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Hundreds of families looking after
seriously-injured relatives could have their best Christmas in years after
ACC started writing cheques in response to a High Court ruling that it should
backdate payment for 24-hour care. However, some of those involved in the
court action are warning ACC that they could sue for more it if does not
settle quickly, and in good faith. The payments, ranging from $200,000 to
more than $500,000, follow successful court action taken by Victoria
University ACC law specialist John Miller on behalf of five families caring
for severely disabled family members. In April last year, the families
successfully challenged the corporation' s assumption that they had a moral
obligation to provide care and would do so without payment, Mr Miller said. "We are talking about people with
serious brain damage who required 24-hour care. The corporation previously
paid for 35 to 112 hours a week but following that decision it started paying
for 168 hours a week." The families next applied to the Accident
Compensation Appeal Authority for backdating to the time the injured family
members were discharged from hospital. The authority ruled in their favour
and its decision was upheld when the High Court turned down in April an ACC
appeal against the decision. Mr Miller said he got sick of waiting for
the corporation to pay up, so filed papers last month to force compliance. "It had the desired effect. They
started faxing people and agreeing to pay." ACC spokesman Alan Seay said ACC had paid
15 families so far, and expected the total number affected would be up to
500. |
