Mileage allowance changed without consultation

[anonymous1975]

I have been with my employer now for three years, when i was first employed as a senior engineer my contract stated we would be paid £0.45 per mile, as part of my role i travel to numerous sites daily as we build networks so can spend all day traveling to sites. We would then submit mileage claims and be paid out within the week, this was necessary as we would spend a high amount on fuel.

It is also worth note that i had a car allowance which was for general wear and tear on my vehicle. Since then i have been promoted to an area lead which means my travel has increased significantly, i also still received a car allowance and the £0.45 per mile allowance (also i never received a contract for me to sign  which never outlined the specifics of the role, and my new manager wants me to be at certain places and undertake certain things even though my job description [looks very generic and similar to other roles, surely this should not be the case)

anyway the company have recently announced that they reducing the mileage allowance to £0.25 per mile instead and we will have to claim the remainder from HMRC, from what i am aware they can not do this and we have not had any consultation and it a direct change to my contract, and because the company has paid this amount for the time that i have been there, then is a precedent and i have a right for it to be expected.

This will mean that i will have to pay out a high amount of fuel and wait quite some time for it to be reimbursed. Please can someone assist.

[Ethel Street]

 

I appreciate you are asking for advice on it as a change of contract issue and hopefully @Emmzzi will be able to help you with that but I wanted to comment on the tax situation.

"...they reducing the mileage allowance to £0.25 per mile instead and we will have to claim the remainder from HMRC..."  If they mean claim the other 20p/mile you used to get (ie difference between 45p/mile and 25p/mile) then you can't claim it from HMRC. HMRC don't pay out mileage rates. They give you tax relief against your income. So you would only receive from HMRC 20% of the 20p/mile (if you are a Basic Rate Income Tax payer) or 40% of the 20p/mile (if you are a Higher Rate taxpayer.)  So it wouldn't replace the full 20p/mile you have been receiving up to now.

You don't say what your annual business mileage is but HMRC only allow a rate of 45p/mile for the first 10,000 miles a year of business mileage, reducing to 25p a mile for business mileage above that. So if you are doing over 10,000 business miles a year HMRC will only allow tax relief on the 20p/mile up to 10,000 miles anyway under the MAP (Mileage Allowance Payments) scheme. Over 10,000 miles your employer's 25p/mile is the maximum under MAP.

But if your employer has been paying you a 45p/mile with no mileage limitation plus a car allowance for general wear and tear on your vehicle that is outside the HMRC MAP scheme.

So I'm wondering if the change has happened because your employer has realised that aren't complying with HMRC tax rules?

 

[Emmzzi]

anything like 45p I have only seen where there is no car allowance - it's very high if you also get an allowance.

I suspect you have been overpaid.

I also suspect rates are not in your contract and are in a policy, in which case, yes, they can change them.