Unclaimed Employment Allowance: Could your business be owed money?

Many businesses are missing out on money they’re entitled to and often without realising it. One of the biggest missed opportunities is the Employment Allowance, which can reduce your annual National Insurance bill.

Yet every year, eligible employers fail to claim it. That means real money left unclaimed.

At PKF Francis Clark, our payroll team is helping businesses uncover these missed savings and reclaim funds that should never have been lost.

Why do so many businesses miss out on claiming Employment Allowance?

We regularly see employers overlook the Employment Allowance for simple reasons:

• They assume they don’t qualify or have not heard of it
• The claim was never activated in payroll software
• Eligibility changed and no one reviewed it
• Previous providers didn’t check or advise

These small oversights can add up to thousands of pounds.

How we’re recovering money for clients

Our payroll specialists are carrying out targeted reviews to identify unclaimed Employment Allowance. When we find missed savings, we act fast to help clients:

• Confirm eligibility and apply the rules correctly
• Submit backdated claims, unlocking refunds for earlier tax years
• Set up the allowance properly going forward, so savings aren’t missed again

This proactive approach is already putting money back into businesses at a time when every pound matters.

Unclaimed Employment Allowance: Recent success stories

We proactively supported both Vulcanising SW and St Moritz Hotel by carrying out a detailed review of their historic payroll records and identifying that they had been eligible for the Employment Allowance in previous years but had never claimed it. By stepping in early, we secured a total refund of £36,000 for Vulcanising SW and £21,000 for St Moritz Hotel. This not only strengthened their cash flows but also ensured they were fully up to date and correctly positioned to benefit from the allowance going forward.

Feedback from Kelly Stephens, Financial Director at Vulcanising SW: “Thank you so much.  This really is an awful lot of money that would have potentially gone amiss had it never been picked up on and feedback from Hugh Ridgway, St. Moritz Hotel: “I have never heard of Employment Allowance. Through PKF Francis Clarks own diligence and professionalism that it was checked and found”.

Our payroll service is built to do more than process payslips. We look for opportunities to save you money, reduce risk and strengthen compliance. When you work with us, you get a team that is proactive, detail‑driven and focused on delivering value not just ticking boxes.

If you’d like us to review your Employment Allowance position or explore how our payroll team can support your business, we’d be delighted to help.