Hi!!
I’m an agency driver,normal paye, not nova or ltd company, but i believe i can claim mileage allowance as i don’t work from the same site everyday!!what do i need to do to claim for the fuel allowance??is it the right time of the year to do it??any help is very welcome as this is my first year on agency!!Thanks
i was lead to believe that this was the case,so i contacted hmrc…nothing doing
Binas:
Hi!!
I’m an agency driver,normal paye, not nova or ltd company, but i believe i can claim mileage allowance as i don’t work from the same site everyday!!what do i need to do to claim for the fuel allowance??is it the right time of the year to do it??any help is very welcome as this is my first year on agency!!Thanks
I think this is the correct form, if it’s this year you want to claim for I imagine you would have to wait until after the 5th April.
you also need to have to have buisness insurance to use your car if you travel to more than 1 place of work
strongbowpeter:
you also need to have to have buisness insurance to use your car if you travel to more than 1 place of work
Why would you need business insurance when all you’re doing to travelling to and from your place of work 
If that was true probably about 75% of agency drivers would need business insurance for their cars.
You cannot claim a mileage allowance for travelling to and from work, you could live in Land’s End and choose to work in John O’Groats, that’s your choice, but you could claim for mileage that you do once you have reported to your place of employment, as long as it is on company business, so if you report to the agency and then get sent out, you could technically claim for that, but it wouldn’t be long before that loophole was closed 
I think you’ll find that you can claim mileage allowance if you’re travelling to a temporary place of work.
In fact it says so on the form
fill in section 2 for travelling expenses on business mileage if
you used your own car, van, motorcycle or cycle for work (but
include expenses of using a company vehicle in section 4).
Business mileage is the number of miles you have travelled
while actually doing your work or spent travelling to a
temporary workplace. You cannot get tax relief for travel
between home and a permanent workplace as business
miles, unless you have a special agreement with us.
Ask an accountant.
tachograph:
strongbowpeter:
you also need to have to have buisness insurance to use your car if you travel to more than 1 place of workWhy would you need business insurance when all you’re doing to travelling to and from your place of work
If that was true probably about 75% of agency drivers would need business insurance for their cars.
All agency drivers need business insurance. For virtually all insurers, commuting means a single place of work.
You need business insurance because you are claiming mileage. You only need Class A which is usually free on most policies.
It is a loophole, the deduction is meant for people like salesmen and engineers etc who have to travel as part of their job, in reality an agency driver’s job doesn’t start until they arrive at their place of work, wherever that may be
By all means claim the deduction, but don’t be surprised if they want it back at some point, they’d much rather persecute a working man than go after the real villians 
tachograph:
I think you’ll find that you can claim mileage allowance if you’re travelling to a temporary place of work.In fact it says so on the form
fill in section 2 for travelling expenses on business mileage if
you used your own car, van, motorcycle or cycle for work (but
include expenses of using a company vehicle in section 4).
Business mileage is the number of miles you have travelled
while actually doing your work or spent travelling to a
temporary workplace. You cannot get tax relief for travel
between home and a permanent workplace as business
miles, unless you have a special agreement with us.
the bloke i initially spoke to on the phone(hmrc) thought this might apply to me,however he suggested i write a letter giving more details about my situation.
i got a reply shortly after xmas saying i was not entitled to any milage expence claims.
this is not hearsay or rumour,it is a FACTUAL account of my dealings with hmrc
tachograph:
strongbowpeter:
you also need to have to have buisness insurance to use your car if you travel to more than 1 place of workWhy would you need business insurance when all you’re doing to travelling to and from your place of work
If that was true probably about 75% of agency drivers would need business insurance for their cars.
If you’re eligible to claim “Approved Mileage Allowance Payments” then it must be by definition business mileage and so you need business cover on your policy.
Paul
I stand corrected, personally I try not to travel far enough to work to have to worry about mileage allowance, hence my misunderstanding on the subject.
I will be checking my insurance though 
Thanks for the input all
A workplace is considered “temporary” if you spend less than 40% of your working time there.
Your travel from home to the agency is considered the “base mileage”.
You then subtract this from whatever mileage it is beyond that to the temporary employment location.
Eg. Home to Agency=9 miles
Agency puts you into Blogg’s & co for 3 months of the year. 29 miles away (from YOUR postcode not the agency’s - otherwise they wouldn’t be asking for your postcode on your expenses form right?)
Your contract at bloggs & co is 13 weeks 5 days monday-friday, and you’ll be getting there in your own transport.
The other 9 months of the year will be spent with at least two other clients, thus making it unlikely that no one client gets more than 40% of your total hours.
Mileage claimable is 20 miles (29-9) each way 5 days a week, or 200 miles a week x 13 weeks @ 40p per mile I believe.
It is not an amount of money given to you (the £1040) but your gross for tax earnings are reduced by £1040 instead, meaning you pay about £250 less tax a year (only £5 a week 
) and are entitled to a bit extra tax credits (if you get those) as well.
