I’m in terested in the experience people have had with providers of salary sacrifice schemes, particularly with regard to substantiation of claims and timeliness of payments.
My experience with substantiation has been varied - As I live in a remote area I claim remote mortgage interest. I know another person who does likewise. In my case my employer is a for-profit organisation but the other person works for a not-for-profit - slightly different rules apply re FBT and limits/etc but the ATO has advised me that substantiation requirements are identical - yet through the same provider the other person only has to show expected interest 6 or 12 months at a time, in advance, where I am expected to show actual interest charged in arrears. When describing this to the ATO they could not explain why there would be a difference yet the provider swears it is an accounting requirement in some way because we work for different employer classes (ATO says this makes no difference).
In terms of payment timeliness - I can wait weeks for the payment to arrive in my account after incuring the expense with only flaccid excuses from the provider to the effect they are short staffed or busy, but apparently no plans to address that. These payments are essentially salary, yet the provider holds them for extended periods, along with my substantiation documentation, in the processing queue. In the case of the other person I know, with the significantly lower burden of substantiation, payment is swift - maybe a day or two later than their payroll from whence it came.
I also claim remote fuel/power - which understandbly does require a paid bill for substantiation, but still suffers from the extended settlement time once I have made the claim with the salary sacrifice scheme provider.
Interested in other people’s experience, particularly how long your money is held in limbo (or ‘used otherwise’ by the provider if you are cynical like me 
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