Access To Work (Travel Costs)

Everyday living
1

Good afternoon everyone

just a quicky for anyone using or used Access To Work for help with travel to work costs. Im currently awaiting the forms in the post as ive requested the help. Can anyone tell me if your employer has/had to contribute to the taxi fares at all? I know im expected to pay the equivilant to public fares.

Thanks everyone

Mini x

2

Hi Your employer will not be expected to contribute to access to work. I hope this helps Neil

3

Hi, are you in receipt of the mobility component of DLA? I believe this is supposed to cover travel costs. If I am wrong, then i apologise.

pollx

4

Hi poll yea I’m in receipt of lower rate mobility dla (which i still think stinks to high heaven as my mobility is horrendous but i wont go there) so I’ve had to apply separately for help with costs for travel to work. Mini x

5

Oh, I see,

What about applying to be pushed up to high rate mobility?

pollxx

6

I have a friend at work who has mobility problems (not MS). She gets help from access to work for help with the costs of getting the taxi she needs to get to work.

She says that she was very impressed at how quickly andf easily they processed her paperwork and how quickly she gets her payments when she puts her receipts in.

Our employer doesn’t pay a contribition to the cost (but they would if it was for equipment she needed).

She doesn’t get DLA/PIP (although she should!)

I don’t think that being in receipt of DLA would affect eligibility for the scheme because DLA is expected to cover your mobility needs 24/7 whether you are in work or not and the Access to Work scheme is meant to cover the additional specific costs of doing your specific job. (I could be wrong though - it sounds a bit generous for the government when you think about it!).

7

DLA Mobility is not sufficient to cover travel-to-work costs. When I was working, and using Access To Work to help with taxi fares, it used to cost £100 a week for a taxi to/from work each day Mon-Fri. As the DLA Mobility was less than £50 per week then, it couldn’t cover it. Access To Work is available to cover the cost of getting to work, and DLA Mobility covers other personal transport costs.

Neil

8

Thanks everyone for your replies. I’m tempted Poll but I’m scared ill get it taken off me completely you know what they’re like it’s too stressful Mini x

9

Hi,

I use access to work for taxi fares and it was easy and straightforward, unlike every other thing I’ve tried to claim!

I contacted Access to work, got my local number from the internet, I was assigned an advisor, who deals with everything for me, he gave me his email address and direct line telephone number.

I supplied 3 quotes from local firms, they chose obviously the cheapest one, you set up an account with the taxi firm who invoice you monthly, with set fees for journeys.

My employer does not contribute for my journeys to and from work, however when I need to travel within my working day, my employer pays 40p per mile towards it.

If you have a free bus pass, then you don’t pay anything towards the journeys, if not, then you pay public travel costs which they estimate usually at 25p per mile.

You are awarded an agreed number of taxi journeys per month, which you can use up to each month.

You complete the forms they send you, one every month, get your boss to sign them off, send them in and they pay you into your bank account within 10 days.

I’ve found it straight forward and such a help with the fatigue and my 45 minute journey to and from work.

Jools

X

10

Thanks Jools sounds good just waiting for forms now! X

11

Forgot to ask Jools, are you responsible for paying the invoices initially? Thanks Mini x

12

Hi Mini,

The taxi firm invoice me at the start of each following month and they give me 30 days to pay, so I just make sure I get it to my boss asap, she signs it off and I post it to access to work, then within 10 days of receipt they pay the money into my bank account, I’ve been doing this for 4 months and the first month there was an inital account set up with access to work delay, but since then, I’ve had the money in from access to work within my 30 days taxi firm window, so there was no initial outlay needed from me.

Jools

X

13

Thanks Jools hope it’s sorted out soon x

14

It all depends on how the taxi firm you use handle it. As Jools posted, she was invoiced monthly and had 30 days to pay. Myself, I paid the taxi fares daily and got a receipt from the driver. Then, every 4 weeks, I completed the claim form, got it signed off by my line manager and posted it off, along with the receipts, and then waited a few days for the funds to be transferred electronically to my bank account.

Neil

15

Thanks Neil. The problem is I wouldn’t have that sort of cash to fund taxis for a month it would be near on £700 a month although you get it back I couldn’t afford to pay it initially Mini x