Accident Compensation Act 2001

Cover - Relevant dates of injury

38: Date on which person is to be regarded as suffering treatment injury

You could also call this:

"When your injury from medical care is officially recognised"

If you suffer an injury because of medical treatment, the date of your injury is considered to be the day you first ask for or get help for the symptoms of that injury. This is true even if you didn't know at the time that your symptoms were caused by earlier treatment.

When we talk about 'treatment' in this law, we mean the kind of treatment that you're allowed to get under this law or an older version of it.

There's a special rule about getting a one-time payment for treatment injuries. You can find this rule in clause 55(3) of Schedule 1 of this law.

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This page was last updated on 8 April 2025

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM100956.

Topics:

Health and wellbeing > Healthcare servicesMoney and consumer rights > Consumer protection

37: Date on which person is to be regarded as suffering personal injury caused by work-related gradual process, disease, or infection, or

"When the law says you got hurt at work over time"

39: Meaning of Corporation, or

"What 'Corporation' means in some parts of the ACC law"

Part 2Cover
Relevant dates of injury

38Date on which person is to be regarded as suffering treatment injury

The date on which a person suffers a treatment injury is the date on which the person first seeks or receives treatment for the symptoms of that personal injury.
Subsection (1) applies even if it was not known, at the time the treatment was first sought or received for the symptoms, that previous treatment was the cause of the symptoms.
In subsection (1), treatment (where that term appears for the second time) means treatment of a type that the person is entitled to under this Act or a former Act.
This section is subject to clause 55(3) of Schedule 1 (which relates to the entitlement to lump sum compensation for treatment injuries in the circumstances described in that provision).

Notes

Section 38: substituted, on 1 July 2005, by section 14 of the Injury Prevention, Rehabilitation, and Compensation Amendment Act (No 2) 2005 (2005 No 45).