accidental death cover

well, you learn something new every day. today i learnt about ACC's accidental death cover. i knew that ACC provided cover for medical expenses and in some cases weekly compensation for loss of income to the injured person. but i did not know that they provided money to the spouse and children of persons who died from accidental death.

the definition of accidental death includes murder, suicide, and death resulting from an injury as a result of medical treatment. in these cases, the spouse and children are entitled to:

• a funeral grant (currently sitting at just over $5,000)
• survivor’s grants for surviving spouses (lump sum of a few thousand), children and other dependants (can't remember the exact amounts here)
• lost earnings compensation for surviving spouses, children and other dependants (weekly compensation based on the past year's earnings, if the person had ACC workplace cover at the time of death)
• childcare for the deceased’s children (a weekly amount of over $100 per week for the first child, up until the child is 18).

some of this cover is available if the death occurs overseas, as long as you are still a nz resident or working for a nz company and paying tax in nz.

i guess this stuff seemed more relevant to me because someone i know of committed suicide last week, leaving behind dependants. apparently this stuff about accidental death cover is not widely known, and some people may be missing out on the support they need. so i thought i'd do my little bit to publicise it.