Mileage claim: the record that has to exist before the journey

A mileage claim reimburses somebody for using their own vehicle on business, and it is the expense category most likely to be queried — because it is self-reported, because the amounts accumulate quietly, and because the rules about which journeys qualify are less obvious than they look. The defence is not a stricter policy but a record made per journey rather than reconstructed per month.

What a mileage claim must record

• The date of the journey, individually, rather than a total for the period.
• Start and end points, as actual addresses or recognisable places — "client visit" is not a journey record.
• The business reason, in a few words, which is what distinguishes it from private travel.
• The distance, from a consistent source rather than from memory.
• Which vehicle, where somebody uses more than one or where engine size affects the rate.
• Any private detour included in the trip, deducted rather than quietly carried.

How the rates work

Most tax authorities publish an approved rate per mile or kilometre that can be paid without creating a taxable benefit, often with a lower rate above an annual threshold. Pay at or below that rate and the administration is simple; pay above it and the excess is usually taxable as earnings, which is a payroll matter rather than an expenses one. Paying below the approved rate is also a decision with consequences, since employees can frequently claim tax relief on the shortfall — worth knowing before setting a lower rate to save money.

Home to the normal place of work is almost never claimable. It is ordinary commuting, and the same journey does not become business travel because somebody went in on a Saturday or stopped at a client on the way. This single rule causes more rejected claims and more quiet overpayment than everything else in the category combined.

Running it so it stays clean

1. Require claims within a stated period — a month is reasonable — since accuracy collapses with distance from the journey.
2. Have people record journeys as they happen, because a month-end reconstruction is an estimate with a number attached.
3. Check a sample rather than every line: a spot check of three journeys a quarter changes behaviour more than a full review nobody has time to do.
4. Compare claimed distances against a mapping tool for anything unusual, and ask about the difference rather than adjusting it silently.
5. Keep the records for the period your tax authority requires, which is longer than most companies keep expense paperwork.

The insurance point people miss

An ordinary private motor policy does not cover business use. Somebody driving to a client in their own car without business cover is uninsured for that journey, which is the employee's problem legally and the employer's problem in every other sense. Asking for evidence of business-use cover before approving the first claim takes one email and is the only part of this subject where the consequence of inattention is not financial.

Ettex Expenses holds the journey-level detail — date, route, reason, distance and rate — so the total is a sum rather than somebody's estimate, and the evidence sits with the claim. The wider rules about what may be claimed at all belong in the expense policy, which is where this one should be written down.