How to claim business costs and expenses Introduction There are a variety of methods to claim the expenses you incur in your parliamentary duties: 1. You can use one of the suppliers we have a direct payment arrangement with: a. Trainline for train tickets b. Commercial or Banner for stationery and other office equipment c. QC Supplies for printer supplies (including cartridges) d. Annual subscriptions to PRU, PRS or POLD 2. You can use the credit card we provide to each MP for their expenses, known as the Payment Card. 3. For rental payments, you can set up a regular direct payment using the Simplified Payments form which can be found on our website: http://parliamentarystandards.org.uk/ipsamps/payment%20application%20forms/direct%2 0Rental%20Payments%20Form.pdf 4. You can make a claim on the online expenses system and we will reimburse you for the cost. If the item is over 200, you can claim the money from us first by sending an unpaid invoice, then pay the supplier. For all items less than 200 you should pay the supplier first, then claim reimbursement from us. This guide is intended to cover claims made on the online expenses system, option 4 in the list above. There is a separate guide for Expenses: Payment Card forms and for Expenses: Monthly MP Mileage because these operate slightly differently. How to make a claim 1. Once you have logged in to the online expenses system, from the home page select New Claim/Form 2. Now click on the appropriate form from the list which appears: a. Expenses: Accommodation for costs related to a rented residential property either in London or the constituency, or for hotels for an MP in either London or the constituency if you do not rent a property b. Expenses: Mileage for claiming mileage for cars, bicycles and motorbikes, for MPs, their staff, interns or dependants. We pay at a standard mileage rate of 45p per mile for the first 10,000 miles and 25p thereafter. You should use this form rather than the Expenses: Monthly MP Mileage form (d below) for staff or intern mileage, or of you want to claim for a small number of journeys.
c. Expenses: Miscellaneous for removal costs, pre-approved large security costs, preapproved disability related costs and pre-approved claims which do not fall under the usual rules of the Scheme but have been agreed as claimable. If you have been granted an uplift to your budget by the Contingency Panel, you should not use this form, but the usual appropriate form (e.g. Office Costs, Accommodation) d. Expenses: Monthly MP Mileage this is covered in a separate how to guide. MPs should use this form (rather than the Expenses: Mileage form b above) to claim for a whole month s mileage at once. MPs can only use this form to claim for their own mileage, not for staff, interns or dependants. e. Expenses: Office Costs for the costs of running an office e.g. rent, rates, utility bills, newspapers f. Expenses: Staffing for claiming reimbursement of staffing costs which do not go via our payroll e.g. a subscription to a pooled staffing resource such as PRU, PRS or POLD, non cash reward and recognition purchases, health and welfare costs g. Expenses: Travel/Subsistence for claiming reimbursement for travel by MPs, staff, interns or dependants (not those paid for using the Trainline or the Payment Card). 3. Continue to fill out the form as appropriate. The requirements will vary depending on which type of expense you are claiming, but the table at the end of this guide describes the possible options. 4. Once you have completed all the relevant options, click Check and Save at the bottom right. The system will then check the form and may show you some notes or errors at the bottom of the screen. If an error is shown, you will need to correct it or the system won t allow you to submit the form. Notes are just there as a reminder, but won t stop you submitting the claim. 5. When you are ready, click Submit Form. If you are a proxy, usually you will be submitting the form to the MP for approval, although if your MP has requested it, you will have the choice whether to submit the form straight to IPSA or to him/her for approval. 6. Whether you are a proxy or MP, if you are submitting to IPSA you will be asked to confirm that you wish to submit the form. 7. You will then be asked whether you would like to print the form. a. Unless you selected Yes in the dropdown menu under Documentation Already Supplied, you will need to print the form. This is because when you click Submit Form, the electronic version of the form enters a holding queue, waiting for this printed form (and the accompanying receipts) to arrive. Once these are scanned in, the form will then be ready for processing by our team. b. If you selected Yes in the dropdown menu under Documentation Already Supplied, the form skips the holding queue and goes straight to the team for processing, so you won t need to print it or take any further action. You should only use this option if you have already sent us the evidence we need for the claim (e.g. a rent claim when we already hold the lease)
8. When asked if you would like to print, if you select OK you will be taken to a printable version of the form: a. Now click the printer icon at the top left of the screen b. Your usual print pop up box will appear, so select the printer you want to print to and click OK 9. You should now staple the form to your accompanying receipts/invoices and either: a. Put it in our dropbox in Portcullis House (not the internal mail of the House of Commons), or b. Post it in the external post to: Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA), 4 th Floor, 30 Millbank, London, SW1P 4DU. 10. Once we have received the paperwork, you should allow a maximum of 12 working days for us to process the form and for payment to reach your account. 11. If you are unsure about whether a claim is valid or which category a claim should come under, please contact our Information Line on 020 7811 6400 (Open daily from 10am-5pm) or email info@parliamentarystandards.org.uk.