Your trip to the agency or any firm where you spend more than 40% of your working time is considered “commuting by choice” and is NOT claimable. Those agencys (mostly the Umbrella ones) that overclaim for mileage such as this will have a nasty tax bills winging their way to their drivers in the not too distant future.
This is from the horse’s mouth at HMRC by the way. 
If you ask an insurance company “DO I pay extra premiums for using my car to multiple work locations?” you’ll probably get the answer “I’m not sure, so Yes, we could do with more of your money!” (Ask a stranger in the street "Did you drop this tenner? !!!)
“Business Use” is deemed as carrying goods or proferring your vehicle out to third parties as opposed to driving yourself and colleagues (you’re giving a lift too, not being paid by) to work each day.
If using your car to commute required extra insurance under the “business purposes” label, then the only commuting you’d be able to claim for is to drive to voluntary unpaid work if you think about it, so there are going to be some differences between one insurance firm and another as to how “business use” is defined.
Shop around basically!
The grey area is if you are driving yourself to work every day, and your boss rings you up, and asks you to “just pop around to so and so industrial estate in your car, and pick up some sticky label boxes” or something similar. By agreeing to do this, you’ve now used your car to assist the business directly, and therefore leave yourself wide open to any comebacks as a result of having the “wrong kind of insurance”.
The rest of it is common sense really. HMRC and Insurance people can be quite helpful if you treat them the way you’d expect them to treat you. I’ve already been told by HMRC, Insurance firms and Vosa more than once that “It’s the people who are taking the pi$$ that we’re trying to clamp down on”.
Think of what’s likely to be in the “Spirit of the Regulations/Laws/Rules” and the rest is once again, common sense. 
I used to employ up to 25 people in various sites doing maintenance. We were told that mileage to your normal place of employment is not an expense you can claim, however, mileage to a different place is. We were also told their are two options for working out the mileage and it has to be one or the other. Either from the persons home to the site or from the office to the site, choose now and stick with it. We never had any issues.
Regarding the insurance, my daughter is at Uni, works as a waitress in a licensed restaurant, (that whacks it up) and also runs a dance school. Most insurers ask about full time occupation and part time. More than one part time extra and they wanted her to have business insurance cover. It sounded alarming, but cost no extra!
Winseer:
If using your car to commute required extra insurance under the “business purposes” label, then the only commuting you’d be able to claim for is to drive to voluntary unpaid work if you think about it, so there are going to be some differences between one insurance firm and another as to how “business use” is defined.
The wording on every insurance policy I have had is along the lines of “social, domestic and pleasure including commuting to a permanent place of work”.
I’ve highlighted the bit that means you’re not covered driving to temporary workplaces (i.e. somewhere an agency sends you) unless you have business cover on there.
These days this is almost always either free of nearly free in my experience so you might as well have it anyway to cover your backside IMO.
Paul
repton:
Winseer:
If using your car to commute required extra insurance under the “business purposes” label, then the only commuting you’d be able to claim for is to drive to voluntary unpaid work if you think about it, so there are going to be some differences between one insurance firm and another as to how “business use” is defined.The wording on every insurance policy I have had is along the lines of “social, domestic and pleasure including commuting to a permanent place of work”.
I’ve highlighted the bit that means you’re not covered driving to temporary workplaces (i.e. somewhere an agency sends you) unless you have business cover on there.
These days this is almost always either free of nearly free in my experience so you might as well have it anyway to cover your backside IMO.
Paul
Just added it onto Sam’s car for £23
Winseer:
The grey area is if you are driving yourself to work every day, and your boss rings you up, and asks you to “just pop around to so and so industrial estate in your car, and pick up some sticky label boxes” or something similar. By agreeing to do this, you’ve now used your car to assist the business directly, and therefore leave yourself wide open to any comebacks as a result of having the “wrong kind of insurance”.
When I was a TM I had a lad in the warehouse with a motorbike. Sometimes he would drop off a parcel at the station for Red Star (remember that?) on his way home. We would give him the occasional tank of petrol on the company account for his trouble.
One evening he was involved in an accident. Foolish youth told plod that he was on his way to the station with a parcel and he got done for inadequate insurance. I saw to it that he didn’t lose financially but it was an object lesson.
Santa:
Winseer:
The grey area is if you are driving yourself to work every day, and your boss rings you up, and asks you to “just pop around to so and so industrial estate in your car, and pick up some sticky label boxes” or something similar. By agreeing to do this, you’ve now used your car to assist the business directly, and therefore leave yourself wide open to any comebacks as a result of having the “wrong kind of insurance”.When I was a TM I had a lad in the warehouse with a motorbike. Sometimes he would drop off a parcel at the station for Red Star (remember that?) on his way home. We would give him the occasional tank of petrol on the company account for his trouble.
One evening he was involved in an accident. Foolish youth told plod that he was on his way to the station with a parcel and he got done for inadequate insurance. I saw to it that he didn’t lose financially but it was an object lesson.
Yeah, I’ve always said, unless it’s obvious, why would you tell them that?
I was on my way to the station for fuel