ACC CoverPlus vs CoverPlus Extra for the Self-Employed: Which Should You Choose in 2026? (NZ)

CoverPlus pays up to 80% of your last declared earnings and makes you prove your loss at claim time. CoverPlus Extra pays 100% of an agreed amount with no proof needed. Here is how to choose in 2026.

If you are self-employed in New Zealand, ACC is not optional, but the type of cover you hold is a choice you actually get to make. By default ACC puts you on CoverPlus. The alternative, CoverPlus Extra (CPX), is something you have to ask for. The difference between the two is not small print. It decides how much you get paid if an accident stops you working, and whether you have to prove a loss before ACC pays a cent.

This guide explains both options in plain English, sets out the 2025/26 and 2026/27 cover bands and levy figures, and helps you decide which one fits your situation.

TL;DR: Standard CoverPlus pays up to 80% of past earnings, and you must prove the loss at claim time. CoverPlus Extra (CPX) pays 100% of an amount you agree with ACC up front, with no proof of lost income required.¹ If your income is variable, your business is new, or you are a shareholder-employee, CPX usually wins. Neither covers illness.

What is the difference between ACC CoverPlus and CoverPlus Extra?

Both are work-account cover for the self-employed, and both only ever pay out for injury, never illness.¹² The difference is how the weekly payment is worked out and what you have to prove.

CoverPlus is the standard, automatic cover. If you have an accident and cannot work, ACC pays weekly compensation at up to 80% of your taxable income from your most recently completed financial year. The catch: you must demonstrate a genuine loss of earnings at claim time, and if your business keeps generating income while you recover, your compensation can be reduced.

CoverPlus Extra (CPX) is optional cover you apply for. You and ACC agree a fixed cover amount in advance. If you are injured and cannot work, ACC pays 100% of that agreed figure (before tax) as weekly compensation, regardless of what your business is actually earning, and with no proof of lost income required.¹ ACC's own example: a $52,000 agreed cover pays $1,000 a week before tax.¹

The trade-off is certainty versus flexibility. CoverPlus follows your real, proven income. CPX locks in a number you choose so you know exactly what you would receive.

How is each one calculated?

CoverPlus pays 80% of past earnings

CoverPlus looks backwards. ACC takes the taxable income you last filed with Inland Revenue and pays weekly compensation at up to 80% of it.¹ That works fine if your earnings are steady and well documented. It works badly in two common situations:

• You had a quiet or loss-making year. Your payment is based on that low figure, not on what you would have earned this year.
• Your business keeps trading while you are off. If income still flows in (staff, contractors, a partner running things), ACC can reduce your compensation because you are not actually losing 80% of your earnings.

Full-time self-employed people (averaging 30 or more hours a week) who earn below the minimum liable income are still levied, and paid, on the minimum.⁸

CPX pays 100% of an agreed amount

CPX looks forwards. You nominate a cover amount inside ACC's allowed band, ACC agrees it, and that figure is what gets paid, at 100%, before tax, if you are injured and cannot work.¹ There is no claim-time argument about what you "really" earned, and no reduction because the business is still ticking over. You proved your income when you set the policy up, so you do not have to prove it again at the worst possible time.

For anyone whose income is lumpy, who is newly self-employed, or who draws a modest salary out of a company, that certainty is the whole point.

ACC CoverPlus vs CoverPlus Extra for the self-employed (2025/26)

Source: ACC CoverPlus Extra page and IRD/ACC levy rates, 2025/26. Levy examples are indicative only and assume an illustrative low-risk professional Classification Unit at the 2025/26 average Work levy (composite ~2.41% = earners' 1.67% + average Work 0.66% + Working Safer 0.08%). Your actual levy varies by your Classification Unit / BIC code; use the ACC CoverPlus Extra levy calculator for your own figure.¹³

What are the 2025/26 and 2026/27 cover bands and levy thresholds?

The numbers move every April. Here are the figures that matter for the current and coming levy years.

A practical note for CPX holders: if you sit on the minimum cover, ACC automatically updates you to the new minimum from 1 April 2026. If you wanted to increase your cover up toward the new maximum, that needed an application through MyACC for Business by Tuesday 24 March 2026.³ Miss the window and you wait until the next cycle.

Many CPX holders stay on the auto-set minimum cover from when they first registered, continue paying levies on it, and assume it reflects their current income. Often it does not.

Who should choose CoverPlus Extra?

CPX is not automatically "better", it is better for specific people. Three groups stand out.

Variable income

If your income swings year to year, seasonally, or with the contract pipeline, CoverPlus will base your payment on whichever year you happened to file last, which may be nothing like your normal earnings. CPX lets you set a realistic, steady cover amount and have that paid in full, no argument.¹

New businesses

In your first year or two you may have little or no filed income for ACC to base CoverPlus on. CPX lets you cover yourself at a sensible level from the start, based on what you reasonably expect to earn, rather than being stuck on a thin or non-existent prior-year figure.

Shareholder-employees

If you run a company and draw a modest PAYE salary plus shareholder income, CoverPlus may only recognise the smaller salary. Non-PAYE shareholder-employees working 30+ hours a week (or part-timers earning above the CPX minimum) can use CPX to insure income closer to their real economic position.

