ACCF Chief Executive, Parvez Akbar. [File Photo]

The Accident Compensation Commission of Fiji has paid out more than $18.2m in compensation for motor vehicle, employment and school accidents.

Chief Executive, Parvez Akbar says over $15m has been paid for motor vehicle accidents since January 2018 but the Commission is seeing a rapid increase in the number of applications for work-related injuries and deaths.

The Commission has been paying out thousands of dollars to victims of workplace accidents adding up to more than $3m to date.

“If you see the applications coming in year on year – employment is fast catching up. Once those assessments start coming through, for employment in terms of the number of applications there’s more coming in for employment accidents.”

Akbar says the Commission initially began with motor vehicles hence the majority of payouts since 2018.

“The most has been for motor vehicle accidents which are just over $15m and the primary reason for that is because we started one year earlier. So it’s a one year head start.”

As for school compensation, hundreds of notifications have been received with over $180,000 paid out, prompting the Commission to conduct awareness programs.

The Commission has not received any fraudulent applications but is urging Fijians to properly check their documents and fill in the proper details when applying.