Appendix 13 - Expenses Policy
Purpose
This policy sets out the Company's rules on how employees can claim for expenses incurred in the performance of their duties for the Company. The purpose of this policy is to ensure that employees are properly reimbursed for legitimate business expenses and to ensure that these expenses are treated appropriately for tax purposes.
General Procedure
The Company will reimburse you for actual expenditure that is incurred wholly, necessarily and exclusively in connection with authorised duties that you undertake in the course of your employment.
To claim expenses, you must use the Company’s expenses claim form available from the Accounts team and attach original VAT receipts/invoices showing the date and time of transaction (unless claiming for mileage). Credit and debit card statements will not be accepted. Once completed and signed, you should submit your expenses claim form to your Manager. Once your Manager has approved the claim form, this will be sent to the accounts department.
Expenses claims must be submitted within 30 days of the expense being incurred. If this is not practical, written approval for any extension will be required from your line manager. The Company reserves the right to withhold any payment where written approval has not been sought.
The Company may return an expense claim form to you without payment if it is completed incorrectly or lacks supporting evidence.
The Company will pay claims for authorised expenses by BACS transfer into the same bank account into which your salary is paid.
If you have claims for expenditure other than for those categories listed below, you should seek written approval from your line manager before incurring the expense. The Company will accept email as written approval where it is required in this policy.
Any queries in relation to this policy should be directed to a Director.
Travel
Employees and line managers should consider whether or not travel is necessary to meet business objectives or if there are more appropriate means (for example, teleconferencing or videoconferencing). Staff that do need to travel should consider whether they can take our EV pool car to make their trip more environmentally friendly. If this is an option, then please discuss with your manager and familiarise yourself with our Company driving policy – Appendix 16.
Rail
You may claim for standard class rail fares only. Where possible, rail journeys should be booked well in advance to benefit from any discounts for early booking.
Use Of Your Own Car
It may be appropriate and cost-effective to use your own car when travelling on business, for example if you are travelling with several employees or, where there is limited public transport to your destination, or the journey time is significantly shorter than using public transport. Any use of your own car on business is subject to you:
holding a full UK driving licence;
ensuring that your car is roadworthy and fully registered; and
holding comprehensive motor insurance that provides for business use.
Prior authorisation should be sought from your Manager before using your own car on business.
The Company accepts no liability for any accident, loss, damage or claim arising out of any journey that you make on business unless caused by the Company's negligence. The Company will not pay for the cost of any insurance policy on your own car.
To claim for fuel expenditure when driving your own car for business use, you should set out the distance of the journey undertaken on your expenses claim form. The Company will pay you a mileage allowance in accordance with the rate set out by HMRC.
To claim for fuel expenditure when driving a company car, or when you are in receipt of a company car allowance, you should claim for the mileage allowance for company car rates, as set out from time to time by HM Revenue and Customs.
The Company will pay for tolls, congestion charges and parking costs incurred as part of the business journey, where applicable, but not parking fines.
Meals/Accommodation
As a guideline for business travel, you should book accommodation equivalent to three-star standard or less. You may book hotel accommodation of up to £120 maximum in a major city and £100 elsewhere.
It is your responsibility to ensure that any hotel reservations are cancelled within the required cancellation period if they are no longer required.
If you are required to undertake business travel and you incur a cost on a meal (food and drink) after starting the journey, subject to retaining appropriate evidence of expenditure, you may claim the amounts stated on the Expenses claim form.
In the event that you are inviting clients or other business contacts for breakfast, lunch, or dinner to discuss business matters, these maximum rates will not apply. However, where possible, you should obtain prior written approval from your Manager before making any reservations.
You should supply or attach receipts and invoices for all hotel and meal expenses. You can be reimbursed for a meal once only. If the cost of an evening meal or breakfast is included in the cost of overnight accommodation, you will not be entitled to meal allowances in respect of those meals.
Expenses That Will Not Be Reimbursed
The Company will not reimburse you for:
the cost of any travel between your home and usual place of work;
the cost of any travel undertaken for personal reasons;
the cost of any travel for your partner or spouse;
any fines or penalties incurred while on business for whatever reason, including penalties for not paying for a rail ticket in advance of boarding the train and penalties or fines associated with motoring offences, including speeding or parking fines, clamping or vehicle recovery charges;
any expenses incurred for personal benefit or to improperly influence or reward a business contact; or
cash advances or withdrawals from an ATM machine.
You are required to pay for any travel costs incurred by your partner or spouse in the event that they accompany you on business. Your spouse or partner must have adequate travel insurance for that journey.
False Claims
If the Company considers that any expenditure claimed was not legitimately incurred on behalf of the Company, it may request further details from you. The Company will thoroughly investigate and check any expenses claim as it sees fit. It may withhold payment where insufficient supporting documents have been provided. Where payment has been made to you prior to the discovery that the claim was not legitimate or correct, it may deduct the value of that claim from your next salary payment on completion of the investigation.
Any abuse of the Company's expenses policy will not be tolerated. This includes, but is not limited to:
false expense claims;
claims for expenses that were not legitimately incurred;
claims for personal gain;
claims for hospitality and/or gifts to induce a client or other business contact to take improper action; and
receipt by you of hospitality and/or gifts from business contacts that may be perceived to influence your judgment.
The Company will take disciplinary action where appropriate and, in certain circumstances, may treat a breach of this policy as gross misconduct, which may result in your summary dismissal. In addition, the Company may report the matter to the police for investigation and criminal prosecution.