Do you need to be represented at a review hearing?

The official statistics published by ACC demonstrate that only 25% of review applications succeed at review. See the ‘Reviews Performance Graph’.

The expectation that the average person can successfully represent himself or herself in the review process is NOT borne out by the official statistics. The reason that there is such a low success rate is that there is a huge difference in being personally involved in your arguments with ACC and knowing the legal basis by which an ACC decision can be challenged.

Having access to the appropriate case law and the further legal arguments that relate to any given issue is factually beyond the resources of most person's who challenge an adverse ACC decision.

Additionally ACC approach the review process in a manner designed to disadvantage the insured person’s right to a fair procedure being carried out. More often than not ACC do not disclose all of the relevant documents to a review hearing and without the specialised expertise to identify the failure to discover the appropriate documents an appellant is handicapped from the outset.

What can only be described as an outrage to the principle of administrative fairness ACC does not provide a copy of their submissions that are intended to be put to the review hearing until after the submissions for the person appealing the ACC decision have been presented at the review. In other judicial forums such as the Social Security Appeal Authority the legislation actually requires the Ministry of Social Development to support its original decision by presenting their submissions directly to the appellant BEFORE the hearing date.

By ACC not making available their legislative reasoning to support their decision making process until halfway through the review hearing the person appealing the decision is placed at a distinct disadvantage.

The future cost of losing ongoing ACC entitlements generally far outweighs the immediate cost of being represented at a review hearing, which should increase your chance of success. Additionally it pays to make sure that you are represented by the best advocate or legal counsel available.