AIG and underwriting agency NM Insurance have won access to the results of a blood alcohol test taken after a boating accident triggered a claim for $341,000.

Civil and Administrative Tribunal NSW Senior Member Michael Wall ruled that benefits from releasing the result to the insurer outweigh public interest arguments against disclosure.

The claim was lodged after the vessel Aussie Joy collided with an unknown object near Crescent Head NSW on April 14 last year while the owner and two other people were aboard.

Police took a blood sample from the driver as part of the investigation, but declined an AIG request for access to the results. Concerns about revealing personal information and privacy protection principles were raised as public interest arguments against disclosure.

An affidavit from an NM Insurance claims officer says it appears alcohol may have played a role in the accident, and that without the blood test results it is “not reasonably possible” to make a final determination on the claim.

The hearing was also told the person who supplied the blood test did not respond to a letter providing an opportunity to contest disclosure.

Mr Wall says in his ruling that the NSW Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 establishes that government information can be disclosed unless there is an over-riding public interest not to.

In this case the police did not argue that disclosure would prejudice the investigation. Mr Wall says the personal factors of the case should be given substantial weight.

“The release of the blood sample analysis will enable the insurer to determine the indemnity claim in respect of damage to the vessel,” he says, adding that the blood test data could also “result in a potential financial benefit to the insured”.

“On the evidence before me, I consider that the release of the information could contribute in a substantial way to the resolution of the insurance claim.”

In orders published this week, he says the blood sample analysis dated November 8 should be released by April 17.

The decision is available here.