Research from embedded finance firm Weavr, conducted through Censuswide, revealed that workers lose around £690 million every year in unclaimed and unpaid expenses in the United Kingdom.
Surveying more than 500 office workers based in the UK, Weavr found that 81% of respondents say they had been left out of pocket by their employer for more than a month, resulting in significant financial and mental health issues.
As noted in the update from Weavr:
“The days are numbered for using employees as ‘a credit line’.”
As mentioned in the research report, many workers still have to use their own funds to cover work-related costs, only to be let down when their claims do not get reimbursed.
The majority or 63% of workers said they’ve experienced this issue, with 4% reporting losses of £500 or more per year.
For 11%, this is not an occasional problem—it reportedly happens “often” or “all the time.”
UK field workers have been impacted the most, with the majority or 76% claiming they’ve permanently lost money because of employers failing to reimburse them.
It’s a sign that organizations have to re-evaluate how they support their teams financially.
The report also emphasizes less obvious issue: the considerable number of workers who fail to claim back expenses in a timely manner.
A significant 75% said they were missing claims, losing an average of £90 each year as a result.
Across the nation’s blue-collar workforce, this adds up to about £690 million lost annually—funds that may have gone back into workers’ pockets.
The reasons are seemingly obvious / clear: complicated expense systems and confusing HMRC rules are making the process more challenging than it should be, leaving workers to burden the cost of inefficiencies.
The report indicates the challenges of expenses management and proposes a another approach to improve the experience.
Company-funded expense cards enabled by embedded finance eliminate the need for company workers to cover costs out of pocket.
These cards reportedly work within the tools employees are naturally using at the time they plan expenses, such as accounting apps, business travel booking platforms, and ERPs.
It is a solution workers value – 83% stated that such a card would improve their cost of living challenges and 77% think it could improve overall job satisfaction.
By integrating card-enabled expenses management, the process remains within one platform, providing data consolidation and efficiencies for workers.
Alex Mifsud, CEO and Co-Founder of Weavr said:
“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.”
