British employees are swindling their bosses by more than £1bn each year on spurious expenses claims, according to new research from hotel chain Travelodge. The survey of 3,000 UK employees discovered the average worker pockets an extra £17.00 each month from claims. This means claimants make an extra £204 a year through questionable expenses, totalling more than £9,000 over a working lifetime.
The three most popular expense scams were found to be: asking for extra taxi receipts and using them to claim back false taxi transport; adding extra mileage when submitting an expense claim; submitting receipts from expensive restaurants visited for personal use, having entertained business clients in cheaper restaurants.
The research found about 43% of respondents believed submitting such claims was a legitimate way of increasing earnings, with 45% claiming their colleagues also filed false claims. A significant 84% said they did not feel any guilt about inventing claims.
About 22% of men admitted using their expense account to wine and dine members of the opposite sex at prestigious restaurants, compared with only 9% of women.
Despite such prolific claims fiddling, only 8% of employees had been caught and fired for spurious expenses. About 60% of managers said they had let their team members get away with making false expense claims.
Guy Parsons, chief operating officer of Travelodge, said firms could not afford to waste money on “ridiculous” non-work related expense claims.
He said: “Tweaks on everyday claims such as taxis, mileage and the odd bottle of wine can rack up a business bill in a year. This is the ideal time for employers to adopt a low-cost culture, starting with a review of their expenses policy.”
The research also highlighted some of the more outrageous things employees have attempted to claim on expenses, including a motorbike, a BMW private number plate, hiring of a private investigator to find evidence for divorce proceedings, lap dancers, hair extensions, converting a new garden shed into an office, charity donations, luxury holidays and dancing lessons. One employee even submitted a claim to cover the cost of purchasing a pet hamster for the office.
The issue of expenses claimed by MPs has been thrust into the limelight with the Commons Speaker Michael Martin under particular scrutiny.
An investigation has been set up to determine whether he has breached expenses rules after national media reports claimed Martin’s wife spent £4,000 of public money on taxis for shopping trips.
Ironically, Martin is currently chairing a Commons inquiry into MPs’ expenses, which was launched following disclosures about Tory MP Derek Conway’s use of expenses to pay both of his sons, though the Taxpayers’ Alliance group has tabled a complaint calling for Martin to be removed from the inquiry panel. n
