Duty travel

Am I eligible?

All Service Personnel are eligible when travelling for work purposes.

What’s it for?

You may have to travel for work related purposes, whether it’s going to a new unit on a change of assignment, travelling to official meetings or courses, or even attending hospital appointments. Whatever the reason, Duty Travel ensures that all the costs are met by your Service and you won’t be out of pocket as a result.

What do I get ?

All forms of transport may be considered  when you travel for work. These include air, rail, coach, a work provided vehicle, hire car or your own car.

The key thing to remember is that you must have authority to travel and you must  use the most cost effective means possible. For example, it may be cheaper to fly somewhere and return the same day rather than take the train or drive and stay over.

How do I claim this?

If you are travelling by air, rail, ferry, coach, Service vehicle or hire car, then this is arranged and pre-paid via a central system.

If you wish  to use your own car then you can claim Motor Mileage Allowance, details of which can be found on the motor mileage allowance benefit page, provided no military transport is available for your journey.

There are some additional travel costs you may have to pay yourself and claim back afterwards. For example, if you have to:

• take a bus, the underground or, if no public transport is available, a taxi for the last part of your journey if you’ve travelled by train or plane

• pay parking fees, road tolls or a congestion charge if you’ve travelled by car;

• pay for fuel if you’ve used a hire car.

• pay a regional airport tax if you’re travelling by air

If that’s the case, then if you have a Defence Gateway account you can claim these expenses from your own personal device by going to  My expenses. You can also submit your claim via  JPA iexpenses as set out in the Allowances and expenses User Guide which can be found here.

If you don't have access to Defence Gateway or the JPA on-line system, JPA Form F016 (which can be found at at JPA forms) is to be completed and submitted to your unit HR Admin staff.