Hi,

Apologies that this will not be the most thrilling post but here goes……..

It work as an IT engineer and often work away from home. My company allows hotel costs of up to £100 per night to be claimed back and provides an evening meal allowance of £20. They do not allow lunches to be claimed back as “you would have to buy lunch wherever you are”.

Can others who perform a similar role comment on how this compares with what they receive.

My main issue is that it is almost impossible to find a decent quality hotel in central London for £100 so I often end up in tourist trap fleapits with coachloads of theatre goers and foreign students. These are bearable for a couple of nights but not great when you are stuck in them for weeks.

My other gripe is that I am expected to pay for these hotels myself and claim the cost back on expenses. Sometimes I have over £3k outstanding as I can only submit claims in person at my company’s office and, due to the project commitements, it is sometimes more than a month before I can do this.

we don’t really have fixed numbers but it has to be reasonable. lunch, snack and so on would all be expensed but travelling isn’t the norm for me so the lunch thing mightn’t be unreasonable.

I would expect to pay more like 120-150 for London if not more.

I’d certainly be raising the issue with your company if I were you. Same for the credit card thing. It’s got to be reasonable to post expenses claims to them if you can’t get to the office. Either that or they give you a company card.

Our allowances are
£100 Dinner Bed & Breakfast Outside London
£125 For London

If you are working for the company (staff) then CC or get the hotel to bill direct to your company or to your bosses CC (we do this a lot fax from your admin people with the booking with CC details to pay the bill)

At this point go watch “Up in the Air” for tips on point collection aim for Holiday Inn at that price range and get the points for future use.

Try and get a Credit Card yourself that pays rewards (cashback/points) for your expenses only. Try talking to your bank.

If you can’t get to submit your claim monthly add interest to your claims!!

My old employer was probably on the liberal side but there was no limit on expenses – it was just expected that we would be reasonable and if we weren’t, our boss would hammer us when we submitted expenses.

As for lunch etc: my policy was that as soon as I got on the first train/plane/taxi and was working, just about everything after then was expensable. Every meal, every coffee (not boozing in the evening, obviously). I once charged a 2p bus ticket to expenses (partly to make the point that I was so f’ing rigorous with my exes they could rip through all of them if they liked and they were all legit – unlike the woman I worked with that got fired for charging cars home after drinking at the bar beneath our office D’OH).

sounds a little bit tight for the hotel, Probably do need a few more quid for London these days. I just checked prices for Premiere Inn and Holiday Inn Express, some of them can be done within £100 some not. Travelodge are a bit of a dump and I try not to use them, espcially the Kings Cross one, I had to leave as after one night as it was minging.

£20.00 should feed you ok in the evening though, plus I’ve never been bothered about having to buy my own lunch.

re the expenses, surely working for an IT company you should be able to submit them online ? and as for getting your money back, I would expect it certainly before the month is out.

Kev

Once I’m out of the house on business, everything is expensed, as it’s a cost you wouldn’t normally be incurring (since you can do packed luch if you’re in the office etc etc) and this:

I can only submit claims in person at my company’s office

Seems wrong, surely you can submit a claim form with scans of all the receipts via email, it’s either that or you expense your credit card charges and interest as well.

Thanks chaps,

It seems from the responses that £100 for London is too low.

I have suggested that we have a policy that we use Premier Inn’s as these represent a decent business level hotel and that we be allowed to book them in central London but doubt whether I will get a positive response.

I think the main problem with my company is that the core business is box shifting PC’s, servers etc. and that the account managers for larger accounts have taken the mickey in the past so everything is tightly controlled and monitored.

I work in what is a new and small part of the comapny delivering project services and I just do not think anyone in the finance team understands our issues. We are the only team that is not office based for long periods and hence have problems with submitting claims.

I did raise the London hotel issue with one of the directors and his suggestion was that we should commute to the end of a tube line and stay in a Travelodge!

We are the only team that is not office based for long periods and hence have problems with submitting claims.

Can you not do it by post, at least?

I asked about doing it by post. I was told that I could but that if the letter containing the original receipts was lost then I would not get paid even if I had scans of the receipts as a backup.

The vibe that I got was that I was just being a nuisance to the finance department – there was very little sympathy with my predicament.

There is also an issue that if submiited expenses exceed £1,000 a higher level of approval is needed which annoys the finance team and typically delays payment by at least a week.

Given that I can very easily exceed £2k per month if working on a project away from home I am getting pretty peeved with the situation.

Ask for a company credit card?

My rules are don’t take the piss. Works pretty well.

our place (big multinational company) has a different rate by country – UK is higher than US, for instance, exept for NYC which is higher than the UK. I think you can get hiltons in london for a smidge over £100. in the US, i get an allowance of $150/night for hotel and $100/day for food

£25 meal allowance here. Can be made up of lunch, evening meal, drinks.The finance dept aren’t too fussy as long as we don’t go over.

