Insurance and Use of Personally Owned Vehicle

Employees authorized to travel on State business using their personal vehicles must submit to the Travel Office, prior to travel, a copy of the Declaration Page of the insurance policy which covers the vehicle(s) to be used. The Declaration Page must show the policy limits, the names of the insured, and the effective dates of coverage, and must meet the minimum liability of the insurance required by the State of Connecticut's regulations governing the use of personally owned vehicles used for State business by DAS Fleet Operations (General Letter 115). Those minimums currently are:

• Bodily Injury Liability: $50,000 each person/$100,000 each occurrence; and $5,000 in property damage

 Alternatively,  in lieu of the above, a combined $105,000 minimum for bodily injury and property damage is acceptable.

Mileage reimbursement will not be processed without a copy of the Declaration Page of the appropriate insurance policy (that which covers the date(s) of travel) being on file with the Travel Office to establish that minimum liabilities have been satisfied.  An insurance card is unacceptable proof of minimum liabilities since the limits of coverage are not shown on the card.

Rate of Reimbursement

The rate of reimbursement for personal mileage includes reimbursement for all costs of operation, including, but not limited to, gas, oil and wear and tear. Parking fees and tolls necessarily paid by the employee may be reimbursed separately. Charges for road service, repairs, towage and other similar expenses are not reimbursable. 

In cases where air, bus or rail travel is utilized, personal mileage to and from the airport, depot or station will be reimbursed (provided that a copy of the Declaration Page of the employee's insurance policy is on file with the Travel Office and minimum insurance coverage requirements have been satisfied).

Mileage reimbursement cannot exceed lowest available airfare to the same destination.  Any comparisons to airfares, for any purpose, will be based upon assumed flight origin at Bradley International Airport.  Additional meals and other travel expenses due to the use of an automobile in lieu of public transportation are allowed up to the cost of airfare to the same destination; but will not be allowed if their inclusion would raise the cost of the automobile trip above the airfare to the same destination.

Additional reimbursements may be made in accordance with applicable collective bargaining agreements.

Determination of Mileage

For all travel except that between the CSU universities and the System Office, mileage from point-to-point will be determined through the use of "Mapquest" (http://www.mapquest.com).  Mapquest provides a route map, point-to-point directions, and the total mileage for the trip.  (See Exhibit E for an illustration of the web site, indicating appropriate inputs.)  To use this resource, simply call up the web site and click on the "Directions" tab.  Type in the "Starting Address" and the "Ending Address" of your trip.  Click on the "Get Directions" button to display the directions.  (Be careful not to select the "Avoid Highways" option.)  A copy of the directions must be submitted with your travel reimbursement request, except for travel between the CSU universities and the System Office.  Reimbursements will not be processed without this documentation.

For travel between the CSU universities and the System Office, the following mileage chart should be utilized.

When submitting reimbursement requests which include travel to more than one location within a single town or city, each location within the town or city to which the employee traveled must be identified and the mileage between the various locations must be disclosed.

There is always a chance that direct travel to or from a destination may not be possible (for example, in the case of an accident, extensive road construction, or mandated detour).  In order to be reimbursed for additional miles traveled in such a situation, the employee must keep a log indicating the actual mileage traveled by recording the beginning and ending odometer readings for the trip.  (Because a detour usually cannot be anticipated, you may wish to record your beginning odometer readings for each employment-related trip you make, in case making a detour does, in fact, become necessary.)  The odometer readings must be noted on a Policy Exception Request form (see Exhibit H) along with a written explanation as to why direct  travel was not possible, and the signed Policy Exception form submitted with the employee's Travel Reimbursement Form.  If the Policy Exception form is absent or the documentation and/or explanation inadequate, the employee will be reimbursed using the  direct mileage from Mapquest or the chart above, whichever is applicable.

Transportation of any kind between an employee's home and official duty station is not reimbursable.  If the use of a personally-owned motor vehicle by an employee is authorized to be used for official state business on the employee's regularly-scheduled work day, and the employee leaves from and returns to his/her home rather than his/her duty station, the employee shall be reimbursed at an established mileage rate for travel on official state business less his/her commute from to his/her official duty station as per Mapquest, unless another method of calculating mileage has been provided under the applicable collective bargaining agreement.  The following examples illustrate the manner in which such travel will be reimbursed;

EXAMPLE I: An employee lives in West Hartford, and his/her official duty station is in Hartford. The employee must travel to New Britain, and leaves from and returns to his/her home rather than his/her duty station. The distance from West Hartford to Hartford is 5 miles (round trip 10 miles), and the distance from West Hartford to New Britain is 8 miles (round trip 16 miles). The employee would be reimbursed for 6 miles, as follows: 

 Round trip from West Hartford to New Britain = 16 miles;
LESS: 10 miles (Round trip from West Hartford to Hartford – normal commute to and from duty station);
REIMBURSEMENT: 6 miles

EXAMPLE II: An employee lives in West Hartford, and his/her official duty station is in Hartford. The employee must travel to Newington, and leaves from and returns to his/her home rather than his/her duty station. The distance from West Hartford to Hartford is 5 miles (round trip 10 miles), and the distance from West Hartford to Newington is 5 miles (round trip 10 miles). The employee would receive no reimbursement, as follows: 

 Round trip from West Hartford to Newington = 10 miles;
LESS: 10 miles (Round trip from West Hartford to Hartford – normal commute to and from duty station);
REIMBURSEMENT: 0 miles.

EXAMPLE III: An employee lives in West Hartford, and his/her official duty station is in New Haven. The employee must travel to New Britain, and leaves from and returns to his/her home rather than his/her duty station. The distance from West Hartford to New Haven is 42 miles (round trip 84 miles), and the distance from West Hartford to New Britain is 12 miles (round trip 24 miles). The employee would receive no reimbursement, as follows: 

 Round trip from West Hartford to New Britain = 24 miles;
LESS: 84 miles (Round trip from West Hartford to New Haven – normal commute to and from duty station)
REIMBURSEMENT: 0 miles

If the employee is traveling on State business on a normal day off, such as a weekend or a holiday, the travel expense reimbursement will be calculated from and to the employee's home or point of origin for the trip.