18172 (2026). Ingrid Leary to the Minister for ACC

18172 (2026). Ingrid Leary to the Minister for ACC: How does Accident Compensation Corporation intend to respond to concerns about exposure, causation, and rider history, under the proposed changes to ACC motorcycle levies, if at all?

Hon Scott Simpson: The changes to the motorcycle levies are not proposals. They were consulted on as part of the 2024 levy consultation and approved by Cabinet. The changes are staged across the three-year levy period beginning 1 July 2025, with the next changes taking effect on 1 July 2026. I am advised that past and projected exposure is based on the licence data received from NZTA. For the 2024 consultation, this data was taken at 31 December 2023. The exposure is calculated per year of registered exposure. For example, one vehicle registered for a full year is one unit of exposure, while one vehicle registered for only a half is half a unit of exposure. Distance based levies are allowed for through the petrol portion of the levy. The petrol portion of the levy is relatively low for motorcycles due to their low petrol usage. There is no other reliable, and operationally efficient, way to levy motor vehicle users available at this time, and therefore a levy per registration is used. Note, this is not unique to motorcyclists; it is the same method used across all vehicles. In recognition of not making the registration levy unaffordable, ACC has priced in a cross subsidisation of the cost of claims attributed to motorcycles. At the 2024 consultation, this was set at 37% contribution from motorcyclists and 63% from other road users. This is based on the proportion of motorcycle claims which are identified in NZTA’s Crash Analysis System data as single-vehicle accidents where the rider’s actions contributed to the crash. I am advised there is no way to accurately or efficiently price and administer a discount for rider experience or history. Instead, ACC provides a discount of 25% for riders who have completed a Gold RideForever training course. This is in recognition of the lower claim frequency and lifetime costs observed for people who have completed the course.