Hotels are usual booked in advance and paid for by our office so I don’t need to worry about paying for it myself. A couple of times I’ve had flights cancelled and had to get a last minute hotel late at night, early hours and i’ve just paid for it and submitted with expenses. No limit on hotel costs, they just trust us to be reasonable and not take the pee.

Flights are paid for in advance, but same as the hotels. Fuel card for my van or 40p per mile if I use my own car.

I do a similar role to you so hopefully something to compare.

When I used to work away from home a lot, the company always booked the rooms, as they had a better rate due to the volume, but you could end up anywhere from a travel lodge to a 4* hotel.
They paid for Breakfast and evening meals and normally they were added to the room booking.
The one exception was a dump of a place when I got there I discovered I was sharing a room and although booked with an evening meal discovered there was no restaurant, upon talking to reception we were given some takeaway menus and told to order what we liked and the company would pick up the tab, so we did, we went mad indian chinese pizza and kebabs. The boss wasn’t happy but he learnt not to mess us about.

The company I work for now are really good, they book decent hotels or let us book where we like and are relaxed with expenses as long as you don’t take the piss your fine, and nobody takes the mick as the boss is fair.

Also, a lot of folk in the company I work for work from home or work onsite so are never in the office. We have an online expenses system and receipts are send through the post (recorded delivery if need be).

The £25 I mentioned is actually classed as a living allowance per day.

The person who looks after travel is really flexible and we can state hotel preferences. Stayed in a Travelodge in the centre of London once and it was a sh*t hole. Never again.

No limits here no Reasonable expenses with a good reason will be refused

Works well for me

I work on the as soon as i leave the house for travel im on expenses

Including breakfast at airport which got questioned on the fact i should have had breakfast before leaving to go airport ! – i have to get in a taxi at 3am for a 6am flight . Explained that and my breakfast was approved

Company books hotels at 3 star or better

Have ended up in some ace hotels ! never been in a really bad one yet even in africa !

Might be worth sorting a business card with travel inn (IIRC, up to 6 weeks interest free, which should get you round the expenses trap) or a corporate account with Holiday inn, which might bring the cost down a little to keep it within the £100

I was told that I could but that if the letter containing the original receipts was lost then I would not get paid even if I had scans of the receipts as a backup.

Scumbags.

Do you travel with others from your work?

Have you considered an apartment if you are going to be there for more than a week?

If there are 3 of you, you could get a decent place between you.

A lot more comfortable than hotels and you eat a lot better to.

£100 limit for us lot but its unwritten and a verbal guideline only.

We do see it as a target though

£65 per night B&B leaves a nice amount of room for beer and curry! 😀

No limit for us, although don’t take the mick. If I’m away on business I claim for dinner but not lunch, so your policy doesn’t sound out of order in that respect.

I’m abroad most of the time and generally submit my expenses when my boss visits me, can often be several months between claims. You will usually get at least a month interest free on a credit card, sometimes up to 60 days depending on when the transaction is made, so monthly claims shouldn’t present an issue. Get a card with some rewards and you’re laughing – my boss uses a Marks and Spencer card and gets loads of cash off shopping as a result.

Cheers, Rich

Old company was £7.50 day expenses, £17.50 evening meal which was was difficult to stick to when in London or Tokyo. 3*, £100 limit for hotels. I didn’t have a company CC but didn’t travel a huge amount, occasionally though it was a pain as they took up to a month to pay expenses which left me with credit card interest to pay.

With the new company work from home and can expense travel whenever I need to leave home (which is 2-3 days a week). £25 evening meal allowance, but no allowance for lunch which I’m not so happy about because although yes I would have to get lunch anyway when travelling I often need to eat at airports and other places that are far more expensive than a regular lunch. Hotel allowance is £120 is a major city, £100 elsewhere. I now have a company CC which is OK but I have a 5 day window to do my expenses online every month, the expenses then get paid with my wages and the CC bill is paid by me. If I miss that window or my boss does not sign them off the CC bill there could be trouble as I’d have to wait another month whilst £1500 odd down.

Back to the OP – The director who wants you to stay at the end of a tube line sounds like a knob. I bet he doesn’t do that when he stays away! Definitely demand a company CC,what would you do if you didn’t have a personal CC?

To the OP you shouldn’t have to be out of pocket that much every month, most companies I have worked for have given me a float at the start of employment to cover expenses that I had to give back as and when I left so in theory you weren’t out of pocket – maybe suggest that.

But a CC would be the answer, the company can keep track of your expenditure etc. My company pays the bill and I just have to provide receipts.

Our hotel allowance is also supposed to be £100 but not strictly adhered to, as you say in major cities this is not always possible, the view is taken that you stay somewhere close to your intended workplace.

When I worked for a big IT company a few years back they started playing games like this. After nagging at my manager and hinting I’d be off if they didn’t do something about it I was given a company CC. Provided I submitted receipts and didn’t take the mick there was no problem.

