The Buxtons are still battling ACC over how Jeremy\u2019s injury is recorded; the grief of not getting the treatment he needed sooner; and the shock of learning the agency secretly watched him. He also believes the agency has breached his privacy dozens of times.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve lost all trust,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Jeremy and his wife Rhonda are now separated but remain close friends. Photo \/ RNZ, Cole Eastham-Farrelly<\/p>\n
The man he was<\/p>\n
Before the crash, Rhonda says, Buxton was \u201cthe most amazing, fun-loving person\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe never argued. He was just laughing.\u201d<\/p>\n
At home, they were a team. If Rhonda was vacuuming, he would grab the vacuum off her. If she was cooking, he would step in beside her. He wasn\u2019t the kind of man who came home, opened a beer and sat in front of the television.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you were up doing something, he was helping. If anything, he\u2019d tell you to sit down.\u201d<\/p>\n
He was the main caregiver to their son, Jayden, who was just 15 months old at the time of the crash. <\/p>\n
Now, Jeremy is \u201ca completely different person\u201d, says Rhonda.<\/p>\n
He is easily overwhelmed, noise can feel unbearable, his patience is thin.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s still a wonderful dad,\u201d says Rhonda. \u201cBut it\u2019s really hard.\u201d<\/p>\n
The crash and the classification<\/p>\n
In September 2016, Buxton was on a delivery run when he crossed the centre line and hit an oncoming vehicle. He had to be cut from the wreckage and flown to Middlemore Hospital, where he was initially diagnosed with concussion and back and neck injuries.<\/p>\n
Over the following weeks, his symptoms escalated. He struggled to find words. His limbs went limp at times. He was dizzy, disoriented and exhausted. For months, he slept for up to 17 hours a day.<\/p>\n
Clinicians treating him described his condition as a moderate-to-severe traumatic brain injury, yet ACC documents recorded his injury as a \u201cbrain injury – other\u201d or \u201cmild traumatic brain injury\u201d.<\/p>\n
The distinction matters.<\/p>\n
A mild traumatic brain injury is generally expected to resolve within weeks or months. Moderate to severe brain injuries can require long-term therapy, complex rehabilitation and ongoing support.<\/p>\n
Early access to the right treatment is critical, says Brain Injury Waikato community education and support officer Josiah Ploeg.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe research is really clear that the sooner treatment can be accessed for a traumatic brain injury, the better.\u201d<\/p>\n
Delayed treatment can lengthen recovery and lead to problems with things like keeping in work, managing relationships and increased mental health challenges, says Ploeg.<\/p>\n
ACC\u2019s classification meant Buxton was being sent to concussion programmes, despite warnings he needed much more help.<\/p>\n
The concussion trap<\/p>\n
A month after the crash, Jeremy\u2019s physiotherapists emailed ACC urgently, warning he had \u201cSIGNIFICANT issues\u201d and needed more intensive management than they were funded to provide.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur staff have strung along the best they can,\u201d one wrote after not getting a reply to an urgent request to ACC for more help three weeks earlier.<\/p>\n
As his lawyer discovered years later, those urgent emails were read by ACC staff but never added to his file, nor acted upon.<\/p>\n
Instead, Buxton was sent to concussion services that he says did not match his condition.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey didn\u2019t give me a chance to get better.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey kept pushing me on concussion programmes that were no good to me \u2026 I couldn\u2019t even stay awake, let alone concentrate.\u201d<\/p>\n
He describes the mismatch in simple terms.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was like I had an accident and broke my leg in 10 places, but ACC said, \u2018Here\u2019s a bandage\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
A photo of Jeremy, his wife and children before he suffered a traumatic brain injury in a car accident nine years ago. Photo \/ RNZ, Cole Eastham-Farrelly<\/p>\n
ACC suspends cover<\/p>\n
In April 2017, ACC cut Buxton\u2019s cover and weekly compensation entirely.<\/p>\n
The decision was based on reports from a psychiatrist and neurologist, who concluded his ongoing symptoms were \u201cno longer the result\u201d of his head injury.<\/p>\n
The letter arrived just as his GP referred him to a specialist traumatic brain injury rehabilitation centre in Auckland. ACC would no longer be paying, so the Buxtons had to pay thousands for Jeremy to attend.<\/p>\n
They also paid for their own medical report confirming Buxton\u2019s ongoing symptoms were indeed linked to his head injury.<\/p>\n
In March 2018, ACC reinstated his cover and back-paid his compensation but Rhonda says that year without financial support and treatment nearly broke them.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen they booted us off, my work was amazing, they fully supported us. If it wasn\u2019t for them we probably would have had to sell the house.\u201d<\/p>\n
