ACC Rider Reward

Riders will be eligible for ACC Rider Reward if they: 

• have completed an approved Ride Forever Gold course in the last 2 years 
• have completed the course on or after 1 July 2025 
• purchase a vehicle licence for a motorcycle for a period that starts on or after 1 July 2026 
• hold a New Zealand driver licence 

International driver licence/deemed NZ licence holders are ineligible. 

To complete the Gold Ride Forever course, the rider must participate in the training activities for the whole training day, though there is no formal assessment involved. 

If eligibility criteria are met, the discount applies to all motorcycles registered in the rider’s name and is applied automatically when a vehicle licence is purchased with NZTA.  

In simple terms, an eligible registered person is entitled to 25% off the ACC Motor Vehicle Account levy for every motorcycle licensed under their name.  

For petrol-powered motorcycles, the licence fee may appear discounted by more than 25%. This is because ACC cannot apply the discount to the petrol portion of the levy, so the licence levy component is adjusted to achieve an overall 25% discount.  

 Riders who try to calculate the discount themselves may notice differences between a simple 25% calculation and the final levy amount, due to how levies are set and applied. 

Key requirements include having a valid driver’s licence with the class that is appropriate to the bike they ride on training day. Their bike must be licensed, be in warrantable condition etc. They must have the appropriate riding gear. They must have an appropriate level of skill for the course they are booked into. 

If any of the above is not met, the training coach may send the rider home and schedule them in for a future training. Until the rider has completed a full training day on a Gold course, they would not be eligible. 

We ask riders to wait 2 business days after completing Ride Forever Gold before attempting to license their vehicle with NZTA. This allows training providers time to submit course completion data so NZTA can apply the ACC Rider Reward discount at the point of licensing. 

Riders who complete a Ride Forever Gold course in May or June 2026 may experience processing delays while systems are being finalised. 

If a rider completes Ride Forever Gold in May or June, we encourage them to wait until 6 July 2026 before licensing their motorcycle if they want the ACC Rider Reward discount to be applied automatically at the point of purchase. 

The trained motorcyclist  will be eligible for the discount for two calendar years from the date they complete Ride Forever Gold, and it will be applied to any motorcycle attached to the registered person that is licensed during that time, there is no cap on number of bikes, or number of licence periods (since customers can select a licence period ranging from one day to one year.)  

This means a registered person with three bikes and who purchases one-year length licences for both eligible years would get all 6 licences discounted. Likewise, a registered person with one bike and who licenses it for six months at a time for both years would have all four licences discounted. 

No. The levy discount only applies if the registered person is eligible. This means a person who has completed Ride Forever Gold will not receive the discount when licensing a motorcycle that is registered to someone else. 

An eligible registered person can receive the levy discount on every motorcycle registered in their name, regardless of who pays for the licence. This is because the registered person is the person legally responsible for the motorcycle, but anyone can pay for the licence.  

Registered Persons who would otherwise be eligible but hold an international driver licence/deemed NZ licence are ineligible for the discount under the regulations.  If they wish to receive the levy discount, they will need to attain a valid NZ driver licence. Once an NZ licence is obtained the discount would be applied to future vehicle licences purchased.

NZTA’s continuous licensing system calls for a vehicle to be licensed non-stop. However, some customers fail to license on time and therefore when they license their vehicle (which may be months after their due date), their start date occurs in the past. These customers will pay whatever levy should have been applied at their start date, not whatever the levy is at the date of purchase. This includes the discount being applied if they were eligible at the time of the licence start date if they are also eligible presently (at time of application). 

No. From a customer perspective, the licencing process should appear the same as it is currently. When they enter their details online or in person, NZTA’s system should seamlessly check ACC’s systems to see if the customer is eligible for the discount and apply this. It will be an automatic and instantaneous process. 

If a customer should have received the discount but for whatever reason it was not applied (such as a system or data error), the customer can apply for a partial levy refund with NZTA. NZTA will work with ACC to investigate the validity of the refund request, resolve any errors and issue any refund directly to the customer if warranted within 10 business days.

If a customer believes they are eligible for a refund, they need to contact the NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi contact centre:

• Phone 0800 108 809
• Email info@nzta.govt.nz

To ensure their request can be processed quickly, customers should be prepared to provide the following information:

• Registered Person’s NZ driver licence number
• Registered Person’s first name
• Registered Person surname
• Vehicle licence start date
• Vehicle licence purchase date
• Ride Forever Training provider
• Training date