Reward that may be paid as a matter of policy (7)
I believe the answer is:
premium
'reward' is the definition.
(I know that premium is a type of reward)
'paid as a matter of policy' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'matter' could be 're' (Re is an example) and 're' is found in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
'that may be' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for premium that I've seen before include "best quality" , "cash needed for cover charge" , "bonus payment" , "Amount payable for insurance etc" , "What may be paid" .)