Fuel Cards

_Kaiser_

cormie wrote: »

Something like that is handy alright, is Topaz only available to use in Topaz stations?

When you say about them adding mileage or reg to the receipt, I'm trying to think of how this would work in a reimbursement sense but I don't think I've had enough sleep to comprehend it.

So if I'm driving my own van and go to fill up, I know how much I'm putting in etc, but if I have some guy driving my van and he uses the card to pay, what difference does it make as it'll be coming out of my account anyway?

Generally the Benchmark cards are only good in Topaz stations yes, but there are a few smaller/independents that seem to take em too.

With regards to claiming it back.. I'm sure I'm missing something too but, for example - in my last job I got a mileage allowance but for that I had to submit timesheets with where I was , for how long, and the distance from head office to each location.

I'd imagine then if I said I did 1000km that week, and submitted a fuel receipt for 1500km they could very easy cross-check (plus the Benchmark invoice lists each station you fill at, so if I claimed I was in Dublin and a station showed up in Galway the game would be up too )

I unfortunately only got a very minimal flat-rate that barely covered the diesel costs, so the balance + extra servicing costs + wear and tear items etc all had to come out of my own pocket - but for me the card is worth it as there's only 1 bill per month, I don't need cash or a laser/credit card on me, and I can still fill the car if I'm broke that week

cormie

Ah yeah I see how it could be handy alright.

So Benchmark itself is only usable at Topaz and other small independents? Or did you mean to say the Topaz card? They aren't the same thing are they? I thought benchmark could be used in the UK and Europe and stuff?

_Kaiser_

cormie wrote: »

Ah yeah I see how it could be handy alright.

So Benchmark itself is only usable at Topaz and other small independents? Or did you mean to say the Topaz card? They aren't the same thing are they? I thought benchmark could be used in the UK and Europe and stuff?

I'm not sure exactly what/how the connection works but my invoices come from Topaz, it's a Topaz website that you log in to to check the status/history of the account and it's only (with a few exceptions as mentioned) Topaz garages that accept the Benchmark card so to me anyway it seems to be one and the same?

Maybe Benchmark is the consumer brand whereas the Topaz own brand card is more for business?

EDIT: With regard to usage, the FAQ on the Motorcard site states:

Can the card be used at any other petrol stations in the Republic of Ireland?
No. The Benchmark Motorcard will only be accepted by Statoil stations in the Republic of Ireland.

... which is a pity as I do be in NI occasionally and it'd come in handy there alright

cormie

ah damn, I thought the benchmark was a bit more widely accepted than just topaz stations

maybe the woman was right about no cards being able to be used EU wide then?

B00MSTICK

It looks like the Benchmark Motorcard is linked to Statoil.
Statoil was bought out by Topaz so I assume they'll all pretty much the same.

Going on the Topaz site it seems that the Topaz card is aimed only at businesses as they ask for a company address. I'm not sure if the Motorcard is the personal equivalent?

Think I might go for one myself.

cormie wrote:

ah damn, I thought the benchmark was a bit more widely accepted than just topaz stations

maybe the woman was right about no cards being able to be used EU wide then?

The do have an international one apparently

Topaz is a partner in the network alliance between Statoil, Aral, BP, Agip, and OMV.

Your International Card will be accepted by any of these partners displaying the Routex sign at their sites, giving you a choice of 17,000 sites in 36 countries across Ireland, UK and Europe.

cormie

I sure do take my sweet time getting involved in things like this. Still haven't signed up to any. Was reminded after being in Esso yesterday and seeing that they have a fuel card that can be used UK and Europe wide!

I'm looking for:

• The most widely accepted card, UK/Europe usage and not restricted to one particular chain.
• Most competitive with the best billing system (online account review system etc would be nice).
• Multiple cards for the same account with pin (changeable by the user)

cormie

It's taken me a while, but I've finally gotten around to signing up for a fuel card and it meets pretty much all the requirements I was looking for.

I got another cold call from a company and when I stated what I was looking for he said he couldn't provide that, but would put me in touch with a colleague.

The company is directfuels.com and here's the info I've received through email:

Direct Fuels is our company name and in that company we promote cards for Ireland & Europe. For Europe we offer a EDC & Esso fuel card, the Esso card has a site network of over 14,000 sites throughout Europe with a facility to purchase tolls on the card. Our EDC card we have a site network of over 4,000 sites which we offer very competitive rates.

EDC is our own card, EDC Plus network is EDC card & Esso card.

Direct Fuels website has links to .com websites as we offer you an online account management facility so that you can maintain your fuel account this gives you access online to invoices, cancelling & ordering cards.

Direct Fuels can offer you a fuel card access to 18,000 sites throughout Europe with access to over 2,000 sites in the UK.

Billing is a weekly invoice which runs from Monday to Sunday, as advised you can access invoices online.

All fuel cards will PIN assigned to the cards that cannot be changed by users.

We will email you through your diesel rates every Friday and these rates will run from Monday to Sunday which is very clear. Our current fuel rate in UK 118.55ppl.

For our full network of 18,000 sites it will be cards Esso & EDC. EDC have a sites network of over 4,000 sites, coverage in the UK is approx. 900 sites. In Ireland using the Esso card you will pay pump rates, On the EDC cards will

Notify you your rate on a Friday

On EDC card you will only pay for the fuel that you purchase on the cards there is no admin, registration fees. On the Esso card diesel is bought at pump price and there is an admin fee of 1.5%, for tolls bought on this card there is an admin fee of 3.5%.

You will be invoiced on a weekly basis our invoice runs from Monday to Sunday and is VAT approved, no need to be using cash and having the tedious process of receipts also just to note that we do VAT reclaim also.

The usage for both cards will show up on the one invoice. If you were to use the cards in Ireland, UK & Belgium you will receive 3 invoices one for the relevant country showing there Vat amount.

Vat reclaim is done on a quarterly basis all countries have a VAT reclaim minimum amount so once you hit that amount the claim can be submitted, if we do not hit it quarterly we look at annually. The vat reclaim is a lengthy & tedious process, get it wrong and you can lose the claim. We will submit your reclaim and keep you updated on your VAT the amounts due back and the time frame.

Usage from all cards if used will show up on all invoices, you will receive an separate invoices for Countries cards are used in. If you use the cards in the Uk you will be invoiced in GBP and this will be converted into Euro’s at our own rate supplied by the bank.

You can also have this dd from a separate sterling account if you have one, and the Euro usage be taking from the Euro account.

You can only pay pump price by using the Esso card at their sites, EDC cards you pay the rate they we quote you.

The process can take up to 15 working days until you get the cards, the cards can be used at unmanned sites, if you log onto our website www.europeandieselcard.com this will give you our full site listing. The card is used like a laser card give it to the cashier and you be asked for registration and mileage and then asked for the pin, they will give you a receipt but you have no need for these as all transactions will be on your invoice which is fully VAT approved.

That's a bunch of various copy and pastes from a few different emails of me asking everything I could think of before signing up. It all sounds pretty good anyway and should make filling up a lot easier.