Headway chief executive Stacey Mowbray says problems often arise when people do not recover within expected timeframes.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe big challenge is if they go through that concussion service and they haven\u2019t recovered.\u201d<\/p>\n
After completing a concussion service, some people can find themselves in \u201ca little bit of a black hole\u201d while waiting for approvals for further support.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is what we are hearing from our community as a problem. They often feel lost. There\u2019s a lot of unknown, a lot of anxiety \u2026 and unfortunately, some people in that period can regress.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018Possible false claim\u2019<\/p>\n
Concerned by ACC\u2019s initial decision to stop cover, the Buxtons requested Jeremy\u2019s full ACC file.<\/p>\n
What they found in the box of documents that arrived shocked them \u2013 and the fallout still haunts Buxton today.<\/p>\n
While he was sleeping up to 17 hours a day in the months after his crash, the documents revealed that ACC suspected he might be faking his injuries.<\/p>\n
The allegation came from within ACC.<\/p>\n
Internal documents described the case as a \u201cpossible false claim\u201d, noting he was in a \u201cbetter financial position\u201d on weekly compensation than in his job as a casual delivery driver.<\/p>\n
The couple learned that in December 2016, an ACC investigator had sat outside their home, watching and recording Buxton\u2019s movements.<\/p>\n
Surveillance notes recorded Buxton \u201ccleaning or cooking on the barbecue\u201d, noting the exact clothes he was wearing.<\/p>\n
Another entry describes him carrying a carton in the garage, though it\u2019s not certain it\u2019s Buxton because it\u2019s dark.<\/p>\n
Several pages of the report, including photos taken of the couple by ACC, were redacted.<\/p>\n
ACC closed the investigation in March 2017, finding nothing to warrant further investigation, but its report did not officially exonerate him. It was only after Buxton complained in 2023 that ACC told him it had found no fraud or wrongdoing on his behalf.<\/p>\n
Buxton says learning he had been watched felt \u2013 and still feels \u2013 like a violation.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt feels like a home invasion,\u201d he says. \u201cWhen somebody has followed and watched you, you don\u2019t feel safe.\u201d<\/p>\n
In its response to his 2023 complaint, ACC apologised for stress the investigation caused him, adding it had followed normal processes and policies in his case. Buxton thinks ACC doesn\u2019t really understand the impact its investigation had on him. He wants an acknowledgment of this, and a more formal apology.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat would make me feel safe.\u201d<\/p>\n
RNZ asked ACC what its threshold and policies were for watching clients suspected of fraud. It replied saying it would respond to RNZ\u2019s questions as an Official Information Act request, which can take about a month or longer.<\/p>\n
Investigation disclosure<\/p>\n
When Jeremy requested his full ACC file, a copy of what was released to him was stored on the agency\u2019s case management system, meaning staff with access to his file could see the investigation report.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s understood such reports are typically locked away in a separate part of ACC\u2019s records system. But this appears not to have been the case for Buxton.<\/p>\n
Buxton believes the presence of this material may have influenced how some case managers treated him.<\/p>\n
ACC disputes that characterisation.<\/p>\n
The agency said it could not disclose what information initially prompted the investigation but it has an obligation to examine any allegations that someone may be receiving support they are not entitled to.<\/p>\n
A copy of the investigation material was put on Buxton\u2019s file after it was given to him as a record of this disclosure. The description of the material did not indicate it contained investigation material, ACC said.<\/p>\n
But there are discrepancies in how it has handled the information.<\/p>\n
When Buxton complained about the investigation material being visible on his claim file, ACC initially told him the report had not been placed there.<\/p>\n
Months later, it admitted it was on his file, and withdrew its earlier finding.<\/p>\n
Buxton lodged another complaint, asking why he had been given incorrect information. That complaint remains unresolved.<\/p>\n
\u2018World of grey\u2019<\/p>\n
Dedicated fraud investigation units operate across several government departments. The Ministry for Social Development handled more than 6000 cases and secured 45 prosecutions last financial year, according to its annual report.<\/p>\n
Information about ACC\u2019s unit, including its policies, is harder to come by, says lawyer and advocate Warren Forster.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey operate in a world of grey. It\u2019s definitely part of an exit strategy that ACC uses, and they\u2019re currently ramping up that exit strategy.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the past, ACC\u2019s Integrity Services unit has had KPIs and Return on Investment measures.<\/p>\n
In 2018\/19, the unit was expected to save the agency $8 for every dollar it spent, saving about $45 million.<\/p>\n
ACC says questions about the unit\u2019s current targets will be answered under the OIA.<\/p>\n