For one-off compensation and various benefits for those who suffer permanent injury. Q: What constitutes an "accident"? Any illness or injury caused by a sudden event. Some cases are uncontroversial: those who have been assaulted, involved in a car accident, fallen over, self-harmed, injured by any external force, and sudden illnesses that cannot be predicted. ACC will usually accept these cases straight away, without seeking a doctor's professional opinion. Some cases may be related to past medical history, for example, if someone who previously had high blood pressure suffered a heart attack or stroke in New Zealand, there is controversy over whether this counts as an "accident". ACC will usually seek a doctor's opinion and then make a decision on whether to pay compensation. However, in these cases, doctors usually side with the patient and advise ACC to pay compensation. Unlike general commercial insurance companies, ACC can be "free" and automatically joined. The biggest difference between ACC and general commercial insurance companies is that you don't have to join ACC insurance before an accident happens. As long as you are a natural person in New Zealand, you are automatically insured ?
New Zealand Q&A
May I ask you a question? We took the expressway from Naples to Rome, which should be A1. We got on from the northern entrance of Naples, and the lane we took did not have a Telepass sign, nor did it have a horizontal bar blocking it. But when we pressed the button to take the card, no card came out. There was a long line of cars behind us, so we had to get on the expressway and go to Rome. As a result, we got a ticket, which should be a fine. The normal expressway fee from Naples to Rome should have been paid at the exit manned by staff. We still have to pay more than 60 euros at another place ourselves, because we don't think we took the wrong lane. So I wrote an email to Telepass's website to appeal, but more than 10 days have passed and we still haven't received a response. The ticket says we must pay within 15 days, otherwise there will be a fine. May I ask if you have encountered a similar situation and what should we do next? Thank you ?
Italy Q&A
I just got home today. Let me share my experience of renting a car in Italy for your reference. I picked up the car on October 6th and returned it on the 28th, a total of 22 days. I rented from AVIS for a total of 374.6 euros. They tried to sell me insurance, but I refused and said I would take responsibility for any issues. They didn't force me to buy the insurance in the end. They pre-authorized 94.86 euros on my card as a deposit. I booked a BMW 3 series, but they gave me a BMW X1 with navigation. I had heard about people getting downgraded cars before, so I didn't expect much and didn't argue about getting the X1. When I picked up the car, there were noticeable scratches on the front and back. I asked the AVIS staff to record them before I drove off, and they used a yellow marker to mark them on the contract, then circled and signed them with a black pen. The gas tank was not full, and they marked it with a stamp. The car wasn't very clean when I picked it up. When I returned the car, I made sure it was relatively clean. I told the person who received the car that all the scratches were old and showed him the previous markings. I also said that I take good care of the car, and he said I was a good renter . He told me there were no issues and I could leave. I was still worried about any potential problems, so I took new photos of the car from all angles with the date displayed. It's only been a few days since I returned the car, so I don't know if there will be any issues ?
Italy Q&A
Regarding the recent flooding in the South Island, tourists with travel plans in the near future do not need to panic. The latest information we have is as follows: 1. The water levels in the high-water areas of Lake Wakatipu and Lake Wanaka in Queenstown have reached their peak, and the weather has cleared up. This week is expected to be mostly sunny, with no more rain predicted, so the flood risk has been alleviated. Businesses along the shores of Lake Wanaka have resumed operations. The famous Wanaka Tree will remain partially submerged for a while longer due to the still-high water levels. Queenstown is experiencing clear weather, and recent photos show that while the water levels are high, the risk of flooding has diminished. 2. The South Island highways, which were previously closed, have started to reopen. State Highway 72 has resumed traffic, although there is heavy congestion, so travelers should allow extra time if using this route. 3. There is still flooding at the Rangitata Bridge section of State Highway 1, but once the water recedes, traffic will be able to resume. There is also flooding at the intersection of State Highway 1 and State Highway 79. The Timaru District Council has stated on social media that there is no risk of the recently reopened bridges on State Highway 72 being closed again. 4. The goal is to reopen State Highway 6 on the West Coast before Christmas, but this is entirely dependent on the weather conditions. If the weather remains favorable, the road repair progress will be normal, but if there is another heavy rain, it will affect the repair schedule. Therefore, travelers planning to visit the West Coast of the South Island around Christmas and New Year's need to closely monitor the road repair progress. The New Zealand Transport Agency's update on December 10th at 4pm: SH6 - The past two days have been sunny, and road repair progress has been smooth. The agency has been working to clear the landslide section between Fox and Franz Josef towns, aiming to reopen the Hokitika - Makarora section before Christmas. The Whataroa - Harihari section, which has suffered the most damage, is still closed due to multiple landslides, and the agency is striving to reopen it before Christmas ?
New Zealand Q&A
I originally drove on the highway in southern France. Each section had a different toll. Some had toll booths where you had to take a card, while others required you to pay first without a card. Look at the signs above the toll booths to see if you need to take the ETC lane or the regular lane with the toll sign. There was a toll to get to Paris, and there was a toll on one section of the highway to Monaco. There were no tolls on the highways in southern France, but I remember there was an automatic machine at Nice airport that could exchange paper money for coins. I think the toll machines automatically counted the coins you put in, so you didn't have to count them yourself. There were a lot of one-way streets in France, especially in small towns, and the roads were very narrow. Also, always lock your car doors when you leave it, because we were waiting at a red light on a road in Gannat and someone opened our trunk. Fortunately, we had read in the guidebook to lock the car doors before getting out, so we didn't get stolen. This time, we picked up the car in Paris and drove to the Loire Valley ?
France Q&A
Two trips to Italy in two years, passing through Sicily, Dolomites, Tuscany, and some other cities. Personally, I feel that the security in Italy is not a big problem. Tourist attractions are always crowded, which is unavoidable anywhere. Just be mindful of your belongings, keep some loose change in your pocket, and don't expose large amounts of cash. We added a small combination lock to our backpacks for extra security. Thieves also choose their targets, just like in our own country. I've seen many foreigners leaving their bags far away while taking photos, and their belongings were not stolen. There are armed police guarding various attractions in Italy, so I didn't feel unsafe at all ?
Italy Q&A
In summary, the schedule is too tight, I'm not sure how much time I have left to play, but the days are late in Greece, it's not until 8 o'clock at night that it gets dark, and it doesn't matter if you go late to places without tickets, it takes a long time to get to Meteora from there, whether it's from Athens or your itinerary from Meteora to Delphi, your estimated time will definitely be exceeded, considering that you have six people, you must stop in the middle, driving too fast is tiring and unsafe. Mystras needs to be repaired in the castle on the mountain and the monastery below, Monemvasia also has a castle on top of the mountain and a town crossing, they are all not small, they need a lot of time, I think each point a day is very rushed, relatively speaking, Delphi, Olympia and the Theatre are small points (although they are not small), your itinerary on the 14th is really impossible to do, you have to go from Monemvasia to Nafplion to Epidaurus and then go to Cape Colonna and back to the Temple of Poseidon and back to Athens, you basically have no time to shop, just drive. I really suggest you delete some points and enjoy the leisure of Greece～ ?
Greece Q&A