NHS Mileage Rates 2026/27

Last updated: 23 October 2026 · Figures verified against the NHS Employers 2026/27 pay circular.

By the NHS Bands Pay editorial team

What are NHS mileage rates?

If your NHS job involves driving as part of your working day, your employer reimburses your business travel through mileage rates set under Section 17 of the Agenda for Change terms and conditions. These rates are national: every trust, integrated care board and other Agenda for Change employer in England uses the same figures, published by NHS Employers in the pay circulars that accompany each pay round. The system is designed to cover the cost of fuel, wear and tear, insurance and depreciation on your own vehicle while you are doing NHS work.

The rates matter most to community staff. District nurses, health visitors, community physiotherapists, midwives doing home visits and similar roles can clock up thousands of business miles a year, and mileage payments can make a meaningful difference to take-home pay. If you are considering a community role, understanding how the tiers work helps you estimate the true value of the package. District nurse pay and health visitor pay both sit within bands where community working, and therefore mileage claims, are a standard part of the job.

It is worth saying up front that mileage payments are reimbursements, not pay. They do not count towards your salary, they do not affect your pensionable pay, and they are taxed differently from wages. That is why this guide covers the HMRC side of the story as well as the NHS rates themselves.

Which journeys count as business travel?

Before looking at the rates, make sure the journeys you claim actually qualify. Under Section 17, the fundamental test is whether the travel is necessary for you to do your job, over and above your normal commute.

Journeys you CAN claim

• Travel from your normal workplace (base) to a patient's home, clinic or another work site
• Travel between work sites during the working day, for example visiting patients in different parts of your patch
• Travel from home to a temporary workplace that is not your normal base, where that is what your employer's policy covers
• Detours to collect equipment, medication or documents needed for your duties, where the employer authorises them

Journeys you CANNOT claim

• Travel between your home and your normal workplace. This is ordinary commuting and is never claimable, no matter how far you live from base.
• Travel to a base for administrative convenience when your substantive workplace is elsewhere, if your employer does not recognise it as business travel
• Personal journeys made during the working day, including lunch trips

The home-to-base rule catches people out more than any other part of the policy. If your normal base is a community clinic and you drive from home to that clinic each morning, that leg is commuting. The claimable day starts when you leave the base to see your first patient. Some staff with no fixed base have different arrangements, in which case your employer's own policy and your contract define your base of work. If you are unsure where your base is recorded, check ESR or ask your manager, because getting this wrong is the most common reason mileage claims get rejected or clawed back.

NHS mileage rates 2026/27: the full table

The table below shows the Section 17 rates for journeys made on or after 1 July 2026. Cars are the only vehicle type with a tiered rate: the higher rate applies to the first 4,500 miles of each mileage year, and the lower rate applies to every mile beyond that.

The 4,500-mile threshold is a change from previous years, and it is worth knowing the recent history. For journeys between 1 June and 30 June 2026, the threshold was still 3,500 miles, so a journey made in mid-June counts towards a 3,500-mile cap while a journey in July counts towards 4,500 miles. Employers track the running total, but it helps to know which rule applied when you submit claims spanning the boundary.

The NHS mileage year: 1 July to 30 June

For the 2026/27 period, the NHS mileage year runs from 1 July to 30 June. Your running total resets on 1 July each year, so the counter returns to zero and the next 4,500 miles are again paid at 59p per mile. There is an important change on the horizon: from 1 April 2027, the mileage-year counter will reset on 1 April each year instead of 1 July. The counter is therefore being brought into line with the financial and pay year. If your employer has not yet explained how the transition will handle the changeover period, keep an eye out for local guidance, because a reset date that moves from July to April changes which rate you receive for spring journeys.

Because mileage rates are reviewed twice a year, the figures in this guide are a snapshot, not a guarantee. The October 2026 review may set new rates taking effect from 1 January 2027. In practice this means the 59p/36p figures could change partway through the mileage year. Always check the current NHS Employers circular, or your trust's intranet expenses page, before relying on a figure in a dispute with your employer. The review exists to keep pace with fuel and motoring costs, so changes usually track inflation in motoring rather than being dramatic, but they can move in either direction.

Worked examples

The maths is simple, but it is easy to slip up on the threshold, so here are four fully worked examples showing exactly how claims add up.

