My manager is pushing back on additional expense claims - what would you do?

Posted by mercadonapineapple@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 67 comments

I’m seeking a second opinion on something I’m dealing with at work. I’ve just had a change in manager to someone who is essentially a consultant, in an interim capacity. Typical consultant, all about cost reduction and nothing about people management. We had a scheduled work trip abroad for a few days last week and there were constant remarks about expenses from this new manager, which has extended to my expense claim on return. There isn’t anything unreasonable on there, with one potential exception. The flight was at 7.30am, therefore we had previously agreed airport parking or a taxi was ok to expense. The morning of the flight (c4.30am) I get in my car, and having had no issues with this vehicle before, the engine wouldn’t start… literally worst case nightmare scenario. I attempted to problem solve / panic for a few minutes before deciding I needed to find a taxi urgently, which fortunately I was able to secure one that would get me to the airport for about 6.30 - just enough time to clear security! My expense claim therefore has a taxi expense and parking. I was too close to the parking time to cancel (they allow changes / cancellations up to 2 hours before the booking, I was within 1) and travel insurance won’t cover it as I did still travel (if I hadn’t travelled this would be claimable). Therefore I feel I’ve exhausted all options to relieve the company of this expense before claiming. My manager is kicking off saying I can claim for one or the other - my view being that this trip was not a personal one, and if I hadn’t secured a taxi the lost cost would be even more significant. What would you do?