No Lawsuits Allowed If you're injured in New Zealand, regardless of cause or blame, the ACC scheme entitles you to:Free medical care. Payment of a proportion of your salary, while you recover. Payment of compensation, if appropriate. The ACC scheme replaces the right to sue for damages. In New Zealand you cannot sue someone for causing you injury.

Cats and dogs from many countries are allowed into New Zealand after a quarantine time. There is no need for quarantine if your pet is coming from: Australia: You can move your pet here freely. Hawaii: Your pet can come with certain tests carried out. United Kingdom: Your pet can come with certain tests carried out.

If you're going to bring a pet from anywhere else, you're certainly showing you love it. Quarantine is for at least thirty days and will cost you around $1,000 for each thirty day period.

Bringing your pet here can be quite complicated and it's best to start making arrangements a few months before you plan coming here yourself.

The MAF website has more information.

All forms of tobacco promotion, advertising and sponsorship are banned in New Zealand. 20% of European New Zealanders and 50% of Maori New Zealanders smoke. In most circumstances, it's fair to say that smoking is unwelcome. Many smokers do not smoke even inside their own houses. They smoke in the garage, shed or garden. It is illegal to smoke in the following places:

the buildings and grounds of schools and early childhood centres

licensed premises (bars, restaurants, cafes, sports clubs, casinos) indoors

workplaces including offices, factories, warehouses, work canteens and 'smoko' rooms. Shopping malls are smoke-free.

The basis of government policy is that people who do not smoke should not be exposed indoors to tobacco smoke.

Most high-street banks charge you for writing cheques, making cash withdrawals, etc. To avoid their charges, you must keep significant sums of money in your account(s) or have a mortgage with them. The KiwiBank and TSB Bank offer completely free banking, provided you keep $4,000 - $5,000 in your account. Most banks open at 9.00am and close at 4:30pm. Cash machines are everywhere. You can also use telephone banking or internet banking (my personal favourite). When paying for goods in shops, most people use credit-cards or EFTPOS cards. Paying by cash or cheque is less common. When you use your EFTPOS card, money is transferred out of your bank account straight into the shop's bank account.

New Zealand has no tax on capital gains. If, however, you buy and sell shares or property frequently, gains will be taxed as income.

Cervical screening is provided free of charge to all women aged 20-69 years. The usual screening interval is every three years.

It is your choice where you have your baby and who cares for you during pregnancy and birth. All maternity services are free of charge.

School children up to the age of 18 get free dental treatment. Not all treatments are free though; you have to pay for coloured fillings and orthodontics (tooth straightening). Adults have to pay for the full cost of all treatment, typically:

Check up with x-rays: $70 - $110

Check up with x-rays and Scale/Polish: $80 - $130

White-filling (molar): $80 - $150+

If your teeth are damaged in an accident, rather than through normal wear and tear, your treatment will be heavily subsidised by the government's accident compensation scheme.

All GP's in New Zealand are private practitioners.

In practice, because of government subsidy, children under 6 are treated free. Some GP's may charge you $5 or $10 if your child needs a home visit or out-of-hours treatment.

Older children are subsidised less than under 6's. This means you will pay about $20 for an older child's visit to the Doctor. If you ask around, you may be able to find a GP who will treat all ages of children free of charge.

Adults (unless they are receiving social benefits) pay to see their GP - around $40 on average.

Driving - Key Points for Overseas Drivers and New Residents

You are allowed to drive in New Zealand for up to 12 months using either an International Driving Permit or your current overseas driving licence. After that you will need to get a New Zealand driving licence.

Drivers from Australia, Canada, The European Union, Norway, South Africa, Switzerland and the United States are issued with New Zealand driving licences after a written test. Drivers from other countries must pass both a written and practical driving test before getting a NZ licence.

You must carry your licence with you at all times when driving. If you are stopped by the Police, and do not have your licence with you, you will be fined.

If your licence is not in English, you should get an International Driving Permit or bring an official, English translation of your licence with you. Further licensing details are available from the Land Transport Safety Authority.