Example 1: district nurse driving 6,000 miles in the mileage year

A community nurse drives 500 business miles a month, 6,000 miles over the year. The first 4,500 miles are paid at 59p and the remaining 1,500 miles at 36p:

• 4,500 miles at 59p = 4,500 x £0.59 = £2,655.00
• 1,500 miles at 36p = 1,500 x £0.36 = £540.00
• Total mileage payment for the year = £3,195.00

That is the kind of figure a full-time district nurse on a rural or suburban patch can genuinely expect, which is why mileage is such a significant part of community pay. It appears on your payslip as a separate reimbursement line. If you want to understand how it sits alongside your salary, our guide to reading your NHS payslip explained walks through each section.

Example 2: health visitor driving 4,000 miles in the mileage year

Not everyone passes the threshold. A health visitor with a compact urban patch drives 4,000 miles, all within the first tier:

• 4,000 miles at 59p = 4,000 x £0.59 = £2,360.00

Because the total stays under 4,500 miles, the 36p tier never applies. If you drive around 4,000 miles a year, you keep every mile at the top rate, which is actually a better average per-mile return than a colleague who drives twice as far and sees the average dragged down by the 36p tier.

Example 3: cycling and motorcycling

Staff who cycle between visits in a town centre are not stuck on car rates. A community worker cycling 100 miles a month, 1,200 miles a year, is paid 20p per mile with no threshold:

• 1,200 miles at 20p = 1,200 x £0.20 = £240.00

A motorcyclist doing 3,000 miles a year at 30p per mile receives 3,000 x £0.30 = £900.00, again with no tier change. The flat rates are simpler, and for short urban rounds a bicycle can be competitive once parking and fuel are factored in, though that is a personal calculation.

Example 4: passenger allowance and bulky equipment

The extra allowances stack on top of the vehicle rate. A nurse who carries a student colleague on 2,000 of her 5,000 annual miles receives the passenger allowance of 5p per mile on those 2,000 miles: 2,000 x £0.05 = £100.00, added to the standard mileage. Similarly, carrying heavy or bulky equipment (for example a hoist or large kit) on 1,500 miles adds 1,500 x £0.03 = £45.00. These small extras are worth claiming because they are easy to forget and employers will not add them automatically.

There is also a reserve rate of 30p per mile, used where the standard rates are not payable, for instance in certain bank, agency or irregular working arrangements. A worker on the reserve rate driving 2,000 miles would receive 2,000 x £0.30 = £600.00. Check your contract or assignment terms if you think this applies to you.

HMRC Mileage Allowance Relief: reclaiming the shortfall

Here is the part of the system many NHS staff miss. HMRC sets its own benchmark for tax-free mileage, called the Approved Mileage Allowance Payment (AMAP) rate. For the 2026/27 tax year, the AMAP benchmarks are 55p per mile for the first 10,000 business miles and 25p per mile after that, with motorcycles at 24p and bicycles at 20p. (Note the 55p figure: before 6 April 2026 the first band was 45p.)

When your employer pays less than the AMAP benchmark, the difference is not taxed away, you can claim tax relief on the shortfall. This is called Mileage Allowance Relief, and it applies to NHS mileage over 4,500 miles, where the NHS pays 36p per mile against a 55p benchmark. It also applies to any miles where the NHS rate sits below the benchmark. For miles where the NHS rate is above the benchmark (the first 4,500 car miles at 59p), there is no shortfall, so no relief is available on those miles.

Worked example: a 10,000-mile year

• HMRC benchmark for 10,000 miles: 10,000 x £0.55 = £5,500.00
• Employer pays: (4,500 x £0.59) + (5,500 x £0.36) = £2,655 + £1,980 = £4,635.00
• Correct answer (calculated by tier): £1,045.00, explained below

That rough subtraction is close, but the technically correct calculation works mile by mile: on the first 4,500 miles the employer rate of 59p beats the 55p benchmark, so there is no shortfall. On miles 4,501 to 10,000, the employer pays 36p against a 55p benchmark, a shortfall of 19p per mile: 5,500 x £0.19 = £1,045.00 of Mileage Allowance Relief. The difference between the two answers is a common source of confusion, so always calculate by tier rather than lumping the totals together.

To claim, use HMRC form P87 if you are employed and not in self assessment, or include the claim in your self assessment return if you file one. Keep your mileage records, because HMRC can ask for them. Claims can be backdated up to four tax years, which is worth doing if you have been driving over the threshold for years without claiming. Relief is given at your marginal tax rate, so it reduces your tax bill rather than arriving as cash. If tax codes and marginal rates are new territory, our NHS tax code explained guide covers the basics.

