ACC has provided information on its special Remote Claims Unit, a specialist team which manages clients who have been identified as posing an unacceptable risk to the health and safety of ACC staff.

The team was set up after an ACC case manager was murdered by a client in West Auckland in June 1999 following an issue with a payment.

"All Remote Claims Unit staff use a single pseudonym for their own protection, and we make no apologies for that. This does not change the standard of service, or level of entitlements, that these clients receive," ACC says.

The organisation says multiple threats are made to ACC frontline staff every week, many of which are specific threats of violence.

"Transferring a client to the Remote Claims Unit is a last resort and done on a case-by-case basis, according to the client's behaviour. Many of them have criminal records relating to violence."

Interactions between staff and clients in the Remote Claims Unit are never conducted face-to-face and Remote Claims Unit clients have their status reviewed every six months.

"We look at their behaviours over that period, as well as their past actions, to consider whether their claims can be safety transferred to a branch," ACC says.