ACC, Body Corp Public Liability and Driveway Injury Claims — What's Covered When Someone Slips on Failed Asphalt
Updated: May 31
Auckland body corp managers and property owners face an underappreciated liability exposure with deteriorating driveways and carparks. NZ's ACC scheme covers the medical cost of slip-trip injuries to visitors, but doesn't pay damages — and that's where body corp public liability insurance steps in. A failed asphalt surface that contributes to a tenant or visitor injury can trigger claims under the body corp's public liability policy, against the owners' insurance, and in some cases against the contractor who last touched the surface. Knowing where the cover sits and what the insurer expects of the asset owner matters more than most committees realise.
Here's a practical overview — not legal advice, but the framework most Auckland body corps and property owners should understand.
How ACC interacts with asphalt-related injuries
If a visitor or tenant slips, trips, or is injured on a deteriorated driveway or carpark in New Zealand, ACC covers their medical treatment, rehabilitation, and (subject to thresholds) earnings-related compensation. The injured person doesn't sue the property owner for medical costs — ACC handles those.
What ACC does not cover: damages for pain and suffering, property damage to vehicles, business interruption, or other consequential loss. Those remain available to the injured person to pursue against whoever is legally responsible — typically the owner of the property, the body corp if the affected zone is common property, or in some cases the contractor whose work or inaction contributed.
So the body corp or property owner's exposure isn't medical costs (ACC absorbs those) but the broader damages and reputational fallout of an injury claim. Public liability insurance typically responds to this.
Public liability cover and asphalt failure
Standard body corp public liability cover responds to third-party claims arising from the body corp's negligence as occupier of the common property. "Negligence" generally requires the body corp to have known or should have known about the hazard and not taken reasonable steps to address it.
A pothole that appeared overnight and was reported promptly to a contractor: typically falls inside the reasonable-care standard. The body corp can demonstrate awareness and action.
A pothole that's been there for six months with photos in the AGM minutes describing it as a known issue, and no contractor engaged: harder to defend as reasonable care. Insurer may pay the claim but with questions; renewal premium often increases.
Practical implication: documented maintenance is the insurance defence. A body corp that has a documented annual driveway inspection, records minor maintenance work as it's done, and has photos of repairs completed is in a materially stronger position than one with no records of attention to the surface.
The contractor's liability
Contractors who do asphalt work also carry public liability (we do — $10m policy through standard contractor cover). This covers issues arising from the work itself — a defective repair that contributes to a later injury, materials that cause an injury, the conduct of the crew during the work.
It does not cover the underlying asphalt failure that existed before the contractor was engaged. If a tenant tripped on a pothole the body corp knew about and the body corp engaged us a week later to repair it, the contractor's policy doesn't respond to the tenant's claim — it responds to the body corp's claim if our repair work was defective.
What the insurer expects of the body corp or owner
Reasonable steps in proportion to the risk. For driveways and carparks, this typically means:
Annual inspection of the surface, documented with photos. Most body corp managers do this informally; doing it formally — with a one-page record kept on file — is the insurance-defensible standard.
Prompt response to reported defects. Once a tenant or owner has reported a hazard in writing, the clock starts. Days to weeks is reasonable; months is not.
Use of qualified contractors with appropriate insurance. The body corp shouldn't engage uninsured or unverified contractors for asphalt repair. Documentation of the contractor's insurance and qualifications is part of the file.
Following contractor recommendations within reasonable timeframes. If a contractor flags a hazard during one job that needs further work later, the body corp can't sit on the recommendation indefinitely without losing some of the insurance defence.
Practical scenarios that have come up
Resident trips on raised asphalt edge near letterboxes, breaks wrist, ACC covers medical and rehab. Resident's solicitor writes to body corp seeking damages for pain and loss of income above ACC threshold. Body corp's public liability responds; case settles within insured limits. Outcome: claim paid, defensible renewal.
Delivery driver damages vehicle on pothole on body corp common driveway, claims vehicle repair from body corp. Body corp's public liability has a vehicle damage exclusion; claim pursued instead through driver's own insurer, then potentially via subrogation against the body corp. Outcome variable based on how the body corp documented its awareness of the pothole.
Visitor slips on freshly sealcoated surface that was wet, claims for injury. Public liability responds; contractor's liability also engaged because the sealcoating contractor allegedly didn't display adequate wet-surface signage. Outcome: shared resolution between body corp and contractor's insurers.
Body corp specific: the AGM driveway agenda item
Most body corps benefit from a standing driveway/carpark agenda item at the AGM each year. Minimum content: visual condition report (often supplied by us or another contractor based on a brief inspection), any defects identified, recommended actions, budget allocation.
This 10-minute agenda item creates the documented decision trail the insurer will look at if a claim arises. Cheaper than the insurance excess on most claims, and it changes the body corp's defensive position materially.
How we support the documentation
When we quote work for a body corp, we routinely include the photographic evidence pack, scope of works, materials specification, and contractor insurance details in the quote document. After completion, we provide a brief work record suitable for the committee file.
Body corp managers building the insurance file get this documentation automatically as part of working with us. If you're with a different contractor, ask for the same documentation explicitly — it should be standard practice.
How to start
For body corp managers and property owners thinking about driveway risk in insurance terms — send photos and address to fix@rapidpatch.co.nz or via the quote form. Quote includes the evidence pack suitable for your insurance file. Annual condition reports available as a separate service if you want documentation without committing to immediate work.
NZ ACC handles asphalt-related injury medical costs but body corps and property owners still carry exposure to damages claims. Public liability cover responds — but only where reasonable care can be demonstrated. Documented annual inspection plus prompt response to reported defects plus qualified contractors is the insurance defence.
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