Visitor Expenses Claims

From Monday 18 October 2021 Expense Claim forms are only for use by claimants without an SSO e.g. visitors

Incidental expenses, such as travel costs for visiting lecturers and research collaborators, can be reimbursed using a Univeristy expenses claim form. If expenditure is incurred without obtaining prior approval from the budget holder there is no guarantee that this will be granted retrospectively and claimants may be left out of pocket.

Please do not use this form if you are a member of the Faculty (staff or post-graduate student) with SSO credentials. Instead please refer to the eExpenses system.

All expense claims should be submitted on the University’s expenses claim form and must comply with the conditions set out in the University’s Expenses and Benefits Guide.

Please do not send paper/hard copy forms. Expense claims must be submitted by email to accounts@law.ox.ac.uk or to your centre administrator. All claim forms relating to Research Support Fund awards should be submitted to accounts@law.ox.ac.uk. Email your completed form as an attached excel file. Please do not attempt to complete the form by hand or send a scanned or pdf copy as finance will not be able to add the coding or make corrections if you do this.

In your email you must state “I confirm that the attached claim is in respect of bona fide business expenses incurred wholly, exclusively and necessarily on behalf of the University”. This statement is in lieu of an original signature and we will not be able to process any claims without this confirmation from the claimant. Scanned or electronic copies of receipts for all expenditure claimed must be attached to the email.

Expense claims should be submitted as soon as possible after the expenditure is incurred, generally within two months. Claims must be accompanied by receipts detailing the nature of the expenditure, especially in the case of claims for subsistence or entertaining, where the detailed invoice is required, together with the names of all the people attending, and their home institutions (credit card receipts alone are not sufficient). Where travel costs are claimed the section for "purpose of journey" must be completed or the claim will be rejected. For example the purpose might be research fieldwork or to attend a meeting or conference.

Payments made through the expenses system are likely to fall into the following categories:

(a) Travel Expenses

Full claimant's guidance can be found on the University website.

Expenses will be paid for travel incurred in the course of employment (e.g. to attend seminars/conferences), but not for ordinary commuting. Travel by public transport must be at standard / economy class unless exceptional circumstances apply. The University allows Heads of Departments discretion to approve premium economy or business class but only for long haul flights if the traveller is required to work within four hours of arrival or on medical grounds. Approval from the Dean must always be sought in advance. Taxi fares will only be reimbursed in exceptional circumstances, and public transport should be taken instead where available.

Private mileage will be reimbursed at the rate of 45p per mile for the first 10,000 miles and 25p per mile thereafter for cars and vans, and 24p per mile for motorcycles. If passengers are carried then an additional 5p per passenger per mile may be claimed. Any car parking charges or road tolls incurred in the course of the journey may also be claimed, although the University will not reimburse the cost of parking fines. Staff intending to use their car for business travel must ensure that their insurance cover permits this.

In some circumstances, advances may be given to meet travel and subsistence costs. All advances must be cleared by submission of an expense claim supported by receipts as soon as possible after your return to Oxford. Advances may not be outstanding in total for more than two months. The University reserves the right to recover uncleared advances from employees.

Insurance: The University has a block travel insurance policy which will provide cover to all staff travelling abroad on University business. The cost of individual's obtaining alternative insurance will not therefore be reimbursed. An application must be made in advance to arrange cover. Further details can be found here.

(b) Subsistence

Full claimant's guidance can be found on the University website.

The University will pay for the cost of meals taken by staff travelling on business, either en route or while away from their usual place of work. Staff may claim the actual cost of meals (receipts must be provided, and the costs must be reasonable).

(c) Accommodation

Full claimant's guidance can be found on the University website.

The maximum daily payment for hotel accommodation and meals in the UK is £150 for major cities and £100 for anywhere else. Different rates apply to accommodation abroad. If you are travelling abroad please contact the Faculty’s finance team, who will be able to advise you on the maximum payment applicable to the country you are travelling to.

Reimbursement for hotel accommodation will be limited to the cost of the room (or to the daily maximum for the relevant country if the actual cost is higher), evening meal, breakfast and one other meal. Personal items such a mini-bar tariffs, newspapers or video hire will not be reimbursed. Internet and telephone use cannot be reimbursed unless it can be demonstrated to be at least 90% for business purposes.

(d) Entertaining

Full claimant's guidance can be found on the University website.

The University will only reimburse the costs of entertainment which is ‘wholly, necessarily and exclusively in furtherance of University business’. Examples of this include refreshments at meetings, meals with guest lecturers, examiners, research collaborators or sponsors. For the expenditure to be reimbursed, the attendees must include non-University staff and if meals are taken anywhere other than on University premises there must be a genuine reason for this (time of day and a requirement for particular facilities would both count in this case). Working meals should not include alcohol. Tips will be reimbursed as long as they do not exceed 15% of the total bill.

Expenses can also be reimbursed for University-specific entertaining such as student welcoming parties and postgraduate events. This also includes drinks and light refreshments provided at the start of a new course or in association with lectures or seminars. However, the majority of attendees at such events must not be University staff.

All claims for entertainment expenses, other than student events, must be include:

• the names of all attendees, including University staff;
• details of the organisations represented by the attendees;
• the purpose of the entertainment;
• whether the entertainment is a one-off or a recurring event.

If you have any queries about entertaining expenses or whether events are allowable, please contact the Faculty’s finance team before organising the event to ensure that you will not be left out of pocket.

(e) Other Expenses

The University will not reimburse subscriptions to professional bodies or clubs. Subscriptions to journals and publications, or to professional bodies where the purpose of the subscription is to obtain access to publications, are allowable but publications must be delivered to a College or Faculty address and invoiced directly to the Faculty. Publications should be made available to all staff.

Business telephone calls made from an employee’s private phone may be reimbursed. The University will not reimburse rental costs or private calls, and any claim for the reimbursement of telephone costs must be accompanied by an itemised bill. Unfortunately, it is not possible to reimburse the costs of top-ups for pay as you go mobile phones or telephone services charged as a package.

IT equipment should not be purchased directly and reclaimed through the expenses process unless the Faculty’s IT Officer has agreed this in advance.

Research Assistance

All payments for research assistance must conform to UK employment law, including taxation and immigration law. To ensure this, payments should only be made via the University payroll. We cannot reimburse payments made to research assistants by individuals. If you wish to employ a research assistant please ask them to contact Emma Gascoigne before they start working for you so that we can confirm that they have the right to work in the UK and put them on the payroll.

Research assistants should complete a casual payroll form giving details of the hours they have worked. You should sign this and indicate the budget from which it is to be paid before forwarding it to the Personnel Officer. Further details can be found here.