Rising ACC Treatment Injury Rejections: What Is Really Going On?

A front-page article in The Post reports that ACC is declining treatment injury claims at record levels, with around 26% of claims rejected over the past three years and nearly 29% declined last year. Compared with just 1% for"non-complicated" claims.

ACC says claims are assessed individually. That may be so. However, these figures raise important questions about how treatment injury claims are being interpreted and decided.

One omission from the reporting is vaccine-related injury claims.

Since the COVID-19 vaccination programme began, I have observed a substantial increase in people contacting me for assistance with ACC claims following serious health events they believe were caused by vaccination. These have included neurological conditions, heart problems, strokes, debilitating fatigue, and other significant impairments.

Not every claim will meet the legal threshold for cover. Causation must be established on the balance of probabilities, and timing alone does not prove cause and effect. Nevertheless, my experience is that the overwhelming majority of these claims have been declined, often on grounds that appear open to reasonable challenge.

This reflects a broader concern I have written about previously. ACC was founded on the Woodhouse vision of rehabilitation, fairness, and support for injured New Zealanders. Yet many claimants today encounter a system where the debate increasingly centres on causation, diagnostic labels, and competing medical opinions rather than rehabilitation.

How a condition is described can influence whether it is viewed as a treatment injury, a pre-existing condition, natural disease progression, or something else entirely. As I have discussed before, terminology can significantly affect claim outcomes.

Equally concerning is the lack of transparency. The public is told that treatment injury claims are being declined in growing numbers, but we are not shown which categories of claims are most affected. Are the increases coming from surgical injuries, medication injuries, delayed diagnosis cases, vaccine-related claims, or all of the above? Without that information, it is difficult to understand what is driving the trend.

The issue is not whether every claim should be accepted. The issue is whether claimants are receiving a fair, transparent, and independent assessment consistent with the principles upon which the ACC was established.

Behind every statistic is a person whose health, livelihood, and future may have been permanently altered. That is why these figures deserve scrutiny — not only from the ACC, but from the public it serves.

More reading:

• https://www.garymoller.com/post/understanding-the-perfect-storm

• https://www.garymoller.com/post/the-evolution-and-decline-of-new-zealand-s-accident-compensation-corporation-acc

• https://www.garymoller.com/post/acc-s-independent-review-who-really-runs-the-show

• https://www.garymoller.com/post/acc-vaccine-injury-costs-where-the-money-really-goes-and-how-to-fix-it

• https://www.garymoller.com/post/medical-conditions-linked-to-pfizer-s-covid-19-vaccine

• https://www.garymoller.com/post/the-power-of-words-in-medical-diagnosis-and-acc-claims

• https://www.garymoller.com/post/the-distortion-of-vaccine-safety-data

• https://nzdsos.com/2026/05/27/how-many-children-and-young-people-are-we-prepared-to-sacrifice/

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Medical Disclaimer

The information provided in this article is for general educational and informational purposes only. It is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any medical condition and should not be relied upon as medical advice.

Any discussion of medical conditions, treatments, vaccines, injuries, or ACC claims reflects general information, personal observations, and opinion unless otherwise stated. Individual circumstances vary, and causation in medical and treatment injury cases can be complex.

Readers should seek advice from appropriately qualified health professionals regarding their own medical circumstances and obtain independent legal or ACC-specific advice where required. Nothing in this article should be interpreted as a determination that any particular treatment, vaccine, or medical intervention caused an individual's injury.

The author accepts no responsibility for decisions made solely on the basis of information contained in this article.