Asking for petrol

[BabyfaceHen]

I am driving a 'friend' (although not a proper friend, more someone I am in the same career with and we know of each other), but we message regularly,
We have a course on the same day next month and it's a 2 hour drive away. Around 105 miles.

I am driving as she feels too nervous to drive and i've said that's fine because it'll be cheaper for us both anyway as we can just half petrol.

However, how do people actually ask for petrol on the day? As many of my actual friends "forget" to give me petrol and I don't have the balls to ask.
Whereas this is quite a bit of a journey so I dont fancy paying all the petrol and money is tight atm.

Also, how much petrol would you ask for for a journey that is 2 hours and around 105 miles away? I dont want to ask for too much or too little

I would fill up with her in the car at the start of the journey and say "I'm not sure how much petrol we're going to use- I've just filled up, £40, so we'll see how much is left at the end and then halve that, OK? It makes more sense than guessing, as I don't normally do long journeys. So much cheaper than the train eh!"

Say you need to fill up mid early through the journey so she feels inclined to offer money? Failing that you'll just have to message after saying hey please could you send me £x for today's petrol, it's no biggie 🙂

I wouldn’t ask on the day, I’d text in advance check she’s happy to split petrol. Then on the day you can look at what fraction of a tank you’ve used and take that proportion of what it costs you to fill up.

Google tells me it’s common for companies to pay 45p per mile for the first 100 miles so you could just ask for a fiver.

Well that’s a 210 mile round trip so perhaps £10-£15? If you want it you have to ask for it directly though I think, not just hope it’ll be offered. You could maybe stop at a petrol station early in the journey, get half a tank or whatever and ask for a share then, but I’d still make it clear beforehand that you’re expecting petrol money.

I'll be driving her home as well so really it's about 200 miles of driving

Thanks everybody! I was thinking £10ish,
I just have the "overly nice" syndrome

I'll be driving her home as well so really it's about 200 miles of driving

Yes, but you’ll be in the car too so she only needs to pay for half that.

How were you getting there otherwise ?
I couldn't ask someone for petrol money for a journey I would be making anyway

I'd just say buy me a coffee or something

Is the company not paying expenses?

Is it a work trip?

So you've already mentioned halving the fuel costs. What should happen is that she proffers a tenner/twenty pounds at some point in the day. Also, if she was a polite person, she would offer to buy you lunch/drinks to thank you for the effort of driving.

On the flip side it could be seen that you are going anyway so it isn't costing you any more than ifyou travelled alone.

@PurpleDaisies so i'm guessing it's going to cost me about £20 considering when I used to drive 50ish miles last year to work it was costing me almost £10 a day,

@zenasfuck but she drives aswell? She said she was nervous to drive and I suggested we could go together and it'd make petrol cheaper for the both of us aswell,
I'm not a charity

Surely if it’s for work then they pay and you charge them 45p a mile, no?

Surely you are claiming on expenses for the journey? If so you can't really charge her anything. Especially if you get the standard 45p a mile for using your own vehicle.

@Fishyfinger i've always been polite and gave petrol even when someone was planning on going there aswell, even if she only gave me £5 it would be nice,

She could get there herself as she drives but the plan was that it's cheaper for us both to go together

Surely you can claim mileage from your employer if you are both attending a training course?
Mine pays 45p per mile + 5p per mile for a passenger. For a 200 mile journey, I’d be claiming £100 from my employer and nothing from my colleague. Though if we stopped for coffee, I’d expect my colleague to offer to pay as I’d have driven to collect them from their home.

But surely you'll be able to claim travel costs from your employer if it's a course for work? So you will claim the 45p a mile or whatever your company pays? Or claim it as an expense on your tax return if you're self employed?

Whereas she presumably won't be able to claim £10 or whatever she gives you in cash for petrol? So she'll end up out of pocket and you'll end up making a profit?

Work arent paying as it's not specifically for work, it's a course we are both interested and have booked,
Ofcourse I wouldnt take petrol if work were paying 😂

the 45p a mile is the HMRC rate, and covers depreciation, non petrol costs such as insurance, tax...
Given that you'd be going anyway, 45p per mile seems high - £5-£10 seems reasonable. Do you have to go out of your way to collect her?

& assuming you can't claim expenses from your employer.
Some expense policies I've worked with in the past offered a higher rate if you had other employees as passengers. (to encourage car sharing).

Could you start with a full tank and then towards the end stop and fill up with her still in the car. That way you know how much you have used and can split it?

But you would be driving even if she wasn't coming, right?

Just get her to buy you a coffee or something as a thank you.

Yes I will be collecting her and she's about 20 minutes away from the roundabout to get on the sliproad

Yes i'd be going but if she was driving, i'd never dream of not giving her petrol as it's a long trip

45p per mile is too much. That covers all costs of the car. You should use advisory fuel rates. These are based on car engine size and what an employer would pay if they provide the car/their policy is as such.

www.gov.uk/guidance/advisory-fuel-rates

Seriously ask for £20 plus half of any parking costs!!!