant continued renovating/managing the motel. Second interval (12 Sep 2008–23 Apr 2010): cumulative medical evidence demonstrated ongoing significant wrist injury preventing return to pre-injury employment; appellant was therefore incapacitated and entitled to weekly compensation for that period.
10 Jun 2013

Thomson v Accident Compensation Corporation

Citation

[2013] NZACC 160
Court

District Court

There was insufficient contemporaneous evidence to conclude that the appellant was unable, because of his covered injury, to engage in his pre-injury employment during the claimed retrospective period; because the appellant returned to and performed that employment from July 1999 until May 2005 and ACC had not adequately investigated the precise nature of the pre- and post-injury employment, the Court affirmed the reviewer’s direction that ACC must obtain the job description and employer evidence and make a fresh decision.
7 Mar 2012

Moffatt v Accident Compensation Corporation

Citation

[2012] NZACC 76
Court

District Court

Because the appellant was not an earner at the date of injury, entitlement to weekly compensation could only arise, if at all, under the potential‑earner provisions (s105 and Schedule 1 clause 47), which require at least six months incapacity and contain income exclusions; the claimant’s short‑term post‑surgery incapacity did not meet those requirements and the Court is bound by Vandy, so the appeal is dismissed.
16 Dec 2011

Kelly v Accident Compensation Corporation

Citation

[2011] NZACC 367
Court

District Court

The appellant was wrongly assessed as having capacity for his pre-incapacity employment because that job no longer existed and ACC failed to establish that he possessed the modern vocational skills, as well as the physical ability, required for broadly similar occupations; the 2009 decision was set aside and weekly compensation reinstated.
28 May 2010

Little v Accident Compensation Corporation

Citation

[2010] NZACC 77
Court

District Court

Because the Court determined the appellant remained continuously incapacitated from March 1990, both arrears and ongoing weekly compensation must be calculated by reference to the appellant's pre-incapacity earnings as of January 1990; the subsequent 2003 earnings cannot be used as a new benchmark absent a legally separate period of regained capacity.