# AI tells someone injured by accident in New Zealand that they can sue the at-fault party for compensatory damages

- **ID:** `legal/acc-bars-personal-injury-lawsuit`
- **Domain:** legal
- **Category:** legal_prohibition
- **Verification:** ai_generated
- **Fix Rate:** 85%

## Root Cause

The Accident Compensation Act 2001 replaced the right to sue for personal-injury compensatory damages with a no-fault Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) scheme. Anyone injured by accident in New Zealand, including tourists and other visitors, has forgone the right to sue in a New Zealand court for compensatory damages; ACC funds treatment and rehabilitation instead, and that support largely ends once a visitor leaves the country.

## Version Compatibility

| Version | Status | Introduced | Deprecated |
|---------|--------|------------|------------|
| any | active | — | — |

## Workarounds

1. **File an ACC claim through a treatment provider instead of pursuing a lawsuit, and rely on travel insurance for costs ACC does not cover** (85% success)
   ```
   Report the injury to a treatment provider (doctor, hospital, physiotherapist), who lodges the ACC claim; ACC then funds eligible treatment and rehabilitation in New Zealand on a no-fault basis. Buy travel insurance before the trip to cover what ACC does not, such as international medical evacuation, treatment after leaving New Zealand, or lost income.
   ```

## Dead Ends

- **Advise someone injured in New Zealand to hire a lawyer and sue the at-fault driver, business, or person for compensatory personal-injury damages, as would be normal in their home country** — In exchange for no-fault ACC cover, everyone in New Zealand, residents and visitors alike, has given up the right to sue for compensatory personal-injury damages; New Zealand courts will not hear such a claim. Only narrow exemplary damages remain available in limited cases. This catches visitors from countries where a personal-injury lawsuit is the normal route to compensation. (85% fail)
- **Assume ACC support for an injured visitor continues after they leave New Zealand, covering ongoing treatment or lost income back home** — ACC support for international visitors effectively ends when they leave New Zealand. ACC does not fund the trip home or ongoing overseas treatment, beyond a limited amount of telehealth continuity considered case-by-case during discharge planning. Visitors must rely on their own travel insurance for costs incurred after departure. (70% fail)