Subsistence Allowance

What’s it for?

There are three types of Subsistence Allowance:

Day Subsistence (DS): If you’re absent from your duty station for more than five hours and  you need to purchase breakfast and/or lunch and/or dinner from non-Service sources, you can use DS to claim back the cost up to a maximum rate. You’ll need to keep the receipts for meals (food and non-alcoholic drinks) that you purchase.    DS cannot be claimed if meals could be taken at a military establishment, like a “Pay As You Dine” unit, but you choose to eat out instead. Neither can it be claimed when travelling in connection with sport whilst attending certain educational courses or or for commuting purposes if you are travelling from an Alternative Working Address (AWA) to your duty station  Your Unit HR/Personnel Office will advise you of any entitlements before you commence your duty.

Night Subsistence (NS): If you’re on a duty journey that requires an overnight stay, you’ll normally be expected to book into Service accommodation. If there’s no Service accommodation available, you can either arrange a hotel using the Defence Travel Hotel Booking System or make private arrangements to stay with family or friends. In all cases, you must have a Non-Availability certificate confirming that no Service accommodation is available (your Unit HR/Personnel Office can advise you on this).  NS cannot be claimed when Service provided accommodation is available

When assigned to a temporary duty location, you may now claim NS for up to 30 nights if you are working remotely from an AWA – however NS may not be claimed when commuting from that AWA to your duty station.

Incidental Expenses (IE): If you stay in hospital as an in-patient overnight and are not in receipt of the Deployment Welfare package, you can claim Incidental Expenses to contribute towards personal expenses such as laundry, a newspaper, and TV and internet access.

What do I get?

The UK daily rates for Subsistence Allowance are as follows:

• Day Subsistence: a maximum limit of £30 per day

• Night Subsistence (for hotel stays booked via the Hotel Booking Service): the actual cost of your bed and breakfast

• Private Arrangements Rate (when you arrange to stay with family or friends): £35 per 24-hour period

• Incidental Expenses (for overnight hospital stays): £5 per 24-hour period

The overseas rates were updated on 1 July 2024 can found on the rates document and on the Allowances team (defnet page) (where you can also find the rate for the British Virgin Islands). Or you can speak to your Unit HR/Personnel Office. You will be paid via your nominated bank account.

How do I claim?

If you have a Defence Gateway account, you can claim this from your own personal device by accessing the following link: Defence Gateway

You can also submit your claim via  JPA iexpenses.  Depending on what you are claiming, there are a number of JPA self service guides that tell you how to do this. These can be found at JPA user guides (defnet page) If you don’t have access to JPA or a Defence Gateway account, then you need complete JPA Form F016 (which can be found at JPA forms (defnet page)) and submit it to your unit HR admin office.