Personal Phone / Work Phone - Expenses Claim

[romeogolf]

I've just been emailed the below at work.

Email said:

Hi romeogolf

Just to check before I try and sort phones out.

If you were able and we could organise would you prefer to stick with a company phone or claim back £35 per month via expenses for your own contract?

Any queries, let me know

bravohotel

Just wondering what people's thoughts are on whether any potential profit from a sub-£35/month contract would outweigh the hassle of managing it myself and claiming it each month?

I'd always keep a separate number/handset for my work phone, it's just whether I'm paying and claiming back or they are I guess.

[Countdown]

romeogolf said:

I've just been emailed the below at work.

Email said:

Hi romeogolf

Just to check before I try and sort phones out.

If you were able and we could organise would you prefer to stick with a company phone or claim back £35 per month via expenses for your own contract?

Any queries, let me know

bravohotel

Just wondering what people's thoughts are on whether any potential profit from a sub-£35/month contract would outweigh the hassle of managing it myself and claiming it each month?

I'd always keep a separate number/handset for my work phone, it's just whether I'm paying and claiming back or they are I guess.

We have something similar but it's paid automatically via Payroll (and taxed). They can't pay you a fixed £35pcm via expenses without receipts - it has to be taxed.

For us the fact that it's taxed means you end up with £25 OR you can have an IPhone 7. If you normally spend < £25pcm on a phone then take the cash. I have an IPhone SE on a £9pcm contract so I take the cash.

[Vee]

As a money making scheme it’s more work for a relatively small amount.
If you leave you’re tied into an unwanted contract. What is the contract you sign up to doesn’t give you enough data ?
Easier for work to supply the phone in my opinion.

[BobbyA]

You cant claim a £35 expense for a phone bill less then £35.

As others have said they can pay a fixed allowance like a car allowance but this will be taxed.

Or if claiming via an expense you need to provide a receipt / bill. If this is less then £35 you will only get what is on the receipt.

If your bill is more then you can only get the £35.

Also not sure what hassle you have in "managing" a phone bill, it just gets paid its pretty simple actually

My company offer similar, i use my own phone and expense it. I hated having two phones to worry about.

[rog007]

I see many who use their own telephone so as not to have to lug two ‘phones around.

Pros and cons to either way; seems more of a personal preference based upon your role and position within the organisation.

[fat80b]

(worth caveating with I'm in the 1 phone camp)

but I've always been of the view that I'd rather have my own phone and own the number and the contacts rather than let the company own it.

Even when I've been offered a company handset / SIM, I'd rather use my own. In my experience, having access to MY phone when I leave is way more valuable to me than a few extra quid per month saved.

Having seen people leave a company struggle to hang on to a phone / their number, it can cause a world of pain that just ain't worth a few quid per month

If the company offer to pay the bill (as the current place do) then great but for the low cost of an unlimited contract (e.g. three), I'll pay it myself rather than lose control.

I'm not in sales but I've found that most sales guys also do this. Their contacts, their number, their life etc. Nothing in life is free.....

[QuartzDad]

We don't get the company provided option, have to expense with receipt every month. Capped at £35/£50/£100 depending on seniority. We also get up to £30/month for broadband.

[Stella Tortoise]

Could you buy a phone with 2 SIM slots and bung a work plus personal SIM in and take the £35?

[Mr E]

Stella Tortoise said:

Could you buy a phone with 2 SIM slots and bung a work plus personal SIM in and take the £35?

Take the money. Second/virtual sim in your existing phone. Lovely.

[Fer]

I have been fighting to keep the old company blackberry, as I would rather have their minutes then trying to claim back my £30 a month, before tax, so I would end up low on data too. Also company expects to have their selection of apps to lock the phone down, and have their own option to remote wipe, so I would have to have a second phone, just owned by me.

[Radec]

CheesecakeRunner said:

I always take the company phone:

• It'll never run out of minutes at home or abroad
• It'll never run out of data at home or abroad
• I can turn it off at 6pm on Friday and back on at 8:30am on Monday.
• I never have to worry about the bill or insuring it.

This.

I wouldn't want to fanny about sorting my own phone out just to make a bit of extra money.
Getting a contract out and going through a credit check.
Most decent contracts are probably more than £35 and you have to pay a bit upfront for a decent phone.

Even knocked back a iPhone 8 just so I can keep my SE as it's perfect for work, small, good battery and great for calls and emails.

