FAQ: What mileage and travel expenses are GP locums allowed to claim for?
Claims will depend on the pattern of their work. If they are ‘itinerant workers’ – so that they work at different places from day-to-day with no discernible pattern, then it should be possible to argue that the main place of work is home – the base from which the business is run. This should make all journeys to surgeries allowable.
If however there is a pattern claims will be restricted. For example:
Dr L is a freelance locum. He has a number of regular jobs. He covers at surgery A on Mondays, does two days a week at surgery B and the fourth and fifth days are totally variable. It is likely that surgery A and surgery B become ‘workplaces’ so that home to each of those premises will be a personal journey. The fourth and fifth days should fall within the itinerant rules so that home to surgery will be deductible.
Sometimes the pattern will not be obvious in advance. A short spell of locum work may develop into something more regular (at this stage there is a risk that the locum is no longer freelance in respect of that placement and may need to become salaried, but that is beyond the scope of this FAQ).
"As a newly-qualified CCT and a GP moving to a new region post-CCT, I found LocumDeck and the NASGP to be very helpful. LocumDeck has been useful: Ali Lewis helped me to set myself up, get in touch with practices and book sessions, and also helped me chase payments. The NASGP itself, providing peer support and advice, has also been very good. I would certainly encourage my colleagues to join."
Dr Smita Sharma, GP, Hertfordshire