Source: Radio New Zealand
The Minister moved a motion of urgency to introduce the bill. VNP / Phil Smith
The government has introduced legislation so the welfare system can legally claw back payments when someone has been backpaid for an ACC claim.
Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston moved a motion of urgency to introduce the Social Security (Accident Compensation and Calculation of Weekly Income) Amendment Bill shortly after 7.30pm.
It comes after a significant High Court ruling against the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) on the recovery of welfare payments late last year.
The ruling said MSD couldn’t require people to pay back supplementary assistance they’d received (like accommodation supplements and winter energy payments) once they had been paid back-dated compensation from Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC).
For context, many people claim support from MSD while they wait on cover from ACC and once ACC grants cover, it then pays the person backpay for weekly compensation.
In the meantime, the person may have received support from MSD while they were waiting on cover from ACC.
In these situations, ACC automatically reimburses MSD for the main benefit and up until now, MSD was also requiring people to repay any supplementary assistance payments received during the backpay period.
At the High Court Justice Grice held that while the law allowed ACC to reimburse MSD for the main benefit, it did not extend to supplementary forms of assistance designed to meet essential costs.
Speaking at the bill’s first reading this evening, Upston said the legislation clarified the law on the impact of ACC payments on welfare entitlements, given the High Court decision conflicted with “long standing policy intent and operational practice”.
She said there were two main main cohorts of ACC compensation recipients in the welfare system: people who receive ACC and welfare assistance at the same time and people who receive welfare assistance while they wait for ACC to decide on their entitlement
“Under the current situation, as interpreted by the courts, the latter group, who receive lump sum payments, are treated more generously than the former.
“They are in effect receiving two forms of income support to address one need. This also means these clients can remain eligible for assistance which only beneficiaries receive, such as the Winter Energy Payment.
“This would not result in fair treatment between these groups and isn’t in line with the policy intent.
“The government has a duty to fix this situation and clarify the law, so it aligns with the longstanding intent of policy,” Upston said.
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
