Mileage Policy

This policy explains when and how mileage can be claimed for approved business travel.

What is Business Mileage?

Business mileage is travel that is wholly and necessarily for work purposes, such as:

Visiting residents
Travelling between hubs or other work locations
Attending work meetings, training, or events
Collecting/delivering work-related items

An employee cannot have tax relief and therefore cannot claim mileage for:

Ordinary commuting between home and your permanent place of work
Private travel or detours
Unauthorised journeys

Permanent Place of Work

If you work in a team attached to a hub, that hub is your permanent place of work.

If you are not part of a hub team, your permanent place of work is the nearest hub to your home address, unless stated otherwise by your line manager. Your permanent place of work may be subject to change if the responsibilities of your role change.

Travel between your home and permanent place of work is considered your “ordinary commute” and is not eligible for mileage reimbursement. Mileage may only be claimed for work-related travel that exceeds the distance of the ordinary commute.

Vehicle Eligibility and Driver Responsibilities

To claim mileage, you must:

Hold a valid UK driving licence
Ensure the vehicle is roadworthy and legal (taxed and MOT’d where required)
Have valid insurance that covers business use (where applicable)

Handcrafted may request evidence of insurance, MOT, or licence at any time.

Mileage Reimbursement Rates (HMRC AMAP)

Mileage will be reimbursed in line with HMRC Approved Mileage Allowance Payments (AMAP). The current rate (February 2026) is:

Cars and vans

45p per mile for the first 10,000 miles in the tax year
25p per mile for any mileage over 10,000 miles

Motorcycles

24p per mile

Bicycles

20p per mile

Rates will be reviewed as HMRC guidance changes.

Other Travel Costs (parking, tolls, etc.)

The following may be reimbursed if required for business travel and supported by receipts:

Parking fees
Tolls
Congestion/ULEZ charges

Parking fines, speeding tickets, and penalties will not be reimbursed.

Public Transport

Employees who travel to work using public transport cannot claim for the costs of travel from their home to their permanent place of work.

If you use public transport to get to any site other than your permanent place of work (e.g. another hub, a resident’s home), you can claim the cost of travel using standard or economy class. If you have a season ticket, you can claim the cost of a daily ticket for each eligible journey.

Calculating Mileage

Mileage should be calculated using:

Odometer readings or
A reasonable route shown on a mapping app (e.g., Google Maps)

You should take the most direct practical route unless there is a clear business reason to do otherwise.

The amount of claimable mileage is calculated monthly using the https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/16lYO2D40U5Ynm66KrpI_L-TLhaNLpmuFsb1x2xR7NfU/edit?gid=2067584221#gid=2067584221. For each working day of the month, you must record the journeys you take for business travel. If the miles travelled on a day exceed that of their ordinary commute, you must subtract your ordinary commute from the total number of miles to calculate the amount of claimable mileage. The spreadsheet will automatically calculate the amount of money that can be claimed, in line with the HMRC Approved Mileage Allowance Payments (AMAP).

Example mileage calculation:

My permanent place of work is the Durham Hub, which is 4 miles from my home. Therefore, my ordinary commute is 8 miles. If I only travel to the Durham Hub in a day, then I cannot claim any mileage for that day. If I travel further than the Durham Hub, I subtract 8 miles from my total day’s travel to calculate my mileage claim.

On Monday, I deliver a catering session in Gateshead in the morning and then attend a training session in the Chester-Le-Street Hub for the afternoon. The Gateshead Hub is 15 miles from home, the Chester-Le-Street Hub is 8 miles from Gateshead, and my return journey home is 8 miles. In total, I have travelled 31 miles, from which I subtract the 8 miles of my ordinary commute. Therefore, my mileage claim for Monday is 23 miles.

Submitting Mileage Claims

Mileage claims are submitted and paid according to the standard Expenses Claim Procedure for Staff.

Mileage claims must be recorded on the mileage spreadsheet which can then be uploaded to the ‘Staff Expense Claim Form’. Each claim must include:

the reason for the journey
the postcode for the start point of the journey
the postcode for the end point of the journey

Compliance and misuse

Mileage claims may be refused if:

Records are incomplete
The travel was not business-related
The claim appears inaccurate or excessive

Submitting a false claim may result in disciplinary action and repayment.