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Trade Insurance & ACC
ACC Cover Plus Extra: Tailored Accident Protection for Business Owners
In New Zealand, if you are self-employed or a non-PAYE shareholder-employee, you are automatically covered by ACC Cover Plus. However, the standard "one-size-fits-all" model doesn't always work for business owners with fluctuating incomes or complex structures.
ACC Cover Plus Extra (CPX) is an optional, flexible alternative that gives you more control and certainty over what happens if an accident prevents you from working.
The Key Advantages of CPX
- Agreed Value Payouts: You and ACC agree on a set level of cover in advance. If you’re injured and can’t work, you receive 100% of that agreed amount (less tax), regardless of what your business earned in the previous year.
- No Proof of Loss Required: Under standard cover, you must prove a loss of income before receiving a payout. With CPX, because your cover is pre-agreed, there is no need to provide financial records or prove income loss at claim time.
- Support for Gradual Return to Work: Standard ACC reduces your payments as soon as you start working, even for a few hours. CPX can continue to pay the full agreed amount while you are working part-time, helping you transition back to full health without a financial penalty.
- Flexible Levy Classifications: If you have multiple roles in your business (e.g., an office-based director and an on-site builder), CPX allows for more precise job classifications, which can often reduce your annual levy costs.
How it Works with Your Private Insurance
CPX is most powerful when used alongside private Income Protection.
The Strategy: Many business owners choose a lower level of "Agreed" ACC cover to reduce their mandatory levies, then reinvest those savings into a private Income Protection policy. This creates a "best of both worlds" scenario:
- ACC covers you for accidents.
- Private Insurance covers you for illnesses (like cancer or heart disease), which ACC does not cover
Who Should Consider ACC Cover Plus Extra?
- New Business Owners: Those without a 12-month income history to prove earnings
- Fluctuating Earners: Real Estate Agents, Farmers, contractors, or seasonal workers whose income varies year-to-year
- Passive Income Earners: Owners whose business continues to generate profit while they are away(standard ACC may reduce payments in this scenario; CPX will not).
To help you choose the best option, here is aside-by-side comparison of the default Cover Plus and the optional Cover Plus Extra (CPX).
ACC Comparison: Which One Fits Your Business?
Many New Zealand business owners use Cover Plus Extra to optimisetheir insurance spend.
By selecting a lower agreed value on their ACC (e.g., covering just the essentials), they reduce their mandatory ACC levies. They then use those savings to fund a Private Income Protection policy.
Why do this?
- Total Coverage: ACC only covers accidents. Private insurance covers illness and mental health, which are statistically more likely to keep you off work
- Double Protection: You get the certainty of a guaranteed ACC payout for a trip or fall, plus the broad protection of private cover for everything else
More Trade Insurance Options
