The ACC gap, in plain numbers

Calculators

Compare what ACC covers in an accident with what your household actually needs each month. Then see the gap if illness stops your income.

Understanding the ACC gap in New Zealand

The ACC gap is the difference between what ACC pays a New Zealander who cannot work and what that household actually spends each month. ACC weekly compensation is set at 80% of liable earnings and capped at $2,466.20 a week for the 2026/27 year, and it is paid for injury. Illness sits outside the scheme, so a household that relies on ACC has no cover for the most common reasons people stop working.

What this calculator works out

This calculator produces two monthly shortfall figures from one set of inputs. The accident figure is your mortgage or rent plus essential expenses minus ACC weekly compensation converted to a monthly amount. The illness figure is the same monthly need with no ACC payment at all, because ACC in New Zealand covers injury rather than sickness, so the shortfall equals 100% of your committed costs.

The tool also reports how long your mortgage would hold with three months of payments in reserve, and what an income protection benefit set at 75% of gross income would contribute to closing the gap.

How to read your result

Treat the two shortfall numbers as a monthly cash deficit, not as an insurance quote. A $1,800 illness shortfall means your household would need to find $1,800 every month from savings, a partner's income or borrowing, starting in the first month you stop earning. The accident shortfall is usually smaller because ACC contributes, but it is rarely zero once a mortgage is in the calculation.

A shortfall of zero in the accident column means ACC alone would meet your listed commitments, it does not mean you have no exposure, because ACC stops when you can work again.
The illness column ignores employer sick leave, which for most New Zealand employees is a matter of weeks rather than months.
The calculator uses your committed costs only. Discretionary spending, KiwiSaver contributions and tax on any insurance benefit are not modelled.

ACC compared with income protection insurance

ACC and income protection solve different halves of the same problem. ACC is a statutory scheme that pays 80% of liable earnings after an injury, with no premium to choose and no medical underwriting. Income protection is a private policy, commonly written at up to 75% of gross income, that pays when illness or injury stops you working, subject to a waiting period, a benefit period and the policy's own definitions.

ACC pays only for personal injury. Cancer, heart disease, stroke, and mental health conditions generally fall outside it.
ACC compensation is capped: liable earnings above $156,641 a year are not counted in 2026/27, and the weekly payment stops at $2,466.20.
Income protection has a waiting period you choose. Nothing is paid during it, which is why the savings runway in your result matters.
Holding both is normal. The two are not alternatives, and an insurer will usually take ACC entitlement into account when setting an offset.

Mortgage protection in plain English

Mortgage protection is a narrower product than income protection: it targets the home-loan repayment rather than your whole income, so the benefit is sized to the mortgage instead of to a percentage of earnings. For a household whose entire shortfall is the mortgage line, that can be enough. Where essential living costs make up most of the gap in your result, a mortgage-only benefit leaves the rest uncovered.

The assumptions behind the numbers

Every figure this calculator produces comes from published 2026/27 New Zealand rates plus the amounts you enter, there are no hidden multipliers. The specific assumptions are:

ACC weekly compensation is calculated at 80% of liable earnings, on earnings up to $156,641 a year, and is capped at $2,466.20 a week (2026/27 rates).
The ACC earners' levy is deducted at 1.75% of liable earnings when working out your current take-home pay.
PAYE is applied on the New Zealand brackets of 10.5% to $15,600, 17.5% to $53,500, 30% to $78,100, 33% to $180,000 and 39% above that.
The illness scenario assumes no ACC entitlement whatsoever, which is why the illness shortfall equals your full monthly commitment.
The indicative income protection benefit is 75% of gross income, capped at $300,000 of annual benefit.
The mortgage-stress figure assumes three months of mortgage payments held in reserve and no other savings.
No inflation, investment return, employer sick leave, Work and Income support or tax on insurance benefits is modelled.

Common questions

What is the ACC gap?: The ACC gap is the shortfall between ACC weekly compensation and a household's actual monthly commitments. ACC pays 80% of liable earnings after an injury, so a household with a mortgage typically still faces a monthly deficit, and if the cause is illness rather than injury, ACC pays nothing at all and the gap becomes the full monthly cost.
Does ACC cover illness in New Zealand?: ACC covers personal injury, including accidents at work and outside it, and a small number of treatment injuries and work-related gradual process conditions. Ordinary illness is not covered. Someone diagnosed with cancer or recovering from a stroke is not entitled to ACC weekly compensation, which is the single biggest misunderstanding this calculator exists to correct.
How much does ACC pay each week?: ACC weekly compensation is 80% of your liable earnings, calculated on earnings up to $156,641 a year for the 2026/27 year and capped at $2,466.20 a week. Higher earners therefore lose a larger proportion of their income, because the cap bites before the percentage does.
How is mortgage protection different from income protection?: Mortgage protection sizes the benefit to the home-loan repayment, while income protection sizes it to a percentage of your earnings, commonly up to 75% of gross income. Mortgage protection is usually cheaper and simpler, but it only addresses the mortgage line of your result, food, power, insurance and childcare remain your problem.
How accurate is this calculator?: The ACC and tax arithmetic uses published 2026/27 New Zealand rates and is accurate for a straightforward salary. The insurance side is indicative only: real premiums and benefit levels depend on age, occupation, health, waiting period and benefit period, and every insurer underwrites differently. Use the result to size the problem, then get advice on the product.

Sources

ACC, Calculating weekly compensation for employees: “ACC usually pays up to 80% of the income you earned before your injury”, before tax and deductions (retrieved 18 August 2026).
ACC, Calculating your levies: maximum liable income $152,790 for the year starting 1 April 2025, and $156,641 for the year starting 1 April 2026 (retrieved 18 August 2026).
ACC, Injuries we don’t cover: illness, sickness and conditions related to ageing sit outside the scheme (retrieved 18 August 2026).
Inland Revenue, ACC earners’ levy rates (retrieved 18 August 2026).

Related calculators

Income protection calculator
, compares an accident scenario against an illness scenario month by month.
TPD calculator, sizes a lump sum if illness or injury permanently ends your working life.
Risk probability calculator
, shows the statistical odds of death, critical illness or disability before retirement.

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