Sexual assault survivor says ACC's complex compensation process made him 'want to give up so many times'

Victims say gaining compensation from ACC is a complex and lengthy progress.

Victims of sexual assault and abuse say gaining compensation is a complex and lengthy process.

ACC is the only Government body which provides financial aid specifically for those suffering mental trauma as a result of abuse.

On average it takes a person nine months for the Government body to accept a claim of this nature, referred to as "sensitive claims".

For some, however, it can take more than a year.

1 NEWS has spoken to a survivor, who did not wish to be named, who said it took 14 months before their weekly compensation claim was accepted.

The person said they were sexually abused from a young age for six years.

The mental trauma he suffered prevents him from working. He was last employed in March 2019 but started to struggle while both at work and at home.

The process for having his financial aid claim accepted involved four different assessments, which also meant speaking about his experiences to a number of different health professionals.

“You get reduced to pieces of papers. You just keep thinking ‘I have to do this yet again’, when it’s all exactly the same pieces of paper. I don’t know why I need four different pieces of paper which all say the same thing, for ACC to make a decision,” he said.

The man told 1 NEWS he found the experience traumatising.

“I wanted to give up so many times. The only thing that kept me going was the support that I got from my family. If I had the option to do it again, I wouldn’t bother.”

ACC chief customer officer, Emma Powell, said it was distressing to hear someone felt that way about the sensitive claim process but explained why it takes so long.

“Mental injuries are typically thought of as a complex claim and not everybody wants to be assessed straight away. People need to be made safe, they may want to go through some initial support because they want to know they trust the person they are dealing with," Powell said.

“We need to understand how these events have sought to cause the clinical presentation that the person may have. [The process] is actually about trying to make sure the person has all the supports afforded to them and that we are making the best decision in terms of their treatment pathway.”

Powell acknowledged the time frame might be hard for some but said the system was designed with both survivors of sexual assault and therapists.

“People don’t have to wait a particular time period before they can move on to the next stage. It’s very much meant to be in the control of the survivor, but also in partnership with the provider [of the mental health support]. It’s often in the control of the provider about when and how they can coordinate assessments,” she said.

From September 2019 to October 2020, ACC spent $20 million on assessing sensitive claimants.

Of the nearly 6000 Kiwis who applied for financial cover, 4600 were accepted.

One thousand were declined, but ACC said a large portion of that number was due to people withdrawing from the process as they had already got the support they needed.

The survivor 1 NEWS spoke to believes people withdraw because the process takes too long.

He said there need to be a more streamlined approach, with mental health specialists leading the charge.

“I completely understand working at the pace of survivors, but if a survivor wants to move quicker, they should allow things like that to happen. This is not the best way. It’s very long and it’s very tiring.”

His claim has now been accepted and he said that means he can now focus on his recovery.

“It’s a huge relief. I can now finally focus on moving forward and focusing on myself. Rather than focusing on worrying about how I’ll pay my bills.”

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