Employees working from home during the coronavirus pandemic claimed some outlandish expenses this year, including pricey exercise bikes, facelifts and private jets.
Emburse, an expense management software company, released a compilation Wednesday of some of the craziest expenses it has seen claimed this year, some of which were actually approved. That included $1,895, which was approved as a contribution for an employee's Peloton Bike under the explanation of “for health and wellness.” On the other hand, a $7,600 expense claim for a facelift was submitted under the category of “repairs and maintenance” but was rejected, despite the pressing need to look one’s best during a Zoom meeting.
Ryan McMahon leads Cambridge Mobile Telematics' Insurance and Government Affairs group, which works with partners around the globe to deliver results from their connected insurance programs. Ryan is passionate about technological innovation in the insurance industry. Before CMT, he worked in claims, product, corporate, and field marketing for both personal and commercial lines carriers. Ryan spent five years at Plymouth Rock Assurance where he ran the “More Than Just Insurance” platform and worked on a team to introduce the first of it’s kind telematics based rewards program to the U.S.
Brian Buggy is CTO of Zynstra, an NCR company.
Vadim Verkhoglyad is Vice President and Head of Research Publication, dv01
Some expenses weren’t for working from home, but more about getting out of the house safely. An expense claim for a private jet charter costing over $20,000 was submitted and approved under the explanation of “required to limit COVID exposure for international shoots.” Another travel-related expense claim was $2,500 for a helicopter ride, which was not approved.
The $79 expense claim for a dog crate could perhaps be used for travel at some point when that's safer, but in these times it was more plausibly to provide "crate training [for] a new COVID puppy to not run into Zoom meetings."
Below is an infographic produced by Emburse showing this and several other head-scratching claims:
