WORKERS COMPENSATION ACT 1987 - SECT 175 Employers evading payment of correct premiums

WORKERS COMPENSATION ACT 1987 - SECT 175

175 Employers evading payment of correct premiums

(cf former s 18 (8) (d)-(h))

(1) If the Authority finds, having regard to information obtained under section 174 or otherwise, an amount to be due and payable by an employer to an insurer as a premium or balance of premium in respect of the issue or renewal of a policy of insurance (whether or not the policy is still in force), the Authority may order the employer to pay that amount to the insurer.

(2) A late payment fee at the rate for the time being in force under section 172 is payable in respect of an amount ordered to be paid under subsection (1) as from the date determined by the Authority as the date the premium for the issue or renewal of the policy of insurance concerned first became due and payable to the insurer.

(3) An amount ordered to be paid under subsection (1), together with any late payment fee payable under subsection (2), may be recovered as a debt in a court of competent jurisdiction by the insurer in whose favour the order was made.

(4) If the Authority finds that--

(a) an employer has provided an insurer with information which was false or misleading in a material particular, and

(b) the insurer, relying on that information, has calculated a premium for the issue or renewal of a policy of insurance which is less by a certain amount than the premium would otherwise have been,

the Authority may recover from the employer in a court of competent jurisdiction as a debt due to the Authority, a sum equal to twice that amount plus the late payment fee provided for by subsection (4A), half of which sum shall be paid by the Authority to the insurer and the other half into the Workers Compensation Operational Fund.

(4AA) If the Authority finds that--

(a) an employer has contravened section 175G (Members of group to have policies with same scheme agent and common renewal date) as a result of the issue or renewal of a policy of insurance, and

(b) the total premium payable for those policies is less by a certain amount than the total premium that would have been payable had that section been complied with,

the Authority may recover from the employer in a court of competent jurisdiction as a debt due to the Authority a sum equal to twice that amount plus the late payment fee provided for by subsection (4A). Half of that sum is to be paid by the Authority to the insurer and the other half into the Workers Compensation Operational Fund.

(4AB) For the purposes of the application of the Limitation Act 1969 to an action on a cause of action to recover an amount under subsection (4) or (4AA), the cause of action first accrues to the Authority when the Authority makes the finding referred to in those subsections.

(4A) The late payment fee at the rate for the time being in force under section 172 is payable--

(a) under subsection (4) as from the date the premium for the issue or renewal of the policy of insurance concerned first became due and payable to the insurer, or

(b) under subsection (4AA) as from the date the premium for the issue or renewal of the policy referred to in subsection (4AA) (a) first became due and payable to the insurer.

(4B) The Authority may waive or reduce a late payment fee payable under this section.

(5) A certificate executed by the Authority and certifying that an amount specified in the certificate is payable under subsection (1), (2) or (4) by a person so specified is (without proof of its execution by the Authority) admissible in any proceedings and is evidence of the matters specified in the certificate.

(6) In the absence of information that would enable the Authority to accurately determine the premium that would have been payable for the issue or renewal of a particular policy of insurance, the following provisions have effect--

(a) the Authority is entitled to make an estimate of that premium (based on the information available to the Authority),

(b) the Authority's estimate is presumed to be accurate as to the premium that would have been payable and cannot be challenged on the basis that insufficient information was available to enable the making of an accurate assessment, but can be challenged by the provision of information that enables a more accurate estimate to be made,

(c) if the Authority's estimate is successfully challenged and as a result a more accurate estimate is substituted, the proceedings are not open to challenge merely because of the inaccurate estimate and may continue to be heard and be determined on the basis of the substituted assessment.

(7) A court that convicts an employer of an offence under section 173A (Giving false information for premium calculation) may, on the application of the Authority, order the employer to pay to the Authority the amount that the court is satisfied the Authority is entitled to recover from the employer under this section in respect of the matter to which the offence relates. For the purposes of this subsection, a court that makes a finding that an employer is guilty of an offence under section 173A without proceeding to a conviction is taken to have convicted the employer of the offence.

(7A) Any amount paid by an employer under such an order is taken to have been recovered from the employer under subsection (1) and is to be dealt with accordingly.

(7B) The Local Court cannot order the payment of an amount under subsection (7) that when added to the amount of any penalty imposed for the offence concerned would exceed an amount equivalent to 500 penalty units.

(8) In this section--


"insurer" means a licensed insurer or a former licensed insurer.