Contents7 sections
A home care service needs a fuel solution that does two things: carers fuel between two rounds in a few minutes, without a detour to the till and without a card that passes from hand to hand. And the care manager or the office sees every fill-up with its receipt in one place, without collecting receipts from the vehicles at the end of the month. A fuel app with a web dashboard covers both. This article shows what matters in day-to-day care work and how DKV InstantFuel is used there.
Fuelling in day-to-day home care
The vehicles of a home care service are rarely parked for long. Morning round, midday round, evening round, with documentation and handovers in between. Trips are short, but there are many of them, and one vehicle is often driven by more than one person a day. For fuelling, that means:
- Changing drivers on the same vehicle. In the morning one carer drives the small car, in the afternoon another. If the fuel card belongs to the vehicle, it is hard to trace later who fuelled.
- Fuelling on the side. Carers fuel when the warning light comes on, between two patients. Every trip to the till and every search for a particular brand costs minutes that are missing from the round.
- Receipts for accounting. Fuel costs are among the larger running costs of a home care service. Without complete receipts, they can neither be booked properly nor analysed.
- Part-time work and turnover. New staff should be able to fuel quickly, and those who leave should stop immediately. Card shipping and card blocking do not fit this pace.
At the pump: the app for carers
DKV InstantFuel is a brand of DKV Mobility; the provider is PACE Mobility GmbH. Carers pay via app at the pump, the office manages drivers, fill-ups and receipts in the web dashboard.
At a connected station, the app switches to fuelling mode. The carer selects the pump in the app, fuels, pays in the app and drives on to the next round. Payment runs via the company card that the care service stores once in the dashboard: Visa or Mastercard, as a credit or debit card, or V-Pay. There is no prepaid balance and nothing needs to be topped up.
- The app belongs to the person, not the vehicle. Who drives which car today makes no difference for fuelling. Every fill-up is assigned to the carer who paid.
- Also on a private smartphone. The app may run on a private device. Card data is processed in tokenised form, and the company card stays stored centrally in the dashboard.
- Receipts without chasing. After the fill-up, the receipt is created automatically and is available in the dashboard.
In the office: fleet management in the dashboard
The dashboard runs in the browser and is the tool for the care manager or the administration:
- Invite and approve carers. You invite new staff via a link and confirm them in the dashboard. Only then can they fuel. Here is how: Invite drivers.
- Leaving with one click. Anyone who leaves the service is deactivated and can no longer fuel. No collecting or blocking cards.
- Every fill-up in view. Every fill-up appears with litres, price per litre and receipt, assigned to the carer.
- Vehicle reference when you need it. If you wish, carers enter the licence plate and odometer reading when fuelling. You enable both entries in the settings. That way, a fill-up can also be assigned to the vehicle, even though the app belongs to the person.
- Receipts for accounting. Every receipt is tax-compliant and contains the mandatory information under Section 14 of the German VAT Act (UStG). Each month you download a ZIP with a PDF overview and all individual receipts, plus the e-invoice in ZUGFeRD format, which DATEV can also read.
Station network: check your service area first
This is the most important check. DKV InstantFuel works at approx. 12,000 stations in 10 countries, including brands such as JET, Esso, AVIA, HEM, Q1, OMV, Hoyer, bft, Classic, OIL!, Tamoil and tankpool24. The network is smaller than that of the classic DKV card. For a home care service, what counts is whether there are enough stations in the service area and on the way there from the office. You can check this in advance on the live map. The network covers diesel, petrol, HVO 100 and AdBlue; EV charging is in preparation.
What it costs: an example with eight carers
DKV InstantFuel costs €2.49 net per user per month. That applies to every carer who fuels and also to the fleet manager who looks after the dashboard. A care service with eight carers who fuel and one person in the office therefore pays €22.41 net per month for nine seats, plus the actual fill-ups via the company card. There is no setup fee or minimum term; the contract can be cancelled monthly. Spending limits are available as an optional add-on for €2.49 net. All details: Pricing.
For context: with classic fuel cards, costs are made up of card fees, setup charges or percentage surcharges, and terms are individual. They only become comparable with a concrete quote based on your fuel volume.
In short: does the app suit a home care service?
Yes, if three conditions are met. The care service has a Visa or Mastercard company card or a V-Pay card, the rounds are mainly in Germany and the neighbouring countries of the network, and the live map shows enough stations in the service area. Then it takes around 5 minutes to the first fill-up (setup guide). Anyone who needs tolls, workshop services or a Europe-wide network is better served by a classic fuel card. The selection criteria for small fleets: Fuel card for small company fleets.
FAQ
How does fuelling work when several carers drive the same vehicle?
The app belongs to the carer, not the vehicle. Every fill-up is assigned to the person who paid in the app. If you also want to see the vehicle, enable entry of licence plate and odometer reading in the dashboard.
Can carers fuel using their private smartphone?
Yes. The app can also be installed on a private smartphone. The care service stores the company card centrally in the dashboard, and card data is processed in tokenised form.
What happens when someone leaves the care service?
The fleet manager deactivates the person in the dashboard with one click. After that, fuelling via the company card is no longer possible.
Does DKV InstantFuel check creditworthiness?
No. Because billing runs via your own company card, there is no separate credit check. Classic fuel cards, by contrast, work with a credit limit set by the provider and a consolidated invoice, which is why the provider checks creditworthiness. More on this: Fuel card without a credit check.
Do we need one company card per vehicle?
No. One company card for the care service is enough; all carers fuel via it. Limits of €500 per fill-up and €10,000 per month per company apply, each including VAT.
Further reading:
- Fuel card for small company fleets: the five criteria and options for small fleets
- Fuel Card Without a Credit Check: Is It Really Possible?: the your-own-company-card model
- Setting up DKV InstantFuel: step by step to the first fill-up