Levy round
ACC's 46% big-bike levy rise still leaves other motorists paying two thirds of rider injury costs
Source: ACC, Motorcycle levy changes
The ACC levy on a bike over 750cc rises $196.74 to $624.93 on 1 July 2026, a 46% jump in one year. Even after that, riders cover only 33% of their own injury costs. Work the real number out and a big bike costs about $1,894 a year to cover. Other motorists pay the difference.
By Henry Smith · ACC · 2026-08-06
What this means for you Petrol bikes over 750cc take the steepest rise this round. Mid-size riders pay more only because ACC redrew the engine-size groups, not because anything about their bike changed. Other vehicle owners still fund roughly two thirds of motorcycle injury costs, and a Ride Forever Gold course claws back most of the rise for two years.
If you ride a big bike, your ACC bill is about to jump. The ACC levy is the injury-cover charge added to your rego. From 1 July 2026 the owner of a petrol motorcycle over 750cc pays $624.93 a year, up $196.74 in twelve months (ACC, 13 May 2026, retrieved 20 August 2026).
Here is the part ACC does not spell out. Even after that rise, its own page says riders fund only about a third of the cost of motorcycle injuries. Everyone else who registers a vehicle pays the rest. So $624.93 is not the real bill for covering a big bike. Divide it by 0.33 and the real bill is about $1,894 a year (ACC, 13 May 2026, retrieved 20 August 2026; the division is ours).
What changes on 1 July 2026?
ACC has redrawn the lines between bike sizes. Its levy page says the engine-size groups "will be refined from two to three risk groups". In plain terms, motorcycles used to sit in two price bands and now they sit in three. Mopeds and small bikes get a cut. Everything from 251cc up pays more. The 751cc+ band takes the largest single increase in the table, $196.74 (ACC, 13 May 2026, retrieved 20 August 2026). The full table is below.
The page is blunt about who pays for motorcycle crashes. Riders' levies currently "fund about 28% of the cost of motorcycle injuries, with owners of other vehicles covering the remainder". That rider share rises "to 33% from 1 July 2026" and "to 37% from 1 July 2027" (same source).
The remainder comes out of the Motor Vehicle Account. That is the pool of levies every car, ute and truck owner pays into. So most of the cost of a motorcycle crash still lands on people who do not ride.
Alongside the rises, ACC added a sweetener. Finish a Ride Forever Gold training course and the Rider Reward gives eligible riders "a 25% discount on their ACC motorcycle levy" for two years. It applies to every motorcycle registered in your name (ACC, 13 May 2026, retrieved 20 August 2026).
The new rates are also being fought in court. Motorcycle Advocacy Group New Zealand, or MAGNZ, has asked the High Court for a judicial review. A judicial review asks a judge one narrow question: did ACC and the minister follow the law when they set the 2025-2028 levies? It does not ask whether the levies are fair. Spokesperson Mark Chapple calls the engine-size method "victim-blaming". ACC said it could not comment while the matter was before the courts (NEWS WIRE, 29 June 2026, retrieved 20 August 2026). The case, Mark Chapple v ACC, had its first scheduling hearing at the Wellington High Court on 10 August 2026 (MAGNZ via Scoop, 6 August 2026, retrieved 20 August 2026).
How much of the real cost do riders pay?
Chart: ACC's published petrol levy rates, 13 May 2026, retrieved 20 August 2026.
| Engine band | 2025/26 levy | 2026/27 levy | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Moped | $107.09 | $86.93 | down $20.16 | -18.8% |
| 0-250cc | $321.17 | $311.70 | down $9.47 | -2.9% |
| 251-600cc | $321.17 | $442.18 | up $121.01 | +37.7% |
| 601-750cc | $428.19 | $442.18 | up $13.99 | +3.3% |
| 751cc+ | $428.19 | $624.93 | up $196.74 | +45.9% |
Levy figures from ACC, 13 May 2026, retrieved 20 August 2026. The percentage column is our arithmetic.
What would the levy be if riders paid the full cost?
ACC publishes two numbers but never puts them together. It publishes each levy. It also publishes the share of injury costs those levies recover, which is 33% from 1 July 2026 (ACC, 13 May 2026, retrieved 20 August 2026). If a levy covers only a third of the cost, the full cost is that levy divided by 0.33. Here is what that gives.
| Engine band | Published 2026/27 levy | Full cost, levy divided by 0.33 |
|---|---|---|
| 0-250cc | $311.70 | about $945 |
| 251-750cc | $442.18 | about $1,340 |
| 751cc+ | $624.93 | about $1,894 |
Published levies and the 33% share from ACC, 13 May 2026, retrieved 20 August 2026. The full-cost column is our division.
On a big bike that leaves a gap of roughly $1,269 a year between the $1,894 full cost and the $624.93 the rider actually pays. Owners of other vehicles carry that gap (levy and share from ACC, 13 May 2026, retrieved 20 August 2026; the arithmetic is ours).
The same sum gives a rough idea of the next step. ACC says the rider share reaches 37% from 1 July 2027 (ACC, 13 May 2026, retrieved 20 August 2026). If the underlying cost does not move, 37% of it is about $701 for a big bike. That would be roughly $76 more again. ACC has not published 2027/28 rates, so treat it as the direction of travel, not a forecast.