How to claim and what records to keep

Most trusts run expenses through ESR self-service or a dedicated expenses system, with mileage submitted monthly. You normally enter each journey's date, start and end points and distance, and the system applies the tier automatically. A few practical points will keep your claims clean:

• Log journeys promptly. Memory fades fast on distances, and claims submitted months late are more likely to be queried.
• Use actual shortest reasonable routes. Claims based on obvious overestimates can be rejected; many staff use route planners and keep a note of the figure.
• Separate claimable legs from commuting. Record where your base is and mark the start and end of claimable travel explicitly, so an audit trail is clear.
• Keep records for at least three years from the end of the tax year, and longer if you are claiming backdated Mileage Allowance Relief from HMRC.
• Note passengers and bulky equipment on the claim at the time; retrospective additions are hard to evidence.

If a claim is rejected, ask payroll or your manager for the specific policy reason before resubmitting. Common rejections are home-to-base legs claimed in error, journeys with no patient or business purpose recorded, and duplicate submissions. Most are fixable in minutes once you know which rule was breached.

Who the rates do and do not cover

Section 17 mileage rates cover staff employed on Agenda for Change terms and conditions, which includes the vast majority of NHS nurses, midwives, allied health professionals, healthcare support workers, administrators and managers in England. If you are not sure which framework your contract uses, the Agenda for Change guide explains how the system works and who it covers.

Two groups follow their own arrangements and are outside this guide's scope: doctors and dentists (other than resident doctors on the 2016 terms and conditions of service, who are covered) and Very Senior Managers. If you are in either group, your mileage terms will be in your own contract or pay framework, not in Section 17.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

This guide describes the Section 17 arrangements for England. The devolved administrations run their own mileage arrangements, and the rates, thresholds and mileage-year definitions can differ from the English position set out above. Staff working in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland should check their own nation's pay circular or their employer's local expenses policy rather than assuming the English rates apply. Where staff work across borders, for example a community team whose patch straddles England and Wales, your employer will tell you which policy governs your claims, so confirm this at induction rather than discovering a discrepancy months later.

Watch out for the October 2026 review

One final reminder, because it matters. Mileage rates are reviewed twice yearly, and the October 2026 review may change the rates with effect from 1 January 2027. If you are reading this after that date, treat the 59p and 36p figures as the position for the first half of the mileage year and check the latest NHS Employers circular for the current position. For journeys on or after 1 January 2027, always confirm the rate before submitting, particularly for high-mileage months where a few pence per mile compounds into real money.

Frequently asked questions

What is the NHS mileage rate for cars in 2026/27?

The NHS business mileage rate for cars in 2026/27 is 59p per mile for the first 4,500 miles in a mileage year, then 36p per mile for any further miles. The 4,500-mile threshold applies to journeys made on or after 1 July 2026.

How many miles are paid at 59p before the rate drops?

The first 4,500 business miles in each mileage year are paid at 59p per mile. After that the rate drops to 36p per mile for the rest of the year. For journeys made between 1 June and 30 June 2026 the threshold was still 3,500 miles.

Can I claim mileage for driving to my normal workplace?

No. Travel between home and your normal workplace is ordinary commuting and is not claimable under Section 17. Only business journeys, such as travelling from your base to patients homes or between work sites, qualify.

What is the NHS mileage rate for motorcycles and bicycles?

Motorcycles are paid at 30p per mile for all miles, and pedal cycles are paid at 20p per mile for all miles. Neither has a tiered threshold like cars.

How do I claim Mileage Allowance Relief from HMRC?

If the NHS rate for a journey is lower than HMRC's approved benchmark (55p per mile for the first 10,000 business miles in 2026/27, then 25p), you can claim tax relief on the shortfall using form P87, or through self assessment. Claims can be backdated up to four tax years.

What is the NHS mileage year?

For 2026/27 the NHS mileage year runs from 1 July to 30 June. From 1 April 2027 the mileage-year counter resets each 1 April instead.

Does the passenger allowance add to my mileage rate?

Yes. A passenger allowance of 5p per mile is paid on top of the standard vehicle rate when you carry a colleague who is also on NHS business. For example, 2,000 miles with a passenger adds £100.

Can I claim mileage if I work in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland?

Yes, but the rules described here are the Section 17 arrangements for England. Devolved administrations set their own mileage arrangements, so check your own nation's circular or your employer's expenses policy for the rates that apply to you.