How to Fill Out Form OWCP-957 for Travel Refunds: Mileage and Expenses

To fill out Form OWCP-957 for a medical travel refund, use Form OWCP-957A for mileage when you drove your own vehicle and Form OWCP-957B for other out-of-pocket costs like parking, tolls, taxis, transit, meals, and lodging. Enter your name, nine-digit FECA case file number, home address, and contact information, then list each trip or expense with dates and amounts, sign the certification, attach receipts, and mail the package to the Division of Federal Employees’ Compensation in London, Kentucky. The current federal mileage rate, effective January 1, 2026, is 72.5 cents per mile.¹

Which Form You Need

OWCP split the original single Form OWCP-957 into two specialized forms, and FECA claimants should use these to avoid processing delays.²

OWCP-957A covers mileage when you drove your own vehicle to an authorized appointment.³
OWCP-957B covers everything else: parking, tolls, taxi fares, public transit, meals, and lodging.⁴

If a single trip involved both driving and paid parking, you file both forms.

What to Gather Before You Start

Have your nine-digit FECA case file number in front of you.⁵ Pull every receipt: parking stubs, toll charges, taxi slips, transit fares, hotel folios. Without a receipt, an expense on the 957B will likely be denied.⁴ For mileage, a printout from a mapping tool showing the route distance is worth keeping as backup in case OWCP questions your figures.

Check whether any of your trips needed pre-authorization. If your round-trip travel exceeded 200 miles (or 100 miles one way), or if the trip required air travel or an overnight stay, the district office had to approve it in writing before you traveled.³ Attach a copy of that approval letter to your submission. Filing for a long trip with no prior authorization is one of the fastest ways to get a claim denied.

One more upfront point: the medical condition must be one OWCP has formally accepted under your FECA claim, and the treatment must be from an authorized provider.⁶ Travel for anything else isn’t reimbursable.

Completing the OWCP-957A for Mileage

At the top of the form, enter your full legal name and your nine-digit case file number. The address field must be the home address where you actually live. OWCP will not accept a P.O. Box or an attorney’s address for FECA claims.⁴ Add your phone number and email so the office can reach you if there’s a question.

For each trip, use one line. Record the date, your starting location, your destination, and the total miles. Enter one-way mileage if the trip was one direction, or the combined round-trip total if you drove there and back.³ If you had two appointments on the same day at different locations, list each leg on its own line. Travel by the shortest reasonable route.

Total the mileage column. Then sign and date the certification at the bottom. That signature is a legal declaration, so verify each distance before signing. The system applies the current federal mileage rate (72.5 cents per mile as of January 1, 2026) to your total.¹

Completing the OWCP-957B for Other Expenses

The identification block is the same: full name, case file number, home address, phone, email. In the expense section, check the box that matches each category (parking, tolls, taxi, lodging, meals, or other) and enter the dollar amount and date.⁴ Attach the matching receipt for every line.

If any of the expenses came from a trip that required pre-authorization, include the district office’s approval letter with the submission. That single sheet ties the expense to an authorized trip and moves your paperwork through faster.

Sign and date the certification. Meals and lodging in particular tend to draw scrutiny, so make sure the receipts show the dates that match your treatment dates.

Where to Send the Forms

Mail the completed forms and all receipts to:

OWCP-DFEC
P.O. Box 8300
London, KY 40742-8300⁷

Do not upload these forms through ECOMP. The portal explicitly prohibits it, and its instructions warn that uploading medical or travel reimbursement forms will delay processing.⁸ ECOMP is for medical reports and supporting letters to your case file. The 957A and 957B go by mail.

Before you drop the envelope, photocopy everything you’re sending: both forms, every receipt, and any pre-authorization letters. If the mail goes astray or the office asks a question, that copy is your record. Processing generally takes several weeks. Reimbursement comes by check unless you’ve set up direct deposit using Standard Form 1199A through your financial institution.⁹

File Within One Year

Travel reimbursement requests must be submitted within one year of the expense.¹⁰ Batching a few months of trips onto one 957A is fine, but waiting longer risks lost receipts and forgotten trips. File soon after each appointment while the paperwork is still in hand.

If Your Request Is Denied

The most common reason a travel claim gets denied is missing documentation: a receipt that never made it into the envelope, or a long trip taken without prior authorization. Before you appeal, look at your submission and see whether the fix is simply resubmitting with the missing paperwork.

If the denial stands, the letter itself will explain your appeal options and the deadlines that apply.¹¹ You can ask the district office for reconsideration with new evidence, request an oral hearing before an OWCP hearing representative, or file a written appeal with the Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board.¹² Each path has its own rules, and not every path is available for every type of decision.

1
U.S. General Services Administration. Privately Owned Vehicle (POV) Mileage Reimbursement Rates
2
U.S. Department of Labor. Important! Effective February 17, New OWCP-957B Medical Travel Refund Request-Expenses Form Is Required
3
U.S. Department of Labor. OWCP-957A – Medical Travel Refund Request – Mileage
4
U.S. Department of Labor. Form OWCP-957B – Medical Travel Refund Request – Expenses
5
U.S. Department of Labor. Federal Employees Compensation Act – Frequently Asked Questions
6
eCFR. 20 CFR Part 10 Subpart D – Medical and Related Benefits
7
U.S. Department of Labor. Claimant – Bills Mailing Address – Medical Bill Processing Portal
8
U.S. Department of Labor. ECOMP – Employees Compensation Operations and Management Portal
9
U.S. Department of Labor. Standard Form 1199A (EG) Direct Deposit Sign-Up Form Instructions
10
Department of Labor. Submitting Medical Bills and Reimbursement Requests
11
eCFR. 20 CFR 10.315 – Will OWCP Pay for Transportation to Obtain Medical Treatment
12
eCFR. 20 CFR Part 10 Subpart G – Appeals Process