Vehicles drive on the left side of the road. The urban speed limit is usually 50 kph (31 mph). Elsewhere it's usually 100 kph (62 mph).

Vehicles turning left give way to those turning right - the cause of many accidents.

State education in New Zealand is free of charge. You will, however need to pay for your childrens' school uniforms, pencils, pens, glue-sticks, stationary etc. Text-books are provided free of charge, unless their use involves writing on them and they will not be returned to the school. Most state schools charge a fee of somewhere around $100 per year per child. Although payment of the fee is voluntary, most parents pay. The fee pays for extra resources for your children's school and it is tax-deductable.

In most circumstances, your children will attend the school they are zoned for. If you choose to live outside the zone of your preferred school, your children will probably not get places. Any spare places at popular schools (those with good reputations) are allocated by ballot.

School rules are set by the Board of Governers. The Board is elected by parents. School rules usually mean that school-uniform is compulsory at secondary school. In addition to wearing the uniform, pupils/students must not wear make-up, jewellery, unusual hair colourings, nose-piercings, etc, etc.

Exceptions to zoning may include attendance at a school with a special character - such as a religious school.

In addition to the state sector, there is also a flourishing private education sector. Children who attend any of the better state schools in New Zealand receive a very good education. Most children start Year 1 on their fifth birthday. Primary schools teach Year 1 to Year 6 children. Intermediate schools teach Years 7 and 8.

"Full Primaries" teach Year 1 to Year 8 children. Secondary schools teach Year 9 to Year 13.

School days are Monday to Friday. Primary schools usually start at 9 am, or a little earlier, and finish at 3pm. Secondary schools usually start at 8.30am and finish at 3pm or 3.15pm.

The school year runs from February to December and has four terms. Each term is roughly ten weeks long. Summer holidays last about five and a half weeks at primary schools and about a week longer at secondary schools. The autumn, winter and spring holidays each last two weeks.

The New Zealand electricity supply is 240 volts, 50 hertz. Your electrical equipment should work here if you come from The UK, continental Europe, South Africa, South Korea, India, China, Russia or Malaysia.

You will usually need to fit new plugs to your equipment because New Zealand plugs are most likely shapeddifferently from those in your country. A good tip is to bring 4-socket extension boards and fit a New Zealand plug to each board. In this way, you will be saved from putting new plugs on irons, kettles, toasters, computers, Hi-Fi's, etc. Keep the old plugs on them and plug them into the extension board.

If you come from a country with a 100 - 120 V supply, first check if any of your equipment can be switched to 240 V operations. If it cannot, it will need an electrical transformer to work in New Zealand. This is an expensive solution and you are probably best to sell the equipment before you leave and replace it when you get to New Zealand.

Your electrical equipment will need to be modified if you come from The US, Canada, Japan, Taiwan and most of Latin America.

Wherever you come from, don't bring telephones or faxes. They probably won't work here.

Phone 111 to get Police, Ambulance or Fire Service.

Hospital treatment is free of charge. As a result of this, there can be long waiting-lists for "non-emergency" cases. Many employed people pay for private medical insurance to avoid waiting for "non-emergency" treatment.

New Zealand lies three hours east of Australia by passenger jet. New Zealand's main islands lie between latitudes of approximately 47 o South and 34.5 o South. In Northern Hemisphere terms, New Zealandwould stretch from Dijon, France into the Sahara Desert; or from Seattle, Washington to Santa Barbara, California.

There is no compulsory military service (conscription) in New Zealand. All members of the armed forces are volunteers.

Most cars in New Zealand run on standard unleaded petrol. This has varied in price from about $1.10 to $1.25 per litre during the last year. Premium unleaded fuel, for high-performance cars, costs about 5cper litre more than standard.

In general, the New Zealand Police Force is honest, free of corruption and enjoys a great deal of respect from ordinary New Zealanders. Police officers normally carry a baton but no fire-arms. Trained, armed response teams are available if needed.

As you might expect, New Zealand is hardly over-populated. There are currently about 14 people per square kilometre in New Zealand. By comparison, in terms of people per sq.km,

New Zealand's population reached four million early in 2003.

