Incindental Expense Allowance [Merged]

[PtePwnage]

Hello there,

I am quite new to the military pay system, and I was wondering if someone could clarify for me what incidental pay is? The admin people I have spoken have not really been able to elaborate. I just came off a two-month course and I was told I could submit my claim, and I would receive some form of monetary reward? I was told to gather all my receipts, and that I would be given my claim as a normal direct deposit. It's been approximately 6 weeks since I submitted this "claim", and I have not received word or money of any kind? Could someone clarify for me, if a claim and incidentals pay is not actual money, then what is it?

 

[Inch]

Did you sign the completed claim? If not then the claim cannot be finalized, ie no money for you. I would go the Orderly Room and check on it's status. If I don't have my money from a claim in 2-3 weeks, I start asking questions.

Incidentals are 17 some dollars per day, it's meant to offset the minor expenses you incur while on Temporary Duty (TD), things like tips at the restaurant, parking meters, basically, any minor expense that you incur that's not covered by the meal claim or receipts from taxis, hotels, rental cars, etc.

For the RMS clerks out there, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[00334]

It is money that you've spent on extra's and money that you receive when you're away from home to cover those extras.  I believe it is 17 something for the first month and 13 something for every day after that.  Don't worry about waiting 6 weeks for it to arrive.  Mine took 4 months to arrive.  It'll arrive eventually; you just need to be patient.  I would suggest checking with your OR if you haven't done so and see what's happening with your claim.  Don't harass them too much and try to be friendly or your pay checks might start disappearing. ;D

 

[aesop081]

Once my claims are finalized and i have gone back to sign them ( stupid new system...i used to sign them in advance) i always get my money deposited directly within 7-10 buisness days.  if you have waited longer than that , go to your OR because something IS wrong.

 

[Inch]

4 months? I take it you're a reservist. I have never had a claim take longer than 4 weeks unless it was because I didn't sign the finalized claim due to leave or deployment. As CDN Aviator states, once you sign your finalized claim, it's 7-10 business days until you get your money and very rarely longer.

 

[NCRCrow]

especially if you are on TD and you use AMEX, I wouldn't be waiting more than two weeks to pay off my card

 

[00334]

Yeah I'm a reservist. It's long story.

 

[PtePwnage]

So am I correct in assuming the general consensus is that the process takes longer if you're a reservist? That would be my case. Does it really make a difference?

 

[lizbobiz79]

Claims shouldn't take any longer because you are a reservist. Both the reg force and res force use the same program (Claims X). There's no harm at all in going in to your OR and asking the status of your claim. The clerk should be able to easily find out where your claim is and give you an estimate of how much longer it will take to receive the money. If you (or anyone reading this thread) is interested in the process of a claim, here it is....

So, Pte Bloggins has a course to go on and his clerk does up a claim, the clerk sends it to be approved. It's approved and Pte Bloggins goes on course. Pte Bloggins comes back from course and sumbits an itinerary of his travel to and from wherever his course was AND receipts (hotel, parking, etc). The clerk finalizes Pte Bloggins claim and sends the claim to be approved again. After this, the claim is sent to the cashier and the cashier pays out or recovers the difference depending on the claim. If there is a "pay out", this deposited directly into Pte Bloggins account within 7-10 business days. Keep in mind that claim money is NOT the same as your paycheck, it can show up in your bank account at anytime. Claims and Pay are two totally different things.


The current incidental rate is $17.30/day for the first thirty days you are away and after that it's $13.00/day.

Hope this wasn't too much info, if you have any questions, fire away.


Your friendly neighbourhood clerk!

 

[Roy Harding]

I can see that the processing of claims MAY take longer in the Reserve world.  If a claims turnaround time (just for the sake of argument) is two days to process and get ready for the members signature - that translates to two days in the Reg force - but for a Reservist Clerk who works one and a half days per week, that translates to two WEEKS for the member - and the remainder of the processing can be affected similarly.  Once it's finalized and sent to the cashier, then the 7 - 10 days time frame kicks in.

For the original poster:  check with your Orderly Room - it does sound like something may have delayed the processing - could be something as simple as someone forgot to give you a message to come in and sign it.  Just ask.


