Home Carer Mileage Reimbursement

FifeLady_2

My partner has just started work as a home carer and he is doing 20-25 miles per day (not including his travel to and from work). He was told by his employer before he started work that mileage would be paid at 45p per mile but he didn't ask anything else. He has been told by other home carers that he works with that he cannot claim his mileage until the end of the year. Does anyone know if that is the norm? Needless to say he doesn't earn a lot of money so that is a lot for him to pay out over the year before he gets it back.

I work in an office and often do little bits of running around to meetings etc. and I am able to claim that mileage back on a monthly basis. I just assumed his claims would be done in a similar way.

Can anyone shed any light on this?

Maz

Ask his employer for clarification?

pmlindyloo

Is your partner being paid national minimum wage for the time spent travelling between care clients? They should be.

Link:

http://www.westerndailypress.co.uk/Care-worker-wins-case-travel-time-pay/story-20695663-detail/story.html

Petrol allowance is a separate issue.

ohreally

pmlindyloo wrote: »

Petrol allowance is a separate issue.

Mileage allowance takes account of running costs as opposed to petrol.


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KentishLady

FifeLady wrote: »

My partner has just started work as a home carer and he is doing 20-25 miles per day (not including his travel to and from work). He was told by his employer before he started work that mileage would be paid at 45p per mile but he didn't ask anything else. He has been told by other home carers that he works with that he cannot claim his mileage until the end of the year. Does anyone know if that is the norm? Needless to say he doesn't earn a lot of money so that is a lot for him to pay out over the year before he gets it back.

I work in an office and often do little bits of running around to meetings etc. and I am able to claim that mileage back on a monthly basis. I just assumed his claims would be done in a similar way.

Can anyone shed any light on this?

Some home care providers will pay their employees mileage at an agreed mileage rate - if your OH's employer pays mileage then there should be something in the contract or employee handbook or travel expenses policy which confirms how much he can claim per mile, the correct process to claim the mileage back, and the frequency with which mileage claims should be put in. If the employer does have a policy of paying mileage (and this is an if - not all do!) then I would be very surprised if he can only claim back mileage at the end of the year (and I would be wondering whether or not he would get paid). He needs to ask his employer to provide him with a copy of their policy regarding claiming travel expenses.

Should an employer NOT reimburse mileage (or reimburse less than the amount the tax man allows you to claim as a tax allowance for business mileage) then at the end of the financial year your OH may be able to claim some tax back for the mileage he has done in the course of his job via a self assessment. This would be done at the end of the tax year and my suspicion based on your post is that it is this end of year tax claim your OH's colleagues are referring to.

His employer is obliged to ensure that he is paid minimum wage for all his hours of work including travel time between calls (but not for travel to the first and travel from the last call). You might want to double check that his hourly rate does cover this minimum requirement.

Oh and lastly - your OH is doing a really worthwhile job - I place homecare packages and I think carers do an amazing job in often difficult or challenging working conditions. There's not many people who could do it.

KL.

FifeLady_2

KentishLady thank you so much for your reply. He spoke to his employer today and you are correct in thinking that they will pay no mileage allowance. Instead he is to complete an HMRC form (P87 I think?) to claim the tax back, which is clearly what his colleagues were referring to.

This is all new to me - my employer pays the full 45p per mile if I need to do any mileage and it's only now that I realise how lucky I am! I cannot believe that any employer can choose not to pay anything toward mileage expenses (other than his wage, since he does get paid for his travel time).

He does such a brilliant job and it's a real pity he's going to have to look for other work because he simply cannot afford to stay in this job.

Thanks for the advice everyone.

KentishLady

If he does enjoy the job then perhaps he could use the experience he has gained to get a job working in a care home or something? The headline hourly rate probably wouldn't be much more but he'd be saving on the petrol costs (and on the unpaid travel time). at least for a 7 hour shift (other than his breaks) he'd be paid for all the time he was at work.

I know a couple of people who started working as home carers and then moved into care homes or working in hospitals. Just a thought.