Employees £690m out of pocket annually due to lacking expense management processing
New independent research from embedded finance specialist Weavr, conducted via Censuswide, found that employees lose an estimated £690 million annually in unclaimed and unpaid expenses in the UK alone. Surveying over 500 office workers in the UK, Weavr learned that 81% of respondents had been left out of pocket by their employer for longer than a month, leading to financial and mental health concerns.
“The days are numbered for using employees as a credit line” is the latest research from Weavr into UK business practices. It investigates the inadequacies of traditional expense management systems currently employed by small and medium-sized businesses with a particular focus on the negative impact on their employees. The report reveals alarming stats on the time it takes from claim to payout – if those claims are even paid out at all – and the sums employees effectively loan their employers until they’re reimbursed.
Unfortunately, many employees still have to use their own money to cover work-related expenses, only to be let down when their claims aren’t reimbursed. 63% of employees say they’ve experienced this issue, with 4% reporting significant losses of £500 or more per year. For 11%, this isn’t an occasional mishap—it happens “often” or “all the time.” UK field workers have been particularly affected, with 76% saying they’ve permanently lost money due to employers failing to reimburse them. It’s a clear sign that many organisations need to rethink how they support their teams financially.
The report also sheds light on a less obvious issue: the significant number of employees who fail to claim back expenses in time. A striking 75% admitted to missing claims, losing an average of £90 each year as a result. Across the UK’s blue-collar workforce, this adds up to an estimated £690 million lost annually—money that could have gone back into workers’ pockets. The reasons are clear: overly complicated expense systems and confusing HMRC rules are making the process harder than it should be, leaving employees to shoulder the cost of inefficiencies.
The report highlights the widespread challenges of expenses management and proposes a new approach to transform the experience. Company-funded expense cards powered by embedded finance eliminate the need for employees to cover costs out of pocket. These cards work seamlessly within the tools employees are naturally using at the time they plan expenses, such as accounting apps, business travel booking platforms, and ERPs, removing the hassle of navigating complex expense rules and easing personal financial strain. It is a solution employees value – 83% said such a card would improve their cost of living challenges and 77% believe it would boost job satisfaction. By integrating card-based expenses management, the process stays within one platform, providing data consolidation and process efficiencies for employers.
Alex Mifsud, CEO and Co-Founder of Weavr said on the report, “More and more employees across the UK are finding themselves feeling like human overdrafts for their employers given how often they are made to cover company expenses. Whether the cause stems from employers withholding or delaying expenses or employees finding the expenses process overly complicated, the results are the same: negative feelings towards the business and the work required. It’s not just an issue of employees becoming out of pocket, it can also permanently damage the reputation of the employer. In the current economic climate, where cost-of-living increases have put pressure on the personal budgets of many workers, this reliance on employees’ own funds erodes engagement and loyalty.”
