Mileage Claims: What You Need to Know

Mileage Claims Under Legal Aid

Current Rate:

£0.45 per mile (HMRC approved rate)

What You CAN Claim:

1. Office to Station: Distance from your office/base to the police station
2. Round Trip: Both directions (to and from)
3. Multiple Stations: If visiting multiple stations in one trip

What You CANNOT Claim:

• Home to office (unless home IS your registered office)
• Personal errands during the journey
• Exaggerated distances

Common Mistakes:

1. Claiming from home: Only valid if home is your registered business address
2. Not using shortest route: Use Google Maps to verify distance
3. Rounding up significantly: Small rounding acceptable, large inflation is fraud

LAA Audits:

The LAA increasingly cross-checks mileage claims against:

• Google Maps distances
• Your registered office address
• Previous claims patterns

Best Practice:

• Keep a mileage log with dates, stations, and distances
• Use route planning tools and save screenshots
• Be conservative - if in doubt, round DOWN
• Remember: over-claiming is fraud and can end your career

Pro Tip: Register your home as your business office if that's where you genuinely work from - perfectly legitimate and makes claiming simpler.