What happens after I send my claim to the Ministry of Education?

You will be assigned a senior advisor to help you through the claims process

The process of making a claim can be challenging. We encourage you to find the support that is right for you. We have some suggestions of support for your wellbeing to help you with the claim process. You can also decide to put your claim on hold at any time. 

Your senior advisor will update you as your claim progresses, and you can ask them any questions you have during the claims process.

You can ask to talk to a Māori or Pasifika staff member and/or request a tikanga Māori approach. If you are Deaf or hearing-impaired, you can ask for a sign language interpreter, or for communication through NZ Relayopen_in_new. 

The Sensitive Claims team will look for your records, including records from your school or schools. If the school is still open, the Ministry of Education Sensitive Claims team (MoE Sensitive Claims) will ask you for permission to get your records from the school.  

The Sensitive Claims team will also search for general records about the school and staff members, which may help support your claim.

They may also ask for your consent to request any records relevant to your claim held by other government agencies, such as the Ministry of Social Development and the Ministry of Health.  

Someone will be appointed to review your claim

The Sensitive Claims team will appoint someone to reviewer your claim. The claim reviewer will be someone who does not work for the Ministry of Education.

Unfortunately, it can take up to 4 years for a claim to get to the top of the review queue.

Your claim can be moved to the top of the queue if you are: 

• in ill health or are 70 years of age or older
• making a rapid payment claim. For example, Rapid payments for Waimokoia Residential School are currently being processed within two weeks or less. 

You will be invited to a meeting with the claim reviewer

You will be invited to meet with the claim reviewer at a time and place that suits you.

You can bring your lawyer or advocate (if you have one), whānau, friends, or other support people with you to the meeting.  

You are encouraged to bring any documents with you, that you think might support your claim. The meeting will be one to three hours long.

If you prefer not to have a meeting, the Sensitive Claims team will try to arrange something that suits you.

At the meeting, the claim reviewer will consider the information you have shared with them, as well as any other relevant material they have found (for example, documentation from the school).

The claim reviewer will review all of this information for your claim and make a recommendation to the Ministry of Education.