The Chief Ombudsman says the Ministry of Social Development's payment scheme for survivors of abuse is 'unreasonable'.

Peter Boshier's expressed the opinion after a complaint by a law firm representing 1000 claimants.

He says the Ministry’s criteria for accepting claims is too narrow, and there's no clear way for people to review refused claims.

"We've found that aspects of this are unreasonable, the basis upon which decisions were being approached not clear, what was being taken into account not clear."

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