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Dominion
Post
April 28 2003
Claims for sex abuse soaring
by Fran Tyler
Floodgates are set to open on thousands of
compensation claims for alleged sex abuse that could each cost ACC up to
$100,000.
More than 12,000 people have lodged "sensitive claims" for sexual
abuse in the past two years in a flurry of claims that began after
publicity the Government was reintroducing lump-sum payments.
As many as 5744 of those claims accepted since 2002 might be considered
for lump-sum compensation worth up to $100,000, regardless of whether police
had investigated the alleged assaults.
In 2001, Christchurch law firm Wakefield
Associates sent out fliers about the then-planned law change. By February 2002
the number of claims had increased five-fold from an average of 100 a week
to 500.
The scheme came into effect with the introduction of the Injury Prevention
and Rehabilitation and Compensation Act on April 1, 2002.
No one has so far received the bulk payment, but five have cleared the
obstacles to be considered. And for thousands of others it might now just be
a matter of time.
The lump-sum payments are only considered once a claimant's condition has
stabilised when ACC has evidence that the injury will not improve in the
following 12 months, with or without treatment.
Claimants had to undergo counselling and treatment before they could be
assessed for lump-sum compensation. And the time is ticking down for other
claimants who refused treatment, who have a two-year wait before ACC will
assess their claims.
ACT NZ, which opposed the scheme at the time, said yesterday the increase in
claims and potential for lump-sum payouts should be a concern.
"While the majority of cases will undoubtedly be genuine, it's far too
easy for the small number of people who want to abuse the system, to do
so," ACT MP Muriel Newman said.
"It's an open-ended opportunity for people who want to gain rewards
through foul means."
ACC did not require claimants to name those who perpetrated the abuse and
this allowed offenders to walk free, Dr Newman said.
Compensation for sexual abuse should be the result of a criminal prosecution,
not administered by "bureaucrats and administrators" who might make
the wrong decisions.
It should not be the role of ACC, which was funded by employers, employees
and motorists, to compensate victims of crime, she said.
Any lump-sum compensation should be reparation from the perpetrators of the
crime, not from employers and employees, she said.
ACC spokesman Fraser Folster said the five applicants already seeking lump
sums had been deferred because the claimant's conditions had not stabilised
they are still in treatment, or their doctor has not yet certified the
stability or permanency of their conditions.
More than 1000 of the 6779 people who claimed since April 1, 2002, have had their claims
declined.
Prior to the announcement of the re-introduction of lump-sum payments the
number of claims had steadily been declining.
The lump-sum payouts are only available to people who suffered abuse after
April 1, 2002
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