Roy

 

[navychick77]

It could be that your banking info was not entered into the new web based claims X system correctly as this info fm the old system to the new one was not directly transfered over when the new system started up. If this is the case then your payment may take a bit before it's rejected back to the cashier and for them to notify your OR of the rejection.  It does usually take anywhere fm 7-10 banking days for claims to be deposited into accnt's DFT, but I wouldn't wait too long before you contact your OR of the fact that your claim has not been paid out.  Did you get any advances on your claim? If so then I would make certain the claim was finalized so no recovery action is taken against your pay.

Cheers

Charlie

 

[aesop081]

  Did you get any advances on your claim? If so then I would make certain the claim was finalized so no recovery action is taken against your pay.

if he has been waiting 4 months, i'm sure recovery action would already have been taken (if warranted).  I know that when i get my TD claims, the recovery date stamped on them in not that far away

 

[geo]

Let's face it, when the sumemr courses are over, you have some 60+ guys & gals showing up at the orderly room at the same time.  They are all looking to file their claims & get their money NOW!  Remember that many "day staff" are now being employed teaching or runing rank & trade courses - so the minute the courses & concentrations are over... the instructors are going on leave.

1.  August is a favorite for "block leave"
2.  It takes time to process 60+ claims - even if you are working full time.  If you are working part time, it takes even longer.
3.  Make sure that you have all your documents and receipts gathered together and in a logical order.  Don't make the Fin clerk go looking for you cause.... he/she won't... yuour claim will go to the bottom of the pile.
4.  Patience!

 

[navychick77]

The orig mbr actually mentioned they had not gotten their TD claim paid out in some six weeks and not four months, as I have actually seen it happen in the past recovery action is not always immediate. I was merely inquiring if the mbr had rcvd and advance. If there was none taken then again as I have seen in the past in other OR's I have seen it take upwards of four months as there may have been something either missing fm the mbr's claim or it just kept getting pushed to the bottom of the pile as there were other claims that needed to be processed sooner. If no advance is taken on a TD claim then it does not actually need to be settled for upwards of six months.

 

[PO2FinClk]

If no advance is taken on a TD claim then it does not actually need to be settled for upwards of six months.

Negative, FAM 1016-10 Para 12

12. To ensure that the reimbursement is processed quickly, all expense claims must be submitted (preferably through the Automated Cashier System (Claims X)), no later than 10 working days after the completion of travel or the date of the event.  Furthermore, units and organizations must have in place an effective expense claim processing system to effect reimbursement of completed expense claims by electronic payments or cheques within 5 working days of submission.

 

[Fishbone Jones]

Negative, FAM 1016-10 Para 12

PO2FinClk,

I'm (and the other Mods) are glad you're around. We can always count on you to finally step in and ground the thread with the actual 'section and verse'. BZ to you.

 

[armyvern]

The orig mbr actually mentioned they had not gotten their TD claim paid out in some six weeks and not four months, as I have actually seen it happen in the past recovery action is not always immediate. I was merely inquiring if the mbr had rcvd and advance. If there was none taken then again as I have seen in the past in other OR's I have seen it take upwards of four months as there may have been something either missing fm the mbr's claim or it just kept getting pushed to the bottom of the pile as there were other claims that needed to be processed sooner. If no advance is taken on a TD claim then it does not actually need to be settled for upwards of six months.

You do realize, in layman's terms, what you have just said above correct??

To paraphrase:  If we didn't give you any money via advance to pay for your necessary and entitled expenses with -- and you covered all the costs out of your own pocket -- we will push your claim and request for your entitled reimbursment to the bottom of the pile when we are "too busy" making sure the other guy on your course who took a thousand bucks from us and only spent 100 out of his pocket gets that 100 bucks back. He's the priority.

Wow. Glad my Chief Clerk didn't run my Det Orderly Room like that!! I can only imagine the PER she would have gotten from me had that been the case ...

I'm baffled.

 

[Nfld Sapper]

Well I'm still waiting for my claim to come through. Then again it had to be rewritten cause of my tasking after course, also we got a whole new crew in the OR so that might have something to do with it.

 

[PtePwnage]

I did indeed receive an advance this summer, $300 to be exact, and I got all the associated paperwork. Upon my return, I promptly gave in everything that was required, and my clerk went through the paperwork with me. Perhaps I might have forgotten a signature somwhere. In any case, my training night is tonight, and I will go ask the clerk working in the OR if there is any problems with my claim.

 

[Roy Harding]

... my training night is tonight, and I will go ask the clerk working in the OR if there is any problems with my claim.

Perfect - go to the source, it's probably something simple.

Roy