Options you may have to complete on a reimbursement form Box to complete Short description Documentation already supplied (optional) Select an item Transaction date Const. Station Details From/To Nights Vehicle Reg. MP Staff Reimburse Dependant Details You should type in a description which will help you recognise the form later e.g. November 2014 travel If you have already sent us the necessary evidence for the claim (e.g. it s a monthly direct debit and you ve already sent us the direct debit schedule for the year), you should select Yes in this dropdown. If you still need to send us the supporting evidence, leave this blank. Click the button with two dots. A pop up box will appear giving you a list of expense types; you should choose the closest option. You can type in a key word in the box at the top (e.g. rail) and click Search by item to help narrow down the list which appears. The option you select here will determine which other boxes on the form you need to complete (the system will highlight them in blue for you). Choose the appropriate transaction date you can either type it in or click the button with two dots and select the date. a. If you have already paid the supplier and are claiming reimbursement, you should enter the date you made payment b. If you have not yet paid the supplier and are claiming an advance, you should enter the invoice date c. If you are claiming for travel, you should enter the date of travel Click the button with two dots. A pop up box will appear giving you a list of stations. You can type the station name in the box at the top and click Search by station to help you find it more easily. This station is used to calculate the standard fare for your journey. It always uses London as the starting point, so regardless of whether you were travelling to or from London, you should always choose the other station, not the London terminal. Use this free text box to describe the expense you are claiming for You should type in these boxes where the journey began and ended e.g. From: Westminster, To: Cardiff. Type in the number of nights you stayed If you have registered your car, your number plate should appear in this dropdown list Choose the staff member s name from the dropdown list Choose whether you would like the MP or the staff member concerned to be reimbursed. If you choose the staff member, we will make a payment into the account their salary normally goes into Choose the name of the dependant from the dropdown list
Box to complete Journey Miles this trip Class/Reason Advance Std Fare Expense Value Details Choose the type of journey from the dropdown list a. Between London and Constituency for journeys from London to the constituency, or vice versa. This journey type can be used for MPs, staff and dependants. b. Diverted Journey MP only for journeys made by MPs between London and their constituency which included a diversion for personal reasons on the way c. European travel MP only for claimable travel to and from Europe (see the Scheme for further details on the rules) d. Extended travel MP only for travel within the UK on parliamentary business which is neither within your constituency nor a journey between London and your constituency. e. Other MP travel as per 9.3c for travel from anywhere in the UK to Westminster or your constituency, on a journey incurred in the performance of your parliamentary functions. Please see section 9.3c of the Scheme for more details. f. Staff home office to const. if a staff member routinely works from home and they have registered their home as an office, they can claim for a journey from their home to the constituency office. This should not be used if the staff member routinely works in the constituency office: you cannot claim for a commute. g. Staff home office to London if (as in f above) a staff member routinely works from home and they have registered their home as an office, they can claim for a journey from their home to the Westminster office. This should not be used if the staff member routinely works in Westminster: you cannot claim for a commute. h. Staff travel for training for staff journeys to a training course. i. Volunteer travel for journeys made by a volunteer travelling from their home to the office and vice versa. j. Within Constituency Travel for journeys made within the constituency, or within 20 miles of the constituency boundary Type the total number of miles for the journey. This will be multiplied by the standard mileage rate (currently 45p for the first 10,000 miles claimed and 25p for all mileage after this) to give the amount to be reimbursed. Choose the class of travel from the dropdown list. Even if you are only claiming for the standard fare, if you travelled first class you should select First. If the item is over 200, you can claim from us before you pay the supplier. If this is what you are doing, you should select Yes, not yet paid in the dropdown. If you are claiming reimbursement, you should leave this blank. This is calculated automatically and depends on the options you select in Select an item and Const. Station. This is the maximum amount you are allowed to claim. Type in the amount you want to claim. This is calculated automatically on an Expenses: Mileage form.
Reimbursement Your Notes For mileage forms, this figure is calculated automatically based on the number of miles you entered multiplied by the standard mileage rate. You should use this to give us any further relevant information that isn t included elsewhere on the form or on the receipt.