Why do mid-size bikes pay more when nothing changed?
The 751cc+ band takes the biggest hit in both dollars and percentage. But the mid-size rider's rise is the stranger one. Nothing about their bike explains it. ACC simply moved a boundary line. Under the old structure, a 251-600cc bike paid the same levy as a small commuter bike. Under the new one it sits with 601-750cc bikes at $442.18 (ACC, 13 May 2026, retrieved 20 August 2026). Had the boundary stayed put, that rider would have got the small-bike cut to $311.70 instead. The regrouping on its own costs them $130.48 a year, the gap between those two figures (same source).
The 601-750cc rider is the mirror image. Their bike used to be priced alongside the biggest machines. The new structure gives 751cc+ a band of its own. So they escape with a $13.99 rise while the band above them absorbs $196.74 (ACC, 13 May 2026, retrieved 20 August 2026). A 700cc bike and an 800cc bike now sit $182.75 a year apart. That single boundary is the heart of the court challenge. It asks whether engine size is a fair stand-in for risk at all. MAGNZ's chief executive puts it this way: "If ACC says larger motorcycles create greater risk, then where is the evidence?" (MAGNZ via Scoop, 6 August 2026, retrieved 20 August 2026).
Can a training course claw the rise back?
Mostly, yes. The Rider Reward takes 25% off your levy for two calendar years after you finish Ride Forever Gold. It applies to every motorcycle licensed in your name (Ride Forever, retrieved 20 August 2026). Here is what it saves each year at the published rates.
| Engine band | 2026/27 levy | Rider Reward saving at 25% |
|---|---|---|
| 0-250cc | $311.70 | $77.93 |
| 251-750cc | $442.18 | $110.55 |
| 751cc+ | $624.93 | $156.23 |
Levies from ACC, 13 May 2026, retrieved 20 August 2026. The saving column is our arithmetic on the 25% discount (Ride Forever, retrieved 20 August 2026).
Set that against the increases. On a big bike the discount claws back 79% of the rise. It takes the net levy to $468.70, only $40.51 more than the same rider paid last year (our arithmetic on ACC's rates, 13 May 2026, retrieved 20 August 2026).
For a mid-size rider the discount covers 91% of the increase (same arithmetic). The course itself costs next to nothing against that. Ride Forever prices its coaching "from just $20". It also says "All Ride Forever courses are free for a limited time when completed between 1 September and 31 December 2026" (Ride Forever, retrieved 20 August 2026). A big-bike rider who books a free course in that window collects around $312 of discount over two years, for one day of coaching.
Three bits of fine print. The course must be completed on or after 1 July 2025. The discount applies to licence periods starting on or after 1 July 2026. Overseas licences do not qualify (Ride Forever, retrieved 20 August 2026).
What does this mean for my insurance?
This round changes who pays ACC's injury bill. It does not change what ACC would pay you, and the holes in ACC cover are exactly where they were.
ACC covers injuries from accidents. It never covers illness. A rider whose income stops because of cancer gets nothing from any levy, and that is what income protection is for. A serious crash can leave you alive but permanently changed. ACC then pays on its own rules and its own timeline, not yours. Trauma insurance pays a lump sum on a defined list of diagnoses, no matter who was at fault. And no levy decision changes what your family would need if a ride ended badly. That number comes from your mortgage and the people who depend on you, and a life insurance policy is where you fix it in advance.
If you ride mid-size, your increase is a boundary decision, not a verdict on your riding. The Gold course discount covers most of it. If you ride big, that discount plus the free-course window is the closest thing this round has to an escape hatch.
What we could not check
ACC publishes one recovery share for all motorcyclists, not one for each engine band. Our full-cost figures apply that single share to every band. If big bikes account for a bigger slice of claims costs than small ones, their true full cost is higher than $1,894. ACC does not publish the per-band data that would settle it.
Part of a rider's bill is a separate motorcycle safety levy, which NEWS WIRE reports at $25 (NEWS WIRE, 29 June 2026, retrieved 20 August 2026). ACC's page does not say whether the 25% discount comes off that part too. So treat $156.23 as the most a big-bike rider could save, not a promise.
We could not confirm the exact booking fee for a Gold course, because the Gold pages we tried were either missing or blocked to us. The "from just $20" floor and the free-course window come from the programme's own on-road coaching page, which we did read.
RNZ's report on the court challenge was blocked to us as well. So the court detail rests on NEWS WIRE and on MAGNZ's own release via Scoop. MAGNZ is a party to the case, and its release argues its own side. Its headline registration totals also bundle in fees that are not ACC's, so we have not used them. NZTA, the transport agency, has a page on the 2026 motorcycle levy changes. It returned no readable content to us on 20 August 2026, so we could not use it as a cross-check.
Sources
- Motorcycle levy changes, ACC, 13 May 2026
- ACC Rider Reward, Ride Forever, retrieved 20 August 2026
- On-road coaching, Ride Forever, retrieved 20 August 2026
- Motorcyclists go to the High Court to stop a steep ACC levy rise landing on 1 July, NEWS WIRE, 29 June 2026
- Motorcyclists to ride in support of landmark High Court challenge to ACC levy system, MAGNZ via Scoop, 6 August 2026
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