Employers and travel expense claims

DavidBelcher

Not sure if Campaign was the right place to post this, but here goes....

Just really "testing the water" to ask what forum members' experiences are like of employers viewing a bicycle as a valid means of work-related travel for meetings, training courses, etc. The local government sector seems quite obliging in this regard, with a number of councils honouring bike mileage claims at the HMRC guideline rate of 20 pence per mile.
I've just been informed by my employer (private sector education) that I cannot claim for bike travel to a meeting later this year at a school in neighbouring Berkshire as my vehicle apparently does not use fuel of any sort nor does it incur any form of wear and tear according to our bean-counters. Nice to know that I can apparently pedal forever on an empty stomach to propel a machine that never wears out, then.... :roll:

Thoughts, follow-ups and feedback welcome as ever.

David

Pross

As a forward thinking company that advises other businesses on green travel we set an example by, um, not having a cycle to work scheme, providing company cars and not paying mileage for business trips made by bike.

tlw1

claimed it once after a pretty shitty pay review and cycling in on a sunday to do the board report after getting back off holiday at 3am. I get the feeling it was to plecate me slightly!

richk

it's in black & white somewhere at work that we can claim the 20p a mile. 18 months ago I 'ran it past my boss' that I was going to cycle to a trade fair & would be claiming. He confirmed it would be fine. (then I got knocked off the week before & broke a collar bone... )

beverick

Play your employer at their own game, go on the bike and then claim based on a car.

spen666

beverick wrote:

Play your employer at their own game, go on the bike and then claim based on a car.

That would be laying OP open to dismissal for gross misconduct and also to criminal chargesfor fraud by false representation

Not recommended as a serious option

danlikesbikes

DavidBelcher wrote:

Not sure if Campaign was the right place to post this, but here goes....

Just really "testing the water" to ask what forum members' experiences are like of employers viewing a bicycle as a valid means of work-related travel for meetings, training courses, etc. The local government sector seems quite obliging in this regard, with a number of councils honouring bike mileage claims at the HMRC guideline rate of 20 pence per mile.
I've just been informed by my employer (private sector education) that I cannot claim for bike travel to a meeting later this year at a school in neighbouring Berkshire as my vehicle apparently does not use fuel of any sort nor does it incur any form of wear and tear according to our bean-counters. Nice to know that I can apparently pedal forever on an empty stomach to propel a machine that never wears out, then.... :roll:

Thoughts, follow-ups and feedback welcome as ever.

David

Interesting to hear this you might want raise the HMRC report - http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/guidance/480.pdf and its own definition of Approved Mileage Allowance Payments does include cycles. Whilst I know that this is not stating in any way that the HMRC insist on this for all payments it is a good start point to raise with the powers that be that they may need to reconsider their "outdated policy" plus as most companies want to be seen in the public eye as being green it might go some way as to helping them achieve this too.

DavidBelcher

Danlikesbikes wrote:

DavidBelcher wrote:

Not sure if Campaign was the right place to post this, but here goes....

Just really "testing the water" to ask what forum members' experiences are like of employers viewing a bicycle as a valid means of work-related travel for meetings, training courses, etc. The local government sector seems quite obliging in this regard, with a number of councils honouring bike mileage claims at the HMRC guideline rate of 20 pence per mile.
I've just been informed by my employer (private sector education) that I cannot claim for bike travel to a meeting later this year at a school in neighbouring Berkshire as my vehicle apparently does not use fuel of any sort nor does it incur any form of wear and tear according to our bean-counters. Nice to know that I can apparently pedal forever on an empty stomach to propel a machine that never wears out, then.... :roll:

Thoughts, follow-ups and feedback welcome as ever.

David

Interesting to hear this you might want raise the HMRC report - http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/guidance/480.pdf and its own definition of Approved Mileage Allowance Payments does include cycles. Whilst I know that this is not stating in any way that the HMRC insist on this for all payments it is a good start point to raise with the powers that be that they may need to reconsider their "outdated policy" plus as most companies want to be seen in the public eye as being green it might go some way as to helping them achieve this too.

I discussed the matter further with my line manager, the idea basically fell on deaf ears. As well as being oblivious to wear & tear issues, apparently the fact that a bike is not taxed or insured in the same way as a motor vehicle was also part of the school's equation; safe to say that as with so many ideas directed at dragging the place into the 21st century, this one'll get nowhere too. :roll:

David

thistle_

My last employer didn't say whether or not they paid mileage for cycling, and there wasn't the option on their expenses system but cycling anywhere for work wasn't practical so I never tried it.

