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Original poster

Does anyone fiddle their expenses???

35 replies

Paolosgirl · 03/09/2009 17:17

Things are reeeeely tight financially, and for the first time in nearly 20 years of working for the same organisation, it did briefly occur to me that I could put a few extra journeys through my expense claims - I then felt so guilty for even thinking that thought that I felt sickened with myself

Anyway, I mentioned my immoral thought to my friend who laughed and said "PG, everyone does it". Do they really? Am I being incredibly naive?

OP posts:
CMOTdibbler · 03/09/2009 17:20

I don't, and I don't know anyone who does (and all my colleagues travel for work) tbh.

But we have to submit receipts for everything, so it would be difficult to do anyway

LIZS · 03/09/2009 17:22

We have to receipt all but mileage and even that is spot checked against the claimed journeys.

hf128219 · 03/09/2009 17:22

I don't - and we don't even have to submit receipts.

kathyis6incheshigh · 03/09/2009 17:23

No, wouldn't dream of it.
I hate the attitude that 'everyone does it'.

nellie12 · 03/09/2009 17:31

no I dont and dont know of people who do. we dont have to submit receipts either.

PavlovtheForgetfulCat · 03/09/2009 17:32

God no! I would be charged with fraud and made an example of without a doubt! Not worth it for a few pounds.

catinthehat2 · 03/09/2009 17:36

She must be an MP.

edam · 03/09/2009 17:37

No, because a. I'd be bound to be one of the unlucky ones who is found out b. it's wrong and most of all c. I'm self employed so it wouldn't work anyway.

BUT even when I was an employee, I never fiddled my expenses. Even when I've worked for companies that treat their staff like cr*p.

And if you did get found out, how the hell would you ever get another job?

Original poster
Paolosgirl · 03/09/2009 17:38

We don't have to submit receipts for mileage so technically it would be easy enough, but knowing that it's morally wrong and that I might get caught, charged and sacked is enough to stop me! I'm glad to see that I'm not alone - I did wonder if I'd been very naive

Given that I work for a Govt body, and that the politicians who run it seem to have very little direction on their moral compass, it does make you wonder though...

OP posts:
PavlovtheForgetfulCat · 03/09/2009 17:43

But would finance not potentially notice that you are making more journeys than normal?

Original poster
Paolosgirl · 03/09/2009 17:46

No - it varies from month to month

OP posts:
kathyis6incheshigh · 03/09/2009 17:49

Most people I know go out of their way to save money when they are doing things for charities or public sector organisations - DH won't be home till late tonight because he will be waiting to come home from London until he can get a cheaper train fare, even though he's quite within his rights to claim the full standard fare. That's fairly typical of academics I know.
Actually fiddling claims would be unthinkable.

Lizzylou · 03/09/2009 17:51

When I was employed I never did, at my last firm I had a company credit card anyway, so it all went on there, meals out etc. When I had mileage etc to record in a previous role I was meticulous about it, but did know of someone within the organisation who was sacked for fiddling their expenses (a bank!) so was v careful.

Am now self-employed so like Edam, wouldn't really be worth it.

thedollshouse · 03/09/2009 17:52

No. Money has always been tight but I would never resort to dishonesty. It is a slipperly slope.

Podrick · 03/09/2009 17:55

You could be sacked for it, would probably find it hard to get another job and it is also stealing

Obviously some folk do it anyhow but it is clearly just completely wrong

Podrick · 03/09/2009 17:56

Blimey I sound so sanctimonious...in answer to your question, I don't do it myself!

MmeLindt · 03/09/2009 18:01

No, I would not.

DH has a colleague who claims for everything, and occasionally for things he should not be claiming.

It is stealing, dishonest. And pretty stupid. Why would you risk a good paying job for a couple of hundred extra?

edam · 03/09/2009 18:11

I do think it's funny, though, that people in charge of organisations get away with it - it's just those of us who are the common herd who fear getting caught or recognise it is wrong. The former head of the Audit Commission, for heaven's sake, was putting his entire family's first class flights on exes - and not just once a year, either. He's far from the only one - loads of chief execs in the public sector are doing it and I'm sure the private sector is no different.

And obviously MPs, although they've been caught. But unlike you or me, they aren't being prosecuted or escorted out of the building by security...

PavlovtheForgetfulCat · 03/09/2009 18:13

edam I agree completely with you, but just because some people are immoral it does not mean we should be too does it? I live my life by the standards I set myself and I sleep knowing I do the right thing (mostly).

edam · 03/09/2009 18:15

No, of course not, but it is often a case of one law for the rich or powerful or both and another for the rest of us.

hatwoman · 03/09/2009 18:17

I was gobsmacked by some people in the media saying that "everybody" does it when the whole MP's expenses thing broke. but on asking a few friends (who would have admitted it to me) there was a resounding "no way". Also people said the opposite - that in actual fact they have underclaimed. (and the underclaimers included people from very different sectors - specifically banking and the charity sector). Those who say that "everybody" does it are deluding themselves into thinking it's ok.

kathyis6incheshigh · 03/09/2009 18:19

And then they grumble that we have no respect for politicians....

PMSL that the head of the Audit Commission did it!

gigglewitch · 03/09/2009 18:20

Gross misconduct. End of.

I am generally too thick busy to write down every journey so my mileage is usually underclaimed. As others have said, apart from mileage, receipts have to be provided for everything.

PavlovtheForgetfulCat · 03/09/2009 18:22

hatwoman many people who break the law deliberately create justifications and neutralisations in order to appease the action they are doing. It to an extent negates the bad feeling they experience when thinking of the wrong behaviour.

"he did it first' 'if he did not do it, I would not do it either' 'everyone else does it' 'mps, bankers, lawyers, etc do it, why not me?' 'its just what people do' 'they can afford it' 'they won't even notice' I hear these statements all the time when running my cognitive behaviour programmes to look at distorted thinking.

vinblanc · 03/09/2009 18:24

The only fiddling I ever did when I had expenses (and in my much younger days) was to put a liquid dinner through as food. We knew restaurants that would ask us what to put on the receipts, so it was easy to put down a few cocktails as steak and chips.

I never ever claimed for the wrong monetary amount.