To think 45p isn’t enough even to cover fuel

Definitely. Your UC shouldn't change because you are being reimbursed for something you've paid out. I would guess there is a process to contest, but the first port of call will be your payroll people. Good luck 👍

@HappiestSleeping I haven't had an expenses payment yet but when I asked on my journal the advisor said the will definitely deduct. My employer says they shouldn't. I guess pursuing this will be another thing on my to do list.

Admiral were an extra £200 for a 100mile journey - plus admin fees.

Insurance increases with mileage

I’m sorry. But when I read your post I was like

but who is Mike?!?!

just made me almost wet myself. 😂😂😂. That was amazing. Thank you ♥️♥️♥️

Your insurance is significantly higher if you properly notify your insurance company because you need to indemnify for business use, equipment, carrying passengers at work and extra mileage you drive. Using a car for business is different than domestic use.

It really isn't.
I remember it was £3.40 more when I first added it on. (across the whole year, not per month).
With some companies it doesn't change the cost at all, with others it might be £20, but generally I doubt many policies have more than £5 - £10 extra cost .

The thing is Sososoletdown - your situation isn't what the OP is talking about, and isn't typical of people claiming car mileage. Is there a reason your company aren't providing you with a company car if they are expecting you to cover 25K+ miles a year ?

It shouldn't affect universal credit as it is a reimbursement of an expense. Payroll should be able to declare it as such, and if they don't, a payslip will show it as a reimbursement.

Regional sales manager. Because of the amount of miles I do and the times I travel, it bumps my insurance up. I do between 22-28k miles a year. Otherwise my annual mileage would probably be around 6k.

It works out at 20p per mile if you're on universal credit as they count mileage as income and deduct UC for it. I don't think unavoidable work related costs paid by an employer should be classed as household income.

I would say it is about subsistence level.

Remember that the 45p should only cover a proportion of your tax/maintenance/insurance costs because you also have the car for personal use.

If you have a fairly low spec small car like a Ford or Vauxhall it is Ok. If you have a luxury car like an Audi or Merc it probably wouldn't cover it.

How much do you pay for insurance altogether? That seems a really high additional amount just for adding business use

Are you a tradesperson?

I'm pretty sure its tax free how ever many miles you drive

I think it depends on if you are paid for the time travelling between calls as well as the 45p a mile.
45p a mile in addition to an hourly wage then that's one thing, 45p a mile and not getting anything in between calls is another.
I seem to remember there being a couple of reports over the last few years where carers weren't getting paid for travel time between calls but I can't seem to find any definitive information on whether it's down to the company or an actual requirement.

Absolutely correct.

It’s tax free for the first 10k miles.

The average cost of a litre of petrol is £1.49.

= £6.64 per gallon.

Assuming your car does 40 miles to the gallon, that’s 16.6p per mile.

So 28.4p per mile covers wear & tear, insurance etc.

That (imo) is adequate.

High mileage business driver here - I agree that the 45p a mile doesn’t cover the actual additional running costs.

For anyone saying it is subject to deductions - it’s not - it should be paid without tax

In terms of additional costs from using my car for business purposes - my insurance would be around £600 a year cheaper if I was just social, domestic and commuting. I buy premium tyres as otherwise cheap ones wouldn’t last. And lastly, I have to have my car serviced twice a year - with any other wear and tear costs on top (more miles means more general wear and tear)

In addiction to this, as I technically own my car with car allowance, there is a larger depreciation on the vehicle with it being higher mileage

Even more of a kick in the teeth is once you’ve done 10,000 miles in that tax year, you go down to 25p a mile! Do our cars suddenly cost less to run after that first 10,000 miles ??? Laughable really!!!

I process payroll for a care company & they have carers who have regular mileage claims of £250-300 per month - that's an additional 6,000 to 7,000 mikes a year after accounting for holidays. They cover very rural areas so it's also a lot of driving on back roads & around small villages.

The average mileage claim is around £150 per month but that's still an additional 3,500 miles a year just for work.

So carers can rack up a fair amount of miles depending on the area they cover.

This. I always put in E5 and get a pretty bad MPG. But 45p still works out okay.

It's often no difference in price

Your insurance might be significantly higher but mine certainly wasn't when I first added business cover, it was about £20 iirc

Or course it's cheaper to pay mileage than have pool cars sitting around for most of the time mevr mind the logistical issies

No shit, Watson!

No shit, Sherlock!

Well in that case your car is not available for work purposes. They can get you a hire car.

16p is the fuel only rate, so only relevant for company cars, or similar, eg if you receive a car allowance to cover the cost of buying and running a car.