Employer before that was happy about it. I claimed mileage for cycling to a meeting once and no questions were asked and the option was in their expenses system. As far as I was concerned it was giving them the 20p a mile difference + parking + my time not spent having to drive a longer route or sit in traffic as extra profit.

DavidBelcher wrote:

I discussed the matter further with my line manager, the idea basically fell on deaf ears. As well as being oblivious to wear & tear issues, apparently the fact that a bike is not taxed or insured in the same way as a motor vehicle was also part of the school's equation; safe to say that as with so many ideas directed at dragging the place into the 21st century, this one'll get nowhere too. :roll:

You'll be telling them you'll be going by car then and claiming the higher expenses, costing them extra money then?

DavidBelcher

thistle (MBNW) wrote:

You'll be telling them you'll be going by car then and claiming the higher expenses, costing them extra money then?

If I could actually drive (and my employer is aware that I can't), then I probably would. Still, there's always the train option.

David

k-dog

I get 10p per mile from the NHS - and can claim the difference from 20p on my tax return. It always goes down well too.

shouldbeinbed

20p per mile but the rules state i must wear hi-viz and a helmet. no great shakes to me but I know some see it as an insult to their human rights and I suppose it does imply the dangers rather than the health and freedoms of bike travel.

Monty Dog

I was talking to a colleague today who manages our corporate insurance and he told me that they were not going to provide cover for employees using a bike for travel whilst on company business. Motorbike cover was withdrawn about 5 years ago, but can't understand the reasons for this one. Means I can't use a Boris Bike when taking the train into London. We even have some big sites where bikes are provided to get from one place to another.

marz

My company doesn't offer compensation for cycling to meetings, but does offer $80 per month if I choose to commute to work by bike.

danlikesbikes

Monty Dog wrote:

I was talking to a colleague today who manages our corporate insurance and he told me that they were not going to provide cover for employees using a bike for travel whilst on company business. Motorbike cover was withdrawn about 5 years ago, but can't understand the reasons for this one. Means I can't use a Boris Bike when taking the train into London. We even have some big sites where bikes are provided to get from one place to another.

Without being rude your colleague can't be that well versed in Employers Liability Laws as it would be illegal for the issuing insurer to apply this as a exclusion to their cover. Without getting all technical my job involves both EL & PL policy wordings and unless your insurer decides they do not wish to accept your companies business description as it has changed to include the use of cycles & are refusing to offer any cover they can not apply this as a legal exclusion.

mmuk

k-dog wrote:

I get 10p per mile from the NHS - and can claim the difference from 20p on my tax return. It always goes down well too.

If the company won't pay, presumably you can still claim the 20p back against tax, which will at least get you something back in your pocket?

MM

spen666

mmuk wrote:

k-dog wrote:

I get 10p per mile from the NHS - and can claim the difference from 20p on my tax return. It always goes down well too.

If the company won't pay, presumably you can still claim the 20p back against tax, which will at least get you something back in your pocket?

MM

Yes you can, but unless you do a lot of miles, its probably not worth the time of completing the tax return (assuming you are not required normally to complete one)

simonhead

I get 20p a mile, as my official place of work is my home but i base myself in the office 4 miles away i do fairly well. If you cycle over 1500 miles a year you get a £250 voucher for Evans. The only other rules are that you must have a helmet on whilst riding and be visible.

dai_t75

Unfortunately it is up to your employer whether they want to pay you anything or not.

As has also been mentioned you can claim the tax back on the journey, although I realise if this is a one off event it may not be worth the hassle.

You can claim the tax back on all journeys not to your 'base', so if you have driven to a few places in the year apart from the one you cycled to it might be worth filling in a form after all - just google P87, fill it in and send it off.

Edit: Forgot to mention - you have to take off any money you are paid for travel by your employer to work out exactly what you can get back.

pease

We offer a cycling and a walking mileage iirc, as a charity we decided not to go over and above hmrc allowances. Sadly most off my meetings are over 30miles away so no chance of getting paid for training miles. Oh, and just as ive sorted a decent bike they are seriously considering a cycle to work scheme, maybe time to adopt the N+1 rule....

velow.bike

I've created a site that helps the self employed or those who use their own bike for business journeys to keep track of their taxable expense and travel savings.
Free to use.
http://velow.bike