27 Mar 2013
Insufficient evidence existed that an assessable mental injury was present at the time of the 1996 and 1999 assessments; those assessments were not nullities and the 2008/2010 assessment was a reassessment, so backdating beyond the date applied by ACC is not permitted; appeal dismissed.
15 May 2009
The court held the initial independence allowance assessment for physical injuries was completed and adopted by ACC in 2004; the later mental injury assessment (2007/2008) constituted a reassessment under clause 61 prompted by a medical certificate and therefore did not qualify as a 'first assessment' for backdating under s377(3)(c); consequently payment from a reassessment takes effect from the next quarterly payment per clause 62. The earlier consent review decision was moot because its purpose was achieved by the subsequent primary decision.