What is the Universal Credit mileage allowance for 2026?

If you drive for work, mileage is usually the largest single expense on your Universal Credit report, and the one most often left unclaimed.

Universal Credit uses its own flat rates. They are not the HMRC rates, and the thresholds are different, so a figure you found on a tax page will be wrong here.

The rates

Flat rate per mile, per monthly assessment period

Car, van or other motor vehicle, first 833 miles: 45p a mile
Car, van or other motor vehicle, every mile over 833: 25p a mile
Motorbikes or scooters: 24p a mile

The 833 mile threshold resets with each assessment period, so it is a monthly threshold rather than a yearly one.

Mileage instead of running costs, not as well

The flat rate is meant to cover what the vehicle costs you to run. If you claim mileage for a vehicle, you are not also claiming its fuel, servicing, insurance and repairs on top. Claiming both is claiming the same spending twice, and it is the kind of thing a check finds.

Buying, leasing or hiring the vehicle

You cannot claim expenses to buy, lease or acquire a car or minicab if the vehicle is not specially adapted for business use.

gov.uk, business expenses you can report to Universal Credit

An ordinary car or minicab is on the flat rate, full stop. A vehicle that is specially adapted for business use is treated differently, and gov.uk is the place to check your particular case.

Which miles count

Business miles. gov.uk is clear that commuting, meaning travel between your home and your normal place of business, is not claimable, and neither is personal travel. For a private hire or delivery driver with no fixed place of business, the picture is different from an office worker, so the honest answer is that it depends on your own working pattern and your work coach is the person to confirm it with.

Or let Takin do this part

Takin logs your work miles, applies the 45p and 25p bands in the right order, and shows you the fuel and vehicle payments the mileage has already covered so they are not claimed again.

Get Takin See how it works

Takin is an independent app by Borun Studios Ltd. It is not affiliated with DWP, HMRC or gov.uk, and it is not financial advice.