ACC data released to the Otago Daily Times under the Official Information Act shows the cost of road-related injuries last year in Otago was $18.7 million.
The figure has ballooned 62%, from $11.5 million in 2013.
Over that decade the total number of active claims has increased by 12% to 2232 in 2022.
A similar trend can be seen in Southland and nationally.
In Southland, while injuries increased 13% over the decade to 1029 active claims in 2022, the cost of those active claims more than doubled, from $6.9 million to $14.9 million in 2022.
Nationally, the number of active claims increased by 52 claims, to 48,596, but the cost of those claims rose from $355.5 million to $607.7 million over the same period.
While the cost of claims has risen steadily in all three areas, the number of new claims peaked in 2017 for Otago with 1923 claims, 2019 for Southland with 831 claims and nationally in 2018 with 38,768 claims.
The number of active claims for all three areas peaked in 2019.
Across all years and areas of the country, passenger cars were by far the most common type of road vehicle involved in the claims..
All terrain vehicles were the least common.
The number of claims made by pedestrians rose moderately over the decade, by 16% to 3564.
New claims related to truck occupants increased sharply over the decade by 136% to 1139 in 2022.
The corresponding costs also increased, from $12.2 million in 2013 to $24.8 million in 2022.
The cumulative cost of each year’s active costs across New Zealand over the decade was $4.8 billion.
In Otago, it was $160 million and in Southland it was $104 million.
It was followed by soft tissue injuries, which cost $144 million, spread across 24,069 active claims.
There were also 290 amputations of various types, which cost $9.6 million.
ACC deputy chief strategy, engagement and planning Andy Milne said an active claim was one where a payment was made against it in the year shown, regardless of the year in which the claim was lodged.
Some claims had ongoing costs, so in any given year it was likely ACC would be paying costs on claims lodged in previous years.
"That means, for example, that the amount we have paid out in 2017 will include some payments relating to injuries suffered in 2016 or earlier, as well as those suffered in that year."
It was likely that the increase in active claims costs over the decade was based on a number of factors such as the severity of injury, cost of treatment, available treatment options, social rehabilitation requirements and recovery time.
However, to answering with certainty would require a manual review of each claim file in the data set, Mr Milne said.
