Snowsports ACC claims show huge rise in costs

SKIING and snowboarding injuries in Otago cost $14 million last year — a 145% increase from a decade ago.

Data from the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC), released under the Official Information Act, showed in 2012, there were 6788 active claims across Otago, which cost $5.8 million.

A decade later, as of the end of November, there were 9061 active claims which cost $14.3 million.

Nationally, active yearly costs for skiing and snowboarding injuries increased from $18.9 million to $31.1 million over the 10year period.

More new claims were approved for skiing compared with snowboarding, with about 4500 skiing injuries in Otago last year, compared with about 3300 for snowboarding.

Between 2012 and 2022, the percentage of new snowboarding claims as a percentage of the total new claims in Otago has remained steady at 42%.

Nationally, the most common primary injury across the decade from both skiing and snowboarding was soft tissue injuries (113,966), followed by fractures or dislocation (19,171) and concussions (5478).

The least common injuries were lacerations, punctures and stings (3942) and dental injuries (1107).

The total cost of injuries from Otago across the decade was $100.2 million, which was 35% of the national total of $282.3 million.

The most common skiing claim across the decade was for knee injuries (24,594), which was the fourth most common for snowboarding (6798).

The most common claim for snowboarding was shoulder injuries (9981), which was the second most common injury type for skiing (11,184).

The age group who made the most claims was those aged between 20 and 24 (21,409), followed closely by those aged between 25 and 30 (20,717).

Those aged under 9 made up about 4700 claims, while those aged between 60 and 64 had the least, with about 3800 claims.

About 4000 skiers aged over 65 sustained injuries, compared to just 171 snowboarders in the same age bracket.

Male skiers were the most likely to end up with an ACCapproved injury (45,488) followed by female skiers (42,521), male snowboarders (38,977) and finally female snowboarders (21,267).

The ACC declined to provide a figure for the single most costly injury, citing patient privacy. All injury data was based on where the accident took place.