Expense claims

• • Expense claims should be made on the appropriate expense claim form here.

  • The form must be completed and signed by the consultant, and emailed to the E Co. team leader for processing.

  • Consultant's should ensure that all expense claims are made promptly and at the latest within four weeks of incurring the expense. Expense claims will be reimbursed within 30 days of receiving the claim form and receipts to your nominated bank account.

Provision of receipts

• • For audit purposes, consultant's must provide original VAT receipts for expenditure incurred where this is reasonably possible. Where it is not possible, the consultant must give a detailed description of the expenditure incurred on the expense claim form.

Advances of expenses

• • It is not the general policy of the Company to advance expenses. In circumstances, such as when travelling internationally, an advance to cover travel costs can be possible. You will need to speak to the Team Leader to obtain approval. Once approved you will need to complete an Advance Payment Request form and email to the E Co. team leader who will then forward to our Accounting team to process payment. The form can be found here.

Subsistence allowances

Overnight absence

• • E Co. will reimburse reasonable out of pocket expenses incurred by the consultant when it is necessary to stay away from home overnight on Company business. This will include the following:

    • • Hotel bills

      • Breakfast

      • Lunch, evening meal and beverages - to an overall maximum of £40 per day (please note that the consultant may incur costs in excess of £40 but may only claim up to £40).

      • Parking at hotel

      • In all cases consultant's should retain all invoices.

Staying with friends or relatives

• • An consultant may claim an allowance of up to £35 per night. Receipts are not required but the consultant must confirm that the overnight stay was necessary in connection with travelling on Eco business.

  • A consultant claiming this allowance cannot also claim reimbursement of actual accommodation and subsistence costs although they can claim overnight incidental expenses (see below).

  • In all cases consultant's should retain all invoices.

Incidental Overnight Expenses

• • Incidental Overnight Expenses up to a maximum of £5 per night for UK travel or £10 per night may be reimbursed. This is intended to cover items such as telephone calls, newspapers and laundry. The total of any such costs must not exceed £5 or £10 otherwise no reimbursement will be allowed, ie the allowance should not be regarded as a contribution to such costs.

  • If the consultant is away for more than one night, the daily limits (ie £40 and £5 / £10) may be averaged across the number of nights that the consultant is away.

  • In all cases consultant's should retain all invoices.

Meals in other circumstances

• • Consultant's who are required to travel on Company business, but who are not staying away overnight, may claim the reasonable cost of subsistence against original VAT receipts up to a maximum of £20 per day.

Travelling allowances

Definition of business travel

• • The Company will reimburse travelling expenses which are necessarily incurred for business purposes. In determining what constitutes a business journey, the following apply:

Consultant's whose normal base is at an office

Journeys from the office

• • Once approved, where an consultant starts a business journey, e.g. to visit a client or to visit a site, the odometer reading on the vehicle should be noted at the start and at the end of the journey. The expense claim form can then be completed with the actual mileage undertaken. The starting point along with the place or places visited should be noted, including the individual or company visited and location.

Journeys from home

• • Journeys between a consultant's home and their normal work base are considered private and do not constitute business travel. Under no circumstances should consultant's claim the cost of their journeys from home to their normal place of work. All journeys from home on business not to the normal work base may be regarded as business travel.

Car/motorcycles/bikes

• • In circumstances where approval is given for a consultant to use their car, motorcycle or bike for business travel, mileage will be reimbursed at the rate set by reference to the HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) rules on AMAPs (Approved Mileage Allowance Payments). These are currently as follows: of 45p per mile for cars, 24p for motorcycles and 20 for bikes. Reimbursement will be made subject to the calculation of business mileage detailed above. The vehicle must be comprehensively insured for use while on Company business.

  • Mileage expenses may not under any circumstances be claimed for home to office travel even if the travel is outside normal working hours (e.g. on-call, call out or weekend working).

Fines and penalties

• • The Company is not responsible for any fines or penalties which the consultant may receive while on Company business. The responsibility for paying such fines or penalties rests with the consultant.

Taxis

• • Consultant's are expected to use taxis only when strictly necessary and where it is cost effective to do so. Consultant's should always obtain a receipt.

Tube, DLR (Docklands Light Railway), bus or tram

• • Consultant's should retain tickets where possible. Where an consultant's season ticket already covers the cost of travel, no further claim will be allowed. Where Oyster cards are used, the consultant should provide evidence of the additional cost incurred, for example by printing off their online statement or by printing off the journey cost provided by the Oyster fare finder.

Rail and coach travel

• • Consultant's required to travel on Company business by rail or coach may claim the full costs of standard class rail or coach fares, on presentation of proof of travel such as a train ticket receipt.

Air travel

• • All flights will be booked economy class or its equivalent unless otherwise stated. If arranging your own travel check first with the Team Leader before purchasing a ticket. All long haul flights are expected to be booked through our business travel agents, Diversity Travel. All original boarding passes for outgoing and return journeys should be kept safe copied, and passed on along with any expenses on a claim form.

Telephone calls

• • The cost of telephone calls made by consultant's using their private telephones or their mobile phones, in connection with Company business, will be reimbursed. Fully itemised telephone bills are required to support the expense claim.

  • bills are required to support the expense claim. Business telephone calls can also be made using various services, details of which are available here.

Computers and other business assets

• • Consultant's are required to provide their own computers and other business assets at their homes are their own responsibility.

entertaining

• • Only team managers / directors are permitted to claim back reasonable expenses incurred for entertaining. Where this occurs, full details of the expenditure must be shown on the expense claim form and original receipts must be provided. Details of the reason for the event must be shown.

Business entertaining

• • Business entertaining means hospitality of any kind provided by the Company or its staff or consultant's to non-Company employees in connection with the lawful business of the Company. All business entertaining expenses must be approved in advance by a Director of the Company. In addition, the Team Manager / Director must agree to the level of any business entertaining expenditure in advance, before the commitments are made, taking into account what is reasonable and proportionate in all the circumstances.

  • Consultant's should be aware that business entertaining may amount to bribery, which is a criminal offence, where the person offering the hospitality intended the recipient to be influenced to act improperly. This is most likely to be the case when the hospitality is lavish, excessive, extraordinary or unreasonable.

  • Full details of business entertaining expenditure must be provided on the expense claim form, including the reason why the expenditure was necessary, the names of the persons being entertained, the companies they represent and a breakdown of the expenditure incurred. Original receipts must be provided where this is reasonably possible.

All business entertaining expenditure will be closely monitored by the Company.

Updated 1/04/2020