Of course these are all just my opinions. In my current role I don't get to decide this stuff. But in the past I have served on both protest and appeals committees, and I know how the committees that I have served on would have interpreted these situations. I think that 99 out of 100 appeals committees would agree with me. Unfortunately, too often, these things never get protested/appealed.
That past experience is part of why I have such a conservative read on the allowances.
Bookmarks