Overpaid expenses - reclaim?

[granty]

Dear all - Can you advise please?

I have been employment with my current job since July 2012, they have provided me with use of a 'Pool car' since 1st September 2012. between July and September i used my own car for business purposes. During this time i was provided an 'Expenses Claim sheet' by my general manager to claim 40p per mile business mileage. in September when i started using the 'Pool' car, my employers never provided me with any supporting documentation as to the do's and don'ts or a different expenses claim sheet. from September last year, as i thought is should, i kept on using the same expenses sheet claiming 40p per mile in the pool car.

Now on 30th March 2013 - 6 months later they have discovered they have been overpaying me my expenses and want to claim back £400 from me.

where do i stand?
1. they never said what i can claim
2. never gave any supporting expenses claim procedures
3. its been 6 months
4. they are starting to scrutinise my pool car usage
5. i appreciate its not a massive amount?
6. i dont mind paying back some but should i pay it all - surely they should have noticed sooner?
7. i want to stand my ground but dont want to lose my job over it.
8. i have until 5pm today to tell them my repayment plan!

any advice please??

[ostell]

Re: Overpaid expenses - reclaim?

Work out how you are going to pay it back!!

It would be unreasonable to expect to be paid 40p per mile when you weren't using your own car and didn't have any actual expenses connected with travel.

[Eloise01]

Re: Overpaid expenses - reclaim?

Dear all - Can you advise please?

I have been employment with my current job since July 2012, they have provided me with use of a 'Pool car' since 1st September 2012. between July and September i used my own car for business purposes. During this time i was provided an 'Expenses Claim sheet' by my general manager to claim 40p per mile business mileage. in September when i started using the 'Pool' car, my employers never provided me with any supporting documentation as to the do's and don'ts or a different expenses claim sheet. from September last year, as i thought is should, i kept on using the same expenses sheet claiming 40p per mile in the pool car.

Now on 30th March 2013 - 6 months later they have discovered they have been overpaying me my expenses and want to claim back £400 from me.

where do i stand?
1. they never said what i can claim - You could have asked? But this isn't relevant. If they have a set expenses policy, then that applies whether you know about it or not.

2. never gave any supporting expenses claim procedures Ditto, as above - why didn't you ask?

3. its been 6 months Repayments of errors or overpayments can be reclaimed for six years!

4. they are starting to scrutinise my pool car usage Nothing to do with the matter of expenses payments - but they can certainly scrutinise usage and claims if they want to

5. i appreciate its not a massive amount? Depends on what you call massive.

6. i dont mind paying back some but should i pay it all - surely they should have noticed sooner? You can argue this, but it has no legal bearing. If the overpayment was made it does not matter whose fault it was - it can be reclaimed.

7. i want to stand my ground but dont want to lose my job over it. You have eight months employment and need another 16 months employment to be able to claim unfair dismissal. The equation therefore isn't that difficult - "stand you ground" and you are unlikely to ever make it. And you will still owe them the money - you just won't have a job!

8. i have until 5pm today to tell them my repayment plan! Then you need to either come up with one, or a
very convincing reason why you shouldn't have to repay them, which won't result in you losing your job. The employer should provide you, on request, with a breakdown of how the overpayment has been arrived at to show what you have overclaimed. If they haven't you could ask for one to check, but that's a delaying tactic and nothing more than that.

any advice please??

And I have to write something here so I have!

[granty]

Re: Overpaid expenses - reclaim?

Eloise01 & Ostell,

Thanks for your replies. That's certainly put me in my place!! ha ha. I guess i know what i definitely need to do now and that's work out a repayment plan.

But thank you for your time.

[teaboy2]

Re: Overpaid expenses - reclaim?

When you say Pool Car

Did it meet the below definitions

Pool cars

Definitions or restrictions

Pool cars must meet the following conditions:

• used by more than one employee
• not ordinarily used by one employee to the exclusion of others
• not normally kept at or near employees' homes
• used only for business journeys - private use is only permitted if it is merely incidental to a business journey (for example, commuting home with the car to allow an early start to a business journey the next morning)

Did you get reimbursed for fuel you put it in or was that paid via a company credit card or fuel from company depot?

If you didn't pay for the fuel, then why on earth did you continue to claim expenses for traveling to and from work - In fact i guess that answer is obvious really