Expenses refused because not requested promptly

born_again

>I struggle to understand why the government would need to such prompt expense claims.<

To keep the books in order, sounds about right. Remember the public service has to answer to the tax payer.

1st thing on a Monday morning submit your expenses for the previous week. Or the last task on a Friday.

Marcon

stickitupyourjumper said:

I work for a government department. I have just had a £400+ expenses claim refused because I did not submit it promptly enough.

I was a bit shocked and checked the department policy. There is a clause that's says they reserve the right to refuse an expenses payback if it is not submitted within a month (not submitted promptly enough) without 'good reason'. All of my previous claims from the last year were claimed over a month after and there was never an issue (it was paid straight away). Worst still I was only a week over on this occasion!

I notice in my rejection they included two other issues for me to clarify, which I am easily able to do to show the claims are legitimate. I included all the receipts when I submitted the claim.

I am just really fuming because of it. I go above and beyond for my job and I am currently covering a role in another part of the country (at my own inconvenience) which is naturally generating more expenses claims. It just feels like the government are short for money at the moment, so they have suddenly decided to be more strict in their enforcement of policy or are just trying to throw anything they can at me (and hoping something sticks) to avoid paying me back my money.

I've got far more sympathy than many of the holier than thou responses you've been getting on this thread.

In your shoes, I'd certainly be asking why when there has been such lax enforcement of this little known rule (assuming you really do know of colleagues who are similarly laid back about timeframes for submitting expenses!) it is being enforced now. I'd also be pointing out that you may be less accommodating in terms of providing cover for other parts of the country when you are clearly of such little value to your employer.

goater78

It sounds like the two other issues are probably why your expense claim was rejected. Resubmit your claim with those two issues explained and see what happens. 

These sort of things probably depends on who actually reviews your claim. If you’ve got someone a bit anal reviewing it they may enforce the rules rigidly. If you try again then you may get someone else. 

comeandgo

Are you in the union?  I’d ask their help.  I also worked for gov department that had same policy, one month.  I was told by other staff that if expenses submitted were in order but a bit late then there was no legal reason they could be withheld.

Purplelady65

I definitely wouldn’t accept a refusal of paying a £400 expenses claim a week over the deadline. Is it your line manager who has refused the claim or someone in payroll? I would resubmit the claim with the two pieces of information they say are missing and see what happens. If it’s refused again I’d suggest raising it with your line manager. The fact your other expenses claims have been paid even if submitted late shows there is a precedent there for paying claims submitted late. 

amosmosley

stickitupyourjumper said:

I work for a government department. I have just had a £400+ expenses claim refused because I did not submit it promptly enough.

I was a bit shocked and checked the department policy. There is a clause that's says they reserve the right to refuse an expenses payback if it is not submitted within a month (not submitted promptly enough) without 'good reason'. All of my previous claims from the last year were claimed over a month after and there was never an issue (it was paid straight away). Worst still I was only a week over on this occasion!

I notice in my rejection they included two other issues for me to clarify, which I am easily able to do to show the claims are legitimate. I included all the receipts when I submitted the claim.

I am just really fuming because of it. I go above and beyond for my job and I am currently covering a role in another part of the country (at my own inconvenience) which is naturally generating more expenses claims. It just feels like the government are short for money at the moment, so they have suddenly decided to be more strict in their enforcement of policy or are just trying to throw anything they can at me (and hoping something sticks) to avoid paying me back my money.

I can understand your frustration regarding the rejection of your expenses claim. It's not uncommon for government departments to have strict policies in place for expenses reimbursement, and it's important to adhere to these policies to ensure that the government's funds are being used appropriately.

However, if you believe that you have a good reason for submitting your expenses claim late and that your expenses are legitimate, you can try to appeal the decision. You could try speaking to your manager or HR representative to explain your situation and ask if they can reconsider the decision. If you have any documentation or evidence to support your claim, make sure to present it to them as well.

If your appeal is unsuccessful, you could consider escalating the matter to a higher authority, such as a senior manager or department head. Alternatively, you could seek legal advice or consult with a union representative if you are a member of a union.

It's important to remain calm and professional when dealing with the situation, and to try to resolve the issue through open and constructive communication.

prowla

On the one hand: "The rules say within one month, but I always do it late anyway".

On the other hand: "We've said they need to be done within one month, but there's always someone who keeps pushing it".

On the one hand: It can be difficult for companies to make up their annual accounts and then find a load of retrospective expense claims come in after year-end.

On the other hand: There is nothing legal which says they have to be done month-on-month.

On the one hand: Sometimes company finance departments take it upon themselves to define their own pseudo-laws.

On the other hand: if they just ask nicely, they will be ignored.

However, a company does rely on people working collaboratively and perhaps it is worth viewing things from that perspective.

Overall, persistently submitting late is making work for other people and causing stress.

It is part of the job to submit the expense claims, so is it OK to just ignore prescribed timescales for things if you feel like it?

If someone set a meeting for 10 o'clock and you turned up at 12, would that be OK?

As per a suggestion above, I would look to ensure I received the expenses, but perhaps then (grudgingly) do them on time going forward.

Bobbobbobingalong

Well, if they rejected this claim and required clarification of two items it doesn't sound like an outright refusal to pay. Resubmit with the information they need provided and see what happens.

It's difficult to gauge the level of wider non compliance with the submission deadline requirement but you suggest that it is widely accepted that despite policy stipulating otherwise, tardiness is not a problem. Therein lies the employer's achilles heel and it may well be to your advantage to discuss with your line manager/authoriser and point out that there appears to be a "custom and practice" for payment of late claims and assuming that they have never drawn a line under this practice, you have a legitimate expectation that your claim too will be paid without further delay.

It's one of those issues that your trade union will resolve in very short order, so chat with them assuming you are a member.

Undervalued

stickitupyourjumper said:

I work for a government department. I have just had a £400+ expenses claim refused because I did not submit it promptly enough.

I was a bit shocked and checked the department policy. There is a clause that's says they reserve the right to refuse an expenses payback if it is not submitted within a month (not submitted promptly enough) without 'good reason'. All of my previous claims from the last year were claimed over a month after and there was never an issue (it was paid straight away). Worst still I was only a week over on this occasion!

I notice in my rejection they included two other issues for me to clarify, which I am easily able to do to show the claims are legitimate. I included all the receipts when I submitted the claim.

I am just really fuming because of it. I go above and beyond for my job and I am currently covering a role in another part of the country (at my own inconvenience) which is naturally generating more expenses claims. It just feels like the government are short for money at the moment, so they have suddenly decided to be more strict in their enforcement of policy or are just trying to throw anything they can at me (and hoping something sticks) to avoid paying me back my money.

The receipts only confirm what you paid. They don't prove that the expenditure was authorised or, within reason, that the purchases were made at the most economical price.

So, as others have said, there are two issues here. I would answer any questions and apologise profusely for the late claim and ask them to make an exception in this case due to pressure of work etc. "It has always been fine to ignore the rules and be late in the past" isn't a good look and not an approach I'd recommend!

TELLIT01

Maybe they simply got sick of the OP ignoring the rules for claiming expenses and have decided to teach them a lesson.  If the OP had said 'this is the first time I have submitted them late' rather than ' All of my previous claims from the last year were claimed over a month after', their own manager might be more supportive of requesting reconsideration.