Rental cars up to a full-size vehicle are reimbursable/allowable. Any vehicle with a higher rate requires a business purpose explaining why it is necessary to rent that vehicle. Sports utility vehicles and vans are allowed when there are three or more business travelers in the party, the Concur Expense Report must indicate the number of travelers in the expense comments field. If an SUV/van is needed for less than three travelers, then the appropriate explanation is required and is subject to AP approval. Rental cars will be reimbursed to one employee only, though more than one employee uses the same rental car.

Official university travel paid or reimbursed from state-appropriated funds must use state or university-contracted vendors, when available. Official university travel paid or reimbursed from local funds is not required to utilize state-contracted vendors. However, travelers are strongly encouraged to use State-contracted vendors since State-contracted rental car costs include liability and loss/damage waiver (LDW) insurance in the base rate, while non-contracted rental car costs do not. If a non-contracted rental car company is used, it is the traveler’s responsibility to obtain the proper insurance coverage . Instructions on how to book a State-contracted rental car can be found at State Contracted Rental Car section.

Receipt Requirements. The receipt must include the following: the name of the rental company, the name of the employee renting the vehicle, the starting and ending dates of the rental, an itemization of expenses incurred, and proof of payment.

If you are booking through a third party, such as expedia.com, per MAPP policy, you are still required to obtain an itemized receipt. We recommend that travelers contact the Help Center or Customer Service of the third party company before their trip to advise them that they will need an itemized receipt after their trip. If the traveler doesn’t do so, however, they can still request an itemized receipt after their trip.

Motor Vehicle Record Request Form. All persons driving rental/leased cars during their university business travel within the U.S. must complete and submit the MVR Request Form to Risk Management (  http://www.uh.edu/risk-management  ). Travel Requests do not initiate insurance coverage. It is the responsibility of the Department to ensure that their travelers complete and submit the MVR Request Form to Risk Management prior to their trips .

Note: Travelers would need to complete and submit the MVR Request Form only once. The form will remain in the file maintained by Risk Management.

Sources: MAPP 04.02.01A; MAPP 04.02.01B; MAPP 06.05.03; SAM 01.C.13; Domestic Travel FAQs; Insurance; Textravel.