How To Claim Expenses Like A British MP

by Glenn Fisher

Right now I’m not sure who is worse...

In the blue corner: the farcical political class who have been exposed for spending the country’s money on what can only be described as ‘pompous crap’.

I mean... Tory MP Douglas Hogg claimed for ‘moat cleaning’!

What the heck?

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Anyway, in the red corner (and it’s important not to forget this aspect of the general sleaze in the UK): the press. Who have decided on a strange policy of ‘drip-feeding the truth’...

These past few days - mainly to sell their papers - new revelations have been promised afresh each day.

Er, excuse me Mr Murdoch and chums, if there’s news to be told can we have it now and not as and when it suits you.

Look, don't shoot me, but I think it’s reasonable for MPs to get SOME compensation - travel, a few drinks for charity events and maybe a bit of accommodation - why they can’t live in their constituency and stay in a Travelodge when they come to London I don’t know.

But really let’s forget about them, what I’m more concerned about is how you can better YOUR financial position.

Today though we will continue on our expenses theme with two tips that could save you money on your main two expenses - travel and accommodation...

How to claim expenses like a British MP

First up, travel and more specifically - trains!

Whether you’re commuting overground or being huddled in the tunnels beneath London... trains can be somewhat ‘less than efficient’.

But rather than cursing them and dreaming of the ultra-efficient locomotives of mainland Europe, there is something you can do if your train is late...

Get your money back!

In regard to overground trains, if your train is delayed for longer than 30 minutes you could well be able to claim back the cost of the journey.

Basically, keep hold of your ticket, pop into a station and pick up a reclaim form. Fill it in and send it off and you could be looking at a nice reimbursement cheque coming your way.

Also, check out www.trainrefunds.co.uk. It’s a community website where users update each other of various travel delays so that you can see if there was a delay when you were travelling.

Now, if you’re in London or regularly use the London Underground, despite 'Bumbling Boris' banning alcohol on the trains, you may have noticed that the people actually running the trains seem sometimes to be drunk in charge of scheduling.

If you do find that your tube is over 15 minutes late or there are severe delays... money could be owed to you.

To make a claim you can visit the London Underground website and follow the simple instructions for tube refunds.

OK, that’s travel...

What about that house?

Now, if you do happen to have a moat like former Agriculture Secretary Douglas Hogg then I’m afraid I can’t do anything about your moat claiming expenses.

But if you’re not a pretentious twerp and live in a regular house ‘sans moat’ then you could save some money...

Find out if the Council owe you money

It turns out some Council Tax bills are a bit ropey...

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As you know, what you pay depends on the ‘Council Tax Band’ that your house is in.

And that in turn is based on the value of your property.

Problem numero uno... most council tax valuations were done years ago and haven’t been updated.

And problem, er, number two... in many cases those out of date valuations where actually rush jobs.

Apparently in some cases, the people from the council just drove down a street and looking out the car window decided ‘yeah, that’s worth about hundred grand’ and then drove off.

Whether that’s true I don’t know, but I worked in local government for 5 years and can tell you - it’s not the most efficient place you’ll ever work.

But to the point... how do you find out if you’re in the wrong council tax band and have been paying too much?

First find out what band you’re ‘officially’ in.

This will be on your last council tax bill, or you can ring the council and ask.

Or you can check out this site:

Valuation Office

Then check your neighbours’ council tax band. If they are different, then you could well have a claim.

But there’s more to do...

Next, how much is your house currently worth?

You can check this using this tool on the Hometrack website:

www.hometrack.co.uk

It gives a rough idea of the value of your house based on recent sales in your street.

Once you’ve got that figure, go to Nationwide’s house price calculator at:

House Price Calculator

Here you can enter in the current value and the calculator will work out the value of the house back in 1991.

Now, here’s the UK banding for 1991 (in thousands):

Band A under £40,000
Band B £40,001 - £52,000
Band C £52,001 - £68,000
Band D £68,001 - £88,000
Band E £88,001 - £120,000
Band F £120,001 - £160,000
Band G £160,001 - £320,000
Band H over £320,001

The question is, does you current banding match up?

If it does then go about your business as normal, there’s no claim here. But if it doesn’t and your band is different to your neighbour’s then you might have a claim.

Before making a claim though I personally think it’s worth contacting the Council Tax department of your Local Council and asking them about the case.

Explain what you’ve found and your concern that you’re paying too much Council Tax and ask them to check the details before pursuing the case further.

In many cases you’ll find your banding is probably right but it is worth doing a quick check. You could quickly save a few hundred pounds.