The problem for you sounds like the finance department don’t know their arse from their elbows. If doing work in London costs the company more than elsewhere in the country they need to bill accordingly.

Personally I’d just refuse to work on these assignments until they are supportive, if they get funny threaten them with someone like TandemJeremy.

Have to use the company intranet through their links to book hotels which includes breakfast and evening meal plus eight quid for drinks, papers etc

Train fares can be booked too through their links, but I often book well in advance and always receiving offers (East Coast Mainline) to go 1st class, so I do
Company only allows 2nd class travel, so i look that up, take a screen print and charge them that, but pay the extra myself for first

Much more civilised and get free meals too, nice breakfast and then tea on the way home plus a comfy reclining seat in the quiet coach
My next foray opp north was only thirteen quid extra there and back, well worth it

Large multi-national.

Staff are on reasonable daily allowances that very by country, set at levels where an employee would not be out of pocket. Although it is amazing how many staff complain that the allowance doesn’t quite stretch to most hotel breakfasts, yet lunch and dinner are very generous in comparison. Cake and eat it or what? On extended trips it can be a little money earner even without scrimping when you take into account you have to feed yourself anyway.

Management grades are on actuals and provided they are reasonable I have never had any problems. Although it does pee me off when I see some of my managerial colleagues from regional offices asking for a receipt for the 75p bowl of breakfast porridge from the already subsidized canteen at HO, FFS.

Hotels are simply what they cost although I assume the Four Seasons would not be acceptable (never tried it mind) , but the standard 4* business hotels are the norm.

The vibe that I got was that I was just being a nuisance to the finance department

I once had this after an arguement with my boss, so I just said “ok, lets go see them, now”

“But its 7:30pm” says he

Says I “exactly, tell them to do there f***ing job and let me do mine!”

If it was me, I’d make the point by spending every Friday afternoon in the office doing my expenses.

Also as someone who once spent almost every weekday night away from home, there should be different rules for those who are out all the time vs the once in a blue-moon crowd.

And if they persist with the restricted overnight costs, just commute. 🙂

Tell company you have no credit card. You work for them you aren’t a bank but an employee. Works for me. If they go bust who gets to settle your CC Account with £2k on it?

I work for a very large multi-national (over 500k employees)

My expenses are ‘whatever is reasonable’ as long as it’s receipted.

My accomodation has varied from €70 per night when i was in italy, up to the company designated hotel in paris (Just off Avenue Victor Hugo) for €140 per night. As long as i use a company approved hotel then they’ll pay whatever.

And as long as my expenses are reasonable and accountable (i.e. i needed a hire car, or something like that) then they’ll have no problem getting them paid. for things like flights etc, i don’t pay a penny, as the agency we sort flights through bills the company directly.

But i’m in a similar position to the OP. I got myself a rewards credit card, and bung everything onto there. I then get the costs paid to me in my wage which pays off the ccd. If there are any credit card interest charges due to non-payment, that goes on my expenses too.

I once told the company i work for that i had no ccd, they said my hotel was going to be paid for by someone else so i’d have nothing to pay. I spent a week in paris, and when i came to paying the hotel bill (Approx €850), i was lucky to have just cleared off my only ccd at that time which had a £750 limit. the cost of the hotel came to £3 underneath my limit. When i asked afterwards, they said that they weren’t able to pay in advance.

Think ours in the UK was £100/night, but notionally split in to £60 for hotel, and £40 for food, phonecalls, inconvenience etc.

If the hotel came to more than £60 then you could expense the difference. If it was less then it was yours to keep. Obviously somewhere like London you’d always be claiming extra, so sometimes the company would pay the hotel direct, and then you’d get just the £40.

Normally they expected you to pay by CC, but if the stay was more than so many days then they’d give an advance.

Previous place was a right PITA. They’d give a cash advance for more than the allowance, so you’d end up paying surplass back. Used to take me more than half a day just to sort out all the receipts, plus expensing an amount to cover my loss for double currency transaction. The fixed £100 and spend it how you like is so much easier.

+1 Sandwich, start claiming once a week you are not their bank.

Normally I claim once a month, but if the expenses start to pile up then it’s once a week. Our place (7,000 or so employees UK and worldwide) have finally joined the 20th/21st century and allow scans of the receipts, which speeds up payment and means no more lost in the post delays on claims.

If they go bust who gets to settle your CC Account with £2k on it?

Good point. Ask for the contents of the finance director’s office as collateral! 😉

£100 a night can get you a nice enough Travelodge in London, most I’ve paid for one there is £60.

Tom alot of wotk travel (certainly for me ) is not planned early enough to get the good rates.

I came back from den helder yesterday on a 250quid return flight but had to pay 250 quid for a one way as i booked it on thursday for sat as it was only then i got conformation i was getting on the chopper home.

My fiance gets £30 for meals and a limit of about £100 for hotels. As you say it’s impossible to get a hotel in London at short notice for less than that so she often goes through the company travel department as they are allowed to increase the budget if they can’t find anything.