ACC and income protection: where ACC stops
ACC covers personal injury caused by accident. It does not cover illness. That single line is the whole reason income protection exists as a product in New Zealand: a heart attack, a cancer diagnosis or a stroke unconnected to an accident sits outside ACC entirely.
Checked against its sources on 2026-09-16
Written by Life Insurance NZ. No personal byline: the organisation is the author.What ACC says it covers
“We cover personal injuries caused by accidents, including mental injuries linked to those events. We are unable to provide support for conditions that are not injury related, such as general illness or age-related health concerns.”
— ACC, “Injuries we don't cover”, last published 13 August 2025
The same page lists what is not covered, including illness, sickness or contagious diseases; conditions related to ageing; and injuries that happen over time, unless an activity at work is causing it.
What ACC pays
“You may get up to 80% of the income you earned before your injury, before tax and deductions.”
— ACC, “Calculating weekly compensation for employees”
When it starts
“If you qualify, you usually became eligible for weekly compensation on day 8 after your injury. If this isn't your first time off work for the same injury, or it's for approved surgery, payment may be available straight away.”
— ACC, “Weekly compensation”
And for a work injury, the first week is the employer's:
“If you're an employee or shareholder-employee and your injury happened at work, your employer must pay you 80% of your usual pay, for the first week.”
— ACC, “Weekly compensation for employees”
The shape of the gap
| Situation | ACC | Income protection |
|---|---|---|
| Injured in a car accident | Personal injury caused by accident | May respond, subject to the policy and to offsets |
| Diagnosed with cancer | Not injury related | May respond, subject to the policy |
| Heart attack, unconnected to an accident | Not injury related | May respond, subject to the policy |
| A condition related to ageing | Listed by ACC as not covered | Depends on the policy |
| Made redundant | Not an injury | Not the trigger — income protection responds to illness or injury |
The second column is quoting ACC. The third says “may” every time on purpose: whether a particular policy responds depends on its definition of disability, its waiting period, its benefit period and its offset clauses, and we have not read your policy.
Offsets: why ACC shows up in an insurance policy
Income protection policies commonly offset the benefit against other income received while on claim, and ACC weekly compensation is other income. That is why the two are discussed together, and why paying for a benefit larger than a policy will actually pay is a real risk worth asking an adviser about.
Questions
Does ACC cover illness at all?
ACC's own page says it is unable to provide support for conditions that are not injury related, such as general illness or age-related health concerns. There are nuances around mental injuries linked to covered accidents and around work-related gradual process claims; ACC is the place to ask about your own situation.
Does ACC pay from the day I am injured?
ACC says you usually became eligible for weekly compensation on day 8 after your injury, and that payment may be available straight away if it is not your first time off work for the same injury or it is for approved surgery. For a work injury the employer must pay 80% of usual pay for the first week.
If I am self-employed, is it different?
The arrangements for self-employed people and shareholder-employees differ from those for salaried employees, and ACC has separate pages for them. We have not restated those here because we would rather send you to ACC than paraphrase them.
Sources
- ACC, Injuries we don't cover
- ACC, Calculating weekly compensation for employees
- ACC, Weekly compensation
- ACC, Weekly compensation for employees
Read on 2026-09-16. If a source and this page disagree, the source is right.
Related
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