If any of these is you, a self-employed income protection review is the fastest way to get the cover amount right, and to check it against your levy invoice. You can also run the numbers yourself first with our income protection calculator.

What changed in 2025/26?

Two changes are worth knowing about.

First, ACC is consolidating invoicing. CPX clients are being moved toward a single combined annual invoice, with most clients expected to receive one annual invoice by April 2026. In the transition, some self-employed clients may see two Working Safer Levy invoices in a single year, which is a timing artefact, not a double charge.¹³⁹

Second, from 1 April 2025 the Working Safer Levy for CPX policyholders is calculated on your chosen CPX cover amount, rather than on the earnings you reported to Inland Revenue.¹³⁹ If you carry a higher agreed cover for the certainty, be aware that this small flat levy ($0.08 per $100¹⁰) now tracks that figure too. It is minor in dollar terms, but it is a reason to make sure your CPX amount is deliberate rather than left on autopilot.

The gap neither option fixes: illness and the case for income protection

ACC covers injury only. It pays nothing if illness stops you working, whether that is cancer, a cardiac event, a degenerative (rather than accidental) back condition, or a mental-health condition.¹² CoverPlus and CoverPlus Extra both share this limit. Neither closes it.

For most self-employed people, illness is the more likely reason they end up off work for an extended period, and ACC was never built to cover it. The fix is private income protection insurance, which can be structured to pay for illness as well as accident, and to top up ACC where it falls short on injury. As an independent adviser, Smiths can compare income protection across the major NZ insurers — Partners Life, AIA, Asteron, Fidelity, Chubb and Cigna among them — and align the wait period and benefit period with what your CPX already provides, so you are not paying twice for the same accident cover.

If you are sorting out cover, it is also a sensible moment to check your KiwiSaver settings. The self-employed help hub pulls the ACC, insurance and retirement pieces together in one place.

Your ACC review checklist for the self-employed

1. Find your latest ACC invoice and confirm whether you are on CoverPlus or CoverPlus Extra. If you have never chosen, you are on CoverPlus.

2. Check the cover amount against your real income. If you are on CPX, is the agreed figure still right, or stuck on an old minimum?

3. Confirm your BIC / Classification Unit code is correct. The Work levy varies by industry,¹¹ and a wrong code can mean you are over- or under-charged.

4. Decide if certainty matters. Variable income, a new business, or shareholder-employee status usually points to CPX.

5. Plug the illness gap. Neither ACC option covers illness,¹² so pair your decision with an income protection review.

Why review ACC and private cover together

ACC and private insurance are two halves of the same picture, and they work best when set up to fit each other. Getting your CPX amount right gives you solid injury cover with no claim-time dispute; adding income protection structured around it covers illness too, without paying twice for accidents. An adviser can read your ACC invoice with you, check the cover type and amount, and line it up against private cover from across the market.

Frequently asked questions

Is CoverPlus Extra worth it for the self-employed? For people with variable or seasonal income, new businesses, or shareholder-employees on a modest salary, usually yes. CPX pays 100% of an agreed amount with no proof of loss at claim time,¹ which removes the biggest weakness of standard CoverPlus. If your income is steady and well documented, standard CoverPlus may be enough.

What is the CoverPlus Extra cover range for 2026? From 1 April 2026 you can choose an agreed cover amount between $40,401 and $125,313.³ For the 2025/26 year the range was $39,492 to $122,232.²

Does ACC CoverPlus or CoverPlus Extra cover illness? No. Both cover injury only. ACC does not pay weekly compensation for illness or sickness, so if you want protection when illness stops you working you need separate private income protection insurance.¹²

How much is ACC for the self-employed in 2026? It depends on your income and your industry (BIC) code. From 1 April 2026 the earners' levy is $1.75 per $100,⁶ the average Work levy is $0.69 per $100 (varies by code),¹¹ and the Working Safer Levy is $0.08 per $100.¹⁴ Self-employed liable income runs from $50,501 to $156,641.⁸

Do I have to prove my income to claim on CoverPlus Extra? No. With CPX you agree the cover amount up front, so there is no need to prove lost income at claim time, and your payment is not reduced just because your business keeps earning.¹ Standard CoverPlus does require you to prove the loss.

I missed the 24 March 2026 deadline to increase my CPX, what now? If you were on the minimum, ACC auto-updates you to the new minimum from 1 April 2026. To increase cover toward the new maximum you generally apply through MyACC for Business; the 24 March 2026 date applied to changes for the 2026/27 levy year.³ Talk to us and we will check the next available window.

Book a free review to check your ACC and income protection together. Book a review

General information, not personalised financial advice. Seek advice tailored to your situation before acting. Craig Smith Business Services Ltd (FSP712931), trading as Smiths Financial, holds a Class 2 licence issued by the Financial Markets Authority and is a member of the Financial Dispute Resolution Service (FDRS). Written by Henry Smith, Financial Adviser; reviewed by Craig Smith, Principal Adviser. Last reviewed 16 June 2026.