Summer injuries for the past five years have cost the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) $3.4 billion, it has been revealed.
And those costs are rising by about $50 million each summer, NZ Herald reports. Over the last five summers, sprains and broken bones were the most common types of injuries suffered by ACC claimants.
A total of 122,475 people reportedly suffered injuries from falls in summer 2017, costing more than $100 million. Last summer, there were 525 reported cases of people injuring themselves around the barbie, with claim costs totalling $482,219. Insect bites and sting related claims hit nearly $1 million, while sunburn cases totalled $6,706 in treatment costs. Additionally, ACC received almost 4,000 injuries around beaches, rivers and lakes last summer at a cost of more than $2 million.
“During the summer holidays people tend to relax and change their regular routines and - while some might say that’s how accidents happen - the truth is that most injuries are preventable,” ACC head of injury prevention Isaac Carlson told the publication.
