More than half-a-million-dollars of ACC money paid out following electric scooter incidents

Over $500,000 of ACC money has gone towards claims.

The Accident Compensation Corporation has paid out more than $560,000 to people injured using electric scooters in the last five months.

Figures supplied to the Herald reveal 1263 claims have been lodged since October 14, around the same time Lime scooters were launched in New Zealand.

However, the ACC figures includes compensation claims for both Lime and other e-scooter incidents, not one or the other a spokesman said.

In total, $566,405 had been compensated between October 14 and February 16 with over half the costs-to-date and claims originating from Auckland.

Auckland's costs-to-date equates to $370,931 from a total of 656 claims with Christchurch following with $131,651 from 355 claims.

Loss of balance or personal control is the highest injury cause with 1104 claims, meanwhile, collision or knocked over by object in second had 27 claims.

Liam Thompson, 27, went over the handlebars of a Lime scooter. Photos / Supplied

The week between January 27 and February 3 was the highest in terms of amount of claims with 98 filed in seven days.

Of all the claims, 1144 of them were filed by riders aged over 18-years-old with 119 claims coming from minors.

Fracture or dislocation was the third highest primary injury with 204 claims, following soft tissue injury with 592 and laceration or puncture with 390.

Meanwhile, knee was the most injured body part with a claim count of 181 and hand or wrist followed in second with 152 claims.

Injuries to the face were the fifth highest with 96 complaints and head, except face, followed closely behind with 95 claims.

Buddle Findlay partner Tony Dellow told the Herald the Government could ban Lime scooters from operating under the Fair Trading Act.

If the e-scooters could be declared as unsafe goods, then Lime would be obligated to take them off the road until they could prove they are safe.

"If they were declared to be an unsafe good then they can't be supplied and supply includes hiring," Dellow said.

"The Minister [of Commerce and Consumer Affairs] can only do this on the basis of evidence and they could say I'm concerned over all these injuries.

"To some extent it would almost be the fact of the injuries may be enough from the outset until Lime could show there isn't an issue with the Limes themselves."

On Friday night, Auckland man Liam Thompson broke his jaw after the Lime scooter he was riding locked up and sent him flying over the handlebars.

The 27-year-old said he landed on his jaw before sliding across concrete and grazing his chest.

Following the incident, a Lime spokeswoman told the Herald they had "recently became aware of an operational issue affecting certain scooters".

The investigation is still ongoing but the affected scooters have been removed from circulation, she said.

Claims by region and costs-to-date

• Auckland, 656, $370,931
• Christchurch, 355, $131,651
• Hutt Valley, 101, $35,074
• Dunedin, 91, $18,635
• Rest of NZ, 60, $10,114
• Grand Total, 1,263, $566,405