ACC

There are two options for ACC, one can work better for the self employed than the other. There is the Cover Plus, which is great for employees and is the standard default. It pays up to 80% of the taxable income until you are fit to do a job. This doesn’t work so well if your taxable income is considerably less than what your effort earns your business. So there is Cover Plus Extra, this amount you can set between the maximum (with good reason) and the minimum. When on claim there is no need to prove your income, there is no question as to how much you will get either as it has already been agreed.

ACC should be looked at as insurance, as that what it is, so before making changes it is essential to speak to an adviser that understands ACC and how it interacts with your personal insurance.

If you wish to reduce your benefit to save money it is important to look at replacing this with personal insurance. If that is the case you will want to consider “offsetting” to maximise any amount at claim time.

ACC also provide a death benefit and that can be substantial and absolutely must be considered.

Remember that ACC will allow a claim in the event of an accident, income protection and similar will allow a claim in the event of accident or illness and the chances of being absent from work long term for illness are far greater than through injury.

So although it may be tempting to reduce your ACC bill and replace it with a better private insurance it is essential to take all things into consideration as a short term financial gain could result in a serious issue later on.