Monday 19th of April 1999

State Insurance, New Zealand's largest fire and general insurer, has formed a strategic partnership with State-Owned Enterprise @Work to offer workplace accident insurance.
State managing director John Pritchard says @Work's product range will be available throughout State's nationwide network and it will increase the range of insurance services available to its customers.
@Work's chief executive Sam Knowles says, "@Work aims to offer State's customers accident insurance products that are competitively priced and efficiently delivered."
Meanwhile, Labour MP Graham Kelly is urging companies to use @Work as their accident insurance provider.
He says if Labour becomes the Government after the general election it will unwind the private workplace insurance scheme which begins on July 1.
"For this reason we would suggest that you give serious consideration to enlisting with the new Government work place accident insurer, @Work," he says in an open letter to employers.
"The more employers who opt for this course of action, the smoother the transition back to a full public scheme will be."
He says Labour is not defending the status quo, and the party acknowledges there are problems with the existing scheme.
"ACC can be rebuilt in the way in which it was originally envisaged to work. That is our intention and we will endeavour to make the transition for the current shambles to an improved system as smooth as possible," he says.
Kelly says the transitional arrangements from the ACC scheme to the new scheme are expensive and lacking in choice.