When a GP prescribes drugs, children under 6 pay nothing. Everyone else pays $15 for each course of treatment unless they have a low-income community services card.

Almost three quarters of New Zealand's electricity is generated by renewable methods - hydro-electricity and geothermal. Less than 5% of electricity comes from burning coal and none comes from nuclear plants.

By law, you can work to any age you want to in New Zealand. If you live here continuously for at least ten years, five of them after the age of 50, you get state superannuation at the age of 65. This is currently worth $249 per week after tax if you're single or $383 per week after tax for married couples.

New Zealand Superannuation is maintained between 65% and 72.5% of average full-time net earnings. Any pension you get from an overseas government will probably be deducted from your NZ pension. If you're hoping for a more comfortable retirement than the state-pension provides, there are plenty of private plans you can save with, and many employers also offer contributory superannuation plans.

New Zealand is almost 20% bigger than the UK but has a smaller population than Scotland. New Zealand is 7% bigger than Oregon, three times bigger than Portugal and one half the size of France.

If your business is a limited company, it pays company tax at 33% of profits.

If your business has sales of $60,000 or more, you must register and charge a sales tax, GST, on sales. If you register for GST, you can reclaim any GST you are charged by other businesses. GST is charged at a rate of 15%.

The amount of accident insurance your business pays to the government depends on whether it has any employees. If it does, you pay insurance at the "employer rate" of 90c per $100 of payroll. Otherwise, you pay the self-employed rate of $1.79 per $100 of liable earnings.

The IRD and ACC websites have more details if you need them.

Towns and regions raise money by levying property taxes. Each house or building has a "rateable value." The rateable value determines the amount of local tax the owner of the building pays. These local taxes are called "rates."

Owners of modest houses in rural areas will pay rates of a few hundred dollars each year. An average to above average suburban home will attract rates in the region of $1,000 - $2,000 each year. Houses with very high values will attract higher rates.

If you intend renting a house, find out if the landlord is asking you to pay the rates in addition to rent. If he (or she) is, clearly it will make your overall costs higher.

You pay Goods and Services Tax (GST) of 12.5% on everything you buy in New Zealand except for financial services and the rent or purchase price of residential property. Price tags you see in shops always include GST, so you needn't add anything to the display price.

If you are in New Zealand in 2006/2007, you will pay tax on your personal income as follows:

If you have children, you may qualify for assistance - see Family Assistance.

If you live overseas and have a bank account in New Zealand, the tax rate on the interest is 10%.

New Zealand has five, national, free-to-air, television channels plus local channels. All five channels carry advertising. If you live in a remote, rural area, you might not receive all channels. You can pay to get Sky (satellite/cable) TV. The free-to-air channels and Sky show sports, movies, drama, documentaries, international news, (including BBC and CNN,) and magazine programmes. Most of the programming comes from New Zealand, Britain, America or Australia.

New Zealand is 12 hours ahead of GMT, so it is the first (slightly) major country to greet the dawn of each new day. New Zealand's Chatham Islands, several hundred kilometres east of the South Island, are the first part of the country to be bathed in sunlight each morning.

Most New Zealanders don't tip staff in restaurants, hotels etc, because bills from these businesses already include a service charge. Most of the younger staff in such establishments will be happy to accept a tip if you offer one, although they will not expect one. Many New Zealanders would rather you didn't tip as they regard tipping as undesirable.

In many countries fluoride is added to water supplies to prevent tooth decay. A large number of peopleobject to water fluoridation, believing it causes health problems. The larger centres in New Zealand which do not have fluoridated water are: Whangarei, Tauranga, Wanganui, Napier, Nelson, Blenheim, Christchurch, Timaru and Oamaru.

Ministry of Health figures show that 85 percent of the population have certifiably safe water supplies. Ten percent of the population have their own individual supplies - private water tanks or bores (rural areas). Five per cent of the population are on community water supplies that the Ministry of Health either has concerns with or has insufficient information to judge. The message is, if you intend living in a rural area, get yourself a water filter