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Sue and Marty sitting in a café….
Me: We all know that ACC’s invoicing system has some – what do we politely call it ….quirks. Here’s an obscure little one that might pique your interest.
Marty: What are you on about now???
Me:… Ahhh – where to start. The beginning might be a good place……
ACC’s uses a system called Guidewire. This is used by a number of big businesses all around the world, and in NZ including the EQC, Lumley, FMG and IAG – note the top-heavy insurance companies. So, it made sense that when ACC chose to replace it’s old financial system for customers and billing, that it looked to use one that other top insurers used – what could go wrong, right?
Marty: (Muffles a snort)
Me: (Ignoring the snort) ACC renamed it Juno, giving it a unique personality, just like ACC, and set it to work on all of its levy customers. It’s common for there to be teething issues – after all even human babies teethe for years. But Juno has been in use for a couple of years now and some of the more basic issues should / could have been fixed. One of the more basic ones is getting the amount owed right. Now, let’s not confuse this with getting the invoice right, they are two very different things.
Marty: Okay smarty pants, what’s the difference?
Me: Invoice – the amount calculated by Juno based on your payroll / CoverPlus Extra level of cover / shareholder income etc.
Amount owed – the amount after the invoice calculation less / in addition to anything still on your account.
For example – Jenny (not her real name) receives an invoice from ACC for $1,000. She pays that $1,000. But Jenny also has a credit sitting on her account which meant she should have only paid $800 – so she’s overpaid by $200. The invoice will not tell her that she has a credit, it will only tell her the calculated amount of the invoice.
Marty: Take a step back. So, Jenny pays more than she’s supposed to – is that what you’re telling me?
Me: Yes. For some customers, this isn’t an issue – after all, ACC will refund the money they’ve overpaid right?
Marty: (Muffles another snort). Let’s pretend that I know nothing, educate me.
Me: If you don’t have your refund bank account details lodged with ACC, they don’t refund your money until they have something to put it into. They’ve been driving bank accounts since they decided to remove cheque payments.
Marty: So what happens to the credit?
Me: It sits with ACC until 1. They get in contact with you or 2. You get in contact with them. If neither of you make a move, the credit sits with ACC until you get another invoice. Then it’s taken off the amount owed which you’ll see in MyACC but you’ll still get a full invoice – see the problem here?
Marty: We’re going around in circles
Me: Exactly.
Marty: So what are we doing about it?
Me: Glad you asked Marty. We make sure our clients get the refunds. We did an Official Information Act request last year that showed there were over $9m in credits sitting there so we got a bit of work to do.
