27 years on ACC but family say Bay woman's faking it | Bay of Plenty News | Local News in Bay of Plenty

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The family of a Papamoa woman who has received hundred of thousands of dollars in ACC payments over almost three decades say she is faking it.

They claim that the 47-year-old woman fell off a scooter in mid-1982, hurt her shoulder and broke a tooth.

They said she later had a minor operation which she claimed made her shoulder worse and which the family thinks is the basis of her claim.

However, they said she is quite capable of working and has found a way to milk the system.

At the time of the fall, the woman had been on a work scheme with the Labour Department for three days - after the accident, she never went back. The woman's family said over the past 27 years, she had resisted every attempt to get her back working while, at the same time, claiming hundreds of thousands of dollars.

This had included two lump sum payments - at least one of which was for money she supposedly missed out on due to loss of earnings. She also received a back payment after winning her case against ACC to increase her payment almost five-fold.

They said the woman was for a long time on a small payment of less than $100, but after winning her case she got all that backpaid and her weekly payment increased to around $500.

The family understand the total amount of lump sum payouts to be  $75,000, which allowed her to buy the house she currently lives in.

Her family said that prior to the accident she had started working as a trainee  nurse  and was on the job for approximately nine months but never qualified.

She resigned from that job to take up a job at a hospital  but was interviewed and did not get the role. However, they say she is claiming 75-80 per cent of a nurse's income despite never having qualified as one and the fact that she actually left her position as a trainee nurse well before the fall from the scooter.

The family is angry with what she has been allowed to get away with all these years as they feel she is more than capable of working but is managing to get around the system.

They say she openly boasts about beating the system and continues to stay on ACC.

They claim the woman also works as an advocate for injured people and helps them with their claims, and goes into meetings with the claimant to battle against ACC. The family said this was effectively ACC paying her to fight them and made no sense.

Family members said the woman could be threatening and violent and asked not to be named as she had threatened violence in the past. However, they said they could not do nothing as they were ashamed of her actions.

Several family members approached the Bay of Plenty Times following a recent article highlighting total ACC payments in the region, including one claimant who had been on the scheme for more than 30 years and had received close to $1.2 million.

The woman's family said  her intimidating attitude is the reason why her doctor has continued to allow her to stay on ACC although they claimed he was  not happy about her being allowed to do this.

They are also concerned and frustrated that despite having approached ACC on a number of occasions to report the matter, nothing has been done and they are not  willing to discuss the case at all.

The family highlight numerous examples of the woman being able to work.

This includes her driving a large motorbike, regularly walking two large dogs and her being seen on a number of occasions carrying heavy objects including boxes, a dresser and children.

They said she had also worked as a live-in caregiver in England and had also worked in New Zealand at a second-hand clothing shop as a relief worker. She had also worked on a boat as a labourer and did tasks including sanding, painting and cleaning.

The family said she also worked as a receptionist for an escort agency doing the night shift. For all the work, she was paid under the table.

They said all this information had been passed on to  ACC and can't understand why nothing has been done.

They say they can only assume ACC has never done anything because whenever they follow up with ACC, the agency acts as if this is the first time they have heard about the case. At the same time they refuse to discuss her case and quote privacy issues.

The Bay of Plenty Times came up against a similar response when the newspaper approached ACC.

ACC spokesman David Balham said in terms of privacy requirements, ACC did not make the laws but was obliged to adhere to them and did so conscientiously.

"The Privacy Act is quite clear that we cannot discuss any aspect of a client's case, or even confirm that they have an ACC claim, without their express permission in writing," Mr Balham said.

"I can assure you that ACC treats fraud very seriously indeed and we look into every lead we receive. Our goal is to ensure that every single dollar goes to help injured people and not fraudsters."

He said only a year or so ago, ACC ran an anti-fraud campaign in the Bay of Plenty region. "I think the reasons for us not discussing individual fraud cases, or even confirming they are happening, are pretty clear.

"First, public discussion of an active case could jeopardise the outcome and second, people are assumed innocent until proven guilty."