It’s probably fair to assume that PHers are among the most attentive when it comes to keeping on top of motoring bills. But it’s also probably true that being a motorist in 2020 brings with it more administrative headaches than ever before. Long gone are the days of claiming that tax is in the post or begging the ticket warden for mercy. With automated fines and camera-controlled congestion charging on top of tax, MOTs and insurance, there’s a lot to remember. British motorists are said to pay a total of £2 billion in late or incorrect fines a year. Little wonder.
Thankfully, there are good people out there – or at least some smart enough to cotton onto to a business opportunity like this – so a new app called Caura is here to aggregate all those jobs. It’s intended to “streamline the dozens of services required to manage vehicles,” notifying you of an upcoming bill due date and shortcut the payment process for different services. Which is handy, especially if you’re lucky enough to have a multi-car garage, because it’s awfully embarrassing when you send the GT3 for the 458’s MOT.
It's plausible, too, that organising all bills and service schedules into one place might be helpful for fleet managers, especially as it only requires you to enter each car’s registration number to get started. From the app’s home screen, a user can pay for selected parking, toll roads and congestion charges, and thanks to integration with Apple Pay, the process can take seconds and requires no phone calls with a computer. Something absolutely nobody will miss doing.
“The billions of pounds in penalty fees UK consumers incur from mistakes or late payments for parking, congestion charges, road tax, tolls, MOT and insurance are totally avoidable,” said Dr Sai Lakshmi, Caura’s CEO. “The incumbent system - fragmented, confusing and outdated - is not only costly but a massive source of anxiety. By eliminating the need for dozens of apps and services, we are removing hassle, confusion and unnecessary expenses of car ownership.”
To hammer the app’s usefulness home, Caura quotes stats that reveal at any time, eight million cars on UK roads have out of date MOTs. So there’s a safety as well as administrative benefit to the nation’s drivers. There's no word on cost yet but assuming it's a fair amount - or indeed, free - Caura could yet prove a welcome addition to the homescreen. Even if it only highlights just how difficult motoring has become these days...
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