Just let work sort it, I'd say.

[Vee]

rog007 said:

I see many who use their own telephone so as not to have to lug two ‘phones around.

Pros and cons to either way; seems more of a personal preference based upon your role and position within the organisation.

I choose to use my own.
Any charges outside my contract allowances I claim, mainly roaming charges when I travel(lled).
In the last year they've introduced a Company Portal app which will only allow access to company email if this is installed. It mandates a 6 character passcode and also gives the company the ability to wipe the phone remotely if lost.
IT explained to me that they don't have access to personal email apps such as Gmail, WhatsApp or texts. Not sure how true that is but on balance I'd rather not carry a second phone around.
I don't necessarily need work email on my phone but prefer to have it.
Against that I make sure it backs up to iCloud each night so if it gets lost and they wipe it my personal data is safe.
Additionally I try to watch what videos and photos I open - videos and photos from certain senders are deleted without being read.
My employer is very good in the sense that people don't expect a response outside working hours. If it was urgent the caller would leave me a message and I'd respond if I wanted to.

[GT03ROB]

Two phones.

I have 2 iPhones a 6 & 6s. If I don't want to be available the one with the company SIM stays at home or out of the way. They are small enough that carrying 2 is not a problem. Added complication in my case is company number is Russian, mine British!

[Radec]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Tbh it's not, it's just the overall thing of having to go get a phone, then you have so many different phones and contracts to decide which one is the best for you, for me it's just easier if the company sorts it.
I'm guessing it depends on your role and who you work for that would play a part in it as well.

My company would allow us to have a work phone but not use our own as there could be a slim chance of data leak when using your own phone for work hence it's a big no no. If I did lose the work one, they could remote wipe it.

For me it's easier to keep work and personal separate and I actually prefer it that way.

[romeogolf]

Thanks all. After confirming a few details, I've told them I'll stick with the current arrangement where they provide the phone and contract.

(1) I also prefer having two handsets, so when I'm on leave I can leave my work phone at home and not receive calls/texts that make me think of work.
(2) As mentioned above, the £35 is a cap not a standard amount, so there's no actual monetary benefit to me.
(3) While managing the contract isn't exactly difficult, it's just one little extra bit of "life-admin" I don't need to deal with; Finding deals, switching contracts if a better one is available; submitting expense claims. Not worth it.
(4) It was also confirmed that from the £35/month I would be expected to provide my own handset. My employer provided me with an iPhone 6s three years ago (when it was two years old). The equivalent today would be the iPhone Xs or Xr, neither of which are within the £35-monthly budget which suggests I'd be out of pocket when it's time to replace the handset.

[austina35]

I've had a company phone for probably the last 10-12 years and have changed jobs 3 times. I treat the work phone for work only. Meaning I never give the number out unless it's for business.

So when I get bored and leave the company for a new one, I hand the phone back and forget about it. I get a new phone with the next job. In the meantime, I still have my personal phone number which has remained the same for over 20 years. This number never gets given to anyone I work with.

2 phones for 2 different reasons. Work and play never mix.

[anonymous-user]

Chap on holiday recently with his GF for a week was watching 'love Island' and all that junk on his work phone.

The company didn't even bat an eyelid at the £15k databill

[devnull]

One phone for both, never bothered me in 20 years.

These days you can request a pac by text so less chance of your company holding you to ransom over your number.

[buymeabar]

speedyguy said:

Chap on holiday recently with his GF for a week was watching 'love Island' and all that junk on his work phone.

The company didn't even bat an eyelid at the £15k databill

In stark contrast to that. My old company had an unwritten rule which was very much spoken regularly by senior management: You’re always on call (even if you’re not on an official rota) so regardless of weekend or holidays take your work phone with you everywhere.

I was therefore somewhat surprised after returning from a holiday in Asia for three weeks to get hauled over the coals by my manager and HR for accruing a 1600 quid data roaming bill. I’d not even used the phone, the data usage was all for auto app updates and push notification. Our data security policy was also very specific about having all app updates applied. Their logic didn’t make sense.

I left shortly after. Best thing ever to leave that st shower of a company. There was a lot of other stuff, they’d simply gone off me and wanted to bully me out like they had done to several others before me. I should have taken them to a tribunal but couldn’t be bothered wasting oxygen or stress on these clowns.