UK employers are paying out more than £1billion every year in unnecessary expenses, according to new research.

More than 4.8 million expense forms submitted by 100,000 employees were analysed as part of a study by a leading expense services provider.

Of this figure, it was revealed that firms reimbursed around £350m in fraudulent expense claims, whilst £671m was paid to those whose expenses were not covered by company policy.

David Vine, managing director at GlobalExpense, warned that companies need to check claims thoroughly to ensure they are legitimate.

‘Not all out-of-policy expenses are phoney - it may be that an employee has overstepped the spending limit by £1 or failed to produce a valid receipt,’ he said.

‘But this is an area where public figures and working professionals can forget their ethics.’

A separate study has revealed that 39% of those who inflate their expenses would do so by 10%, whilst 8% would exaggerate their claim by at least 50%.