Work expenses meal rates

bob21

We're currently having a bit of a 'discussion' at work about the rate the company pays for subsistence - those of us on the road feel it's rather low, those holding the purse strings seem to think it is fine!

Currently we get £8.50 a meal, which is atrocious (but apparently in line with HMRC - though I note these changed last year, and am sure these rates haven't been updated since before then). £8.50 doesn't buy you much other than McDonald's for dinner - and whilst I don't mind a Big Mac every now and then, I resent being forced into it too often!

So, for those of you who travel for work - how much does your employer pay for a meal?

If you're happy to say, I'd also be interested to know what industry you work in.

(Give me some ammunition people!)

Sporky

£25, which can include booze but must include food. The standard installer dinner is therefore some chips as as much Stella as they can get for the rest.

I am in the audio visual integration industry.

There's a bit of leeway if you're staying somewhere with restricted options; I got away with £55 at a trade show, and if I'm taking a customer out then it's notionally £75 each but with a pat on the back for underspending.

CHRISB50

My company seems to have similar ideas to Sporky's company. Around 25 quid, maybe a bit more within reason.

£8.50 is a shocker. Do the management have shares in Ginsters or something?

vasselmeyer

My employer is $50, €50 or £35 depending on what currency you're paying in.

Sporky

Normally if we're staying away it's a Premier Inn, so £25 gets you a substantial meal and a few drinks at the attached pub.

bob21

Terrible, isn't it! Ironically, most decent size meals at (motorway services) Burger King, which is pretty much the only option that you can stop a van at between london and the warehouse, cost over £8.50! 

Traditionally there has been a loophole in the rules, that applies different limits to the company credit cards - but this loophole has just been closed, hence the discussion about it now!

Reverend

£20 or so for me i think.

Deadman

Breakfast - whatever the cost of the hotel you're staying in on the Company booking scheme or £5 if not

Lunch - £5

Dinner - £20 including alcohol as long as you get it with your meal

I never struggle with this at all but make sure I use it especially for the evening meal if I'm out on the road.

TTony

Whatever i spend.

Though it is *my* company.


If I'm charging the cost on to a client, I'll generally cap it at £25.

LoFi

Similar to most others (though we don't have set amounts at current place) - I wouldn't go much above £25 for dinner (inc a drink or two) or a tenner for lunch (normally a bit less).

Have worked with some ridiculous policies in the past though - advisory hotel rates that are 20 years out of date (e.g. £60 for a major capital city, £40 outside), or the place that said I couldn't expense EUR2.50 for a coffee and a croissant for breakfast after I declined to pay 15 for the same thing in the hotel.

Nikko

30 euros per meal for me, if im working away from the office (usually Germany, Holland or Italy). We get a nightly hotel budget of 95 euros, and if breakfast is included in the hotel rate, we still get to claim back the 30 euros.

I work for a large Electronics Distributor.

monofin

No limit. Just expected to keep things reasonable.

Projects & Purchasing Manager

olafgarten

8.50 is nothing. Where are you usually? I know in London it's difficult to get lunch for less than £10 if you want a proper meal. 

bob21

@olafgarten ;
Mostly London, increasingly Birmingham - all either metropolitan areas or sometimes motorway services (also notoriously expensive for things not of the McBurger King variety)..

DiscoStu

When I was Sales Executive for a lens manufacturer and away from home most of the time my old company had a £30 per day discretionary rate including drinks, the idea being not necessarily to spend that each day but also not to buy a Pot Noodle then blow the rest on beer. Eating out twice a day can soon add up especially if you're repping in big cities. Or eating in the hotel restaurant!

I would limit myself to £5 for lunch, and quite often I'd just get a supermarket sandwich meal deal, leaving me £25 for dinner and a couple of beers. 

skunkwerx

Nothing when I drove patient transport ambulances. 12 hour shift and you'd be lucky to get alloated a lunch break anyway! 

Then again being a coeliac and fructose intolerant it was too bleedin difficult to manage in the end so packed it all in!

Sambostar

Does this mean I can claim my lunch back off HMRC because I'm self employed?  Didn't think so eh.

DiscoStu

Sambostar said:

Does this mean I can claim my lunch back off HMRC because I'm self employed?  Didn't think so eh.

Yeah, you can claim it as expenses if you keep your receipts.

Sambostar

Wow, I never knew that, not that I take a lunch break as such, but twenty Sovereign black, a bottle of Dr Pepper and a mars bar and a hot fatty sausage roll from the garage do add up over the year

Axe_meister

Even £20 can be low if you are staying In nice hotel. Get in late and you want glass of wine and a meal you may find it is not enough.
I'm on $75 a day.

Bod

£25 quid for evening meal, no alcohol.