Payment for travel and the appropriate apportionment of cost between clients: general policy

It must be clear and transparent in your accounts that travel has been properly apportioned to ensure that:

  • One client does not subsidise another client, as some grants may be subject to a contribution or clawback.
  • There is no duplication of charging.

We have to deal with many thousands of individual accounts and it must be clear in each account what proportion of travel has been allocated to that account.

Travel costs: explanation and example of apportionment

Where you need to travel, whether to see a number of your clients or conduct a number of hearings, you must apportion travel time by the number of cases dealt with.

You must apportion all travel and mileage costs equally across all cases, whether legally assisted, privately funded or pro bono, and whether the cases involve the same client or different clients. You must not charge travel and mileage against one case and nothing against the others. Each case should reflect the actual cost incurred.

Any mileage charged should be apportioned by the number of cases dealt with by dividing the total cost between each of the cases.

Travel costs and apportionment: specific information to provide with your account

The account should specify the number of clients seen and provide the name and reference number of each client seen. This will allow us to cross-reference and verify cases. For privately funded and pro bono clients, state which of these applied and how many people you saw on this basis.

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