Travel Expenses - what is "reasonable"
Discussion
Paddy_N_Murphy said:
A few of us became members of the Royal Over-seas League (which I think makes it sound like a clandestine super heroes' digs 
)
https://www.rosl.org.uk/clubhouses/london
Just checked in actually as I have a Networking event tonight.
Super handy - 5 mins walk from Green Park, behind The Ritz.
Membership is something like £300 I put through expenses, and for £140 a night in St James for Bed and Breakfast pretty frickin' reasonable. Ok - so it is a bit stuffy, and old farty but for me to crash for the night, somewhere I know and handy for the City, I use it a lot.
Interesting - how long in advance do you have to book accommodation? )https://www.rosl.org.uk/clubhouses/london
Just checked in actually as I have a Networking event tonight.
Super handy - 5 mins walk from Green Park, behind The Ritz.
Membership is something like £300 I put through expenses, and for £140 a night in St James for Bed and Breakfast pretty frickin' reasonable. Ok - so it is a bit stuffy, and old farty but for me to crash for the night, somewhere I know and handy for the City, I use it a lot.
Olivera said:
DaveH23 said:
Our policy is £200 per night inside the M25, Reading & Aberdeen, Everywhere else is £90.
£90 per night is a piss-poor allowance for the elsewhere category. I would be telling them to sod off with that travel.£200 in London is issue.
colin79666 said:
At my present employer there is £25 for an evening meal (it was £30 then £20 then went back up to £25 after much protest for staff including myself who proved not all company mandated hotels offered a 2 course meal and drink for £20...). Nothing for lunch and no snacks unless there is no access to tap water. Most large companies insist you book through their own or outsourced travel provider and pick form their hotel list. Ours has tightened the policy so now you have to fully justify staying anywhere but they cheapest (e.g. cheapest is 1-0 miles away so would actually cost more overall with travel included).
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Colin... That will be big out sourcwr based near victoria then... Helped keep the share price up all this cost cutting didnt it!.
Edited by hantsxlg on Saturday 11th February 23:00
I once had a single-bed in a single-room for a single night at £190 approved. Even I thought that was insane.
No real reason to go into London, but £130 is generally considered the nightly limit but usually we're pushed into a Marriott, but often we're just trying to find somewhere decent in the sticks. 50 quid at Wookey Hole was probably the cheapest.
No real reason to go into London, but £130 is generally considered the nightly limit but usually we're pushed into a Marriott, but often we're just trying to find somewhere decent in the sticks. 50 quid at Wookey Hole was probably the cheapest.
Have you looked up the government Per Diem rate for central London..?
https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/employmen...
More digging needed
https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/employmen...
More digging needed
Edited by bridgdav on Saturday 11th February 21:50
Our policy, officially, is no more than £80/night. In reality, they don't question anything below £100 and will generally approve up to £120 if it can be justified (last minute bookings for example).
I believe we get £30 for an evening meal and no alcohol, but in reality they never question anything reasonable and will always pay for a glass or two. In fact, when we're billing a client who states they won't pay for booze, the company will allow us to expense it under another heading. It's just the general "we understand you're doing us a favour, so we'll let you enjoy yourself as much as reasonable".
I believe we get £30 for an evening meal and no alcohol, but in reality they never question anything reasonable and will always pay for a glass or two. In fact, when we're billing a client who states they won't pay for booze, the company will allow us to expense it under another heading. It's just the general "we understand you're doing us a favour, so we'll let you enjoy yourself as much as reasonable".
Some of the fairest expenses I work to are on international projects; mainly donor-funded stuff.
Typically, they state a flight allowance and a per-diem....or a higher day rate but no further expenses to be claimed other than the flights. I'm currently working in Cyprus with the higher day rate and flight allowance (£400). I'm normally there for 10 days at a time and book a package holiday. In December, I booked a 10 night stay, B&B, including flights for £280.
Typically, they state a flight allowance and a per-diem....or a higher day rate but no further expenses to be claimed other than the flights. I'm currently working in Cyprus with the higher day rate and flight allowance (£400). I'm normally there for 10 days at a time and book a package holiday. In December, I booked a 10 night stay, B&B, including flights for £280.
My OH travels to London a lot. They use specific hotels near to their offices, which removes the ambiguity for the employee, and operate a specific budget for meals. Any employer that doesn't make it clear enough what the rules are can expect some varied choices being made by staff. Obviously no one should be taking the piss, but what constitutes "reasonable" may vary to a certain degree between individuals. Employers should set out clear guidelines. If they know what isn't reasonable after the event then they know what is reasonable before the event.
Eddh said:
JB! said:
Our London rate at work is something like £120? Its crap. £80 elsewhere.
£5 breakfast if you leave home before 6am, £5 lunch, £25 evening meal, no alcohol.
Civil Servant?£5 breakfast if you leave home before 6am, £5 lunch, £25 evening meal, no alcohol.
ETA - had a £56 hotel flag as over policy in Cardiff last week.
What a farce.
One place I worked at had a very strict policy on hotels. In one case the client was in a central site in a major city, most of us had flown out.
The hotel about 5 minutes walk from the client was "too expensive" we pointed out that we would be using taxi's but no dice.
So to save £20 a night they were paying for multiple £30 taxi rides.
Cos "rules is rules"
The hotel about 5 minutes walk from the client was "too expensive" we pointed out that we would be using taxi's but no dice.
So to save £20 a night they were paying for multiple £30 taxi rides.
Cos "rules is rules"
JB! said:
Eddh said:
JB! said:
Our London rate at work is something like £120? Its crap. £80 elsewhere.
£5 breakfast if you leave home before 6am, £5 lunch, £25 evening meal, no alcohol.
Civil Servant?£5 breakfast if you leave home before 6am, £5 lunch, £25 evening meal, no alcohol.
ETA - had a £56 hotel flag as over policy in Cardiff last week.
What a farce.
Know someone who went to a Thai brothel and tried to put the ~£20 through as a "haircut" because he'd been on the road for a month and most of the receipt was not in English. Got caught when a random internal audit of foreign expenses demanded a translation, followed by a quick Google for the company name 
Yipper said:
Know someone who went to a Thai brothel and tried to put the ~£20 through as a "haircut" because he'd been on the road for a month and most of the receipt was not in English. Got caught when a random internal audit of foreign expenses demanded a translation, followed by a quick Google for the company name
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