The volume of forecourt crime reported to the crime-preventing industry body BOSS, the British Oil Security Syndicate, by forecourt operators increased by 20.5 per cent during the second quarter of 2021. That rise was driven by a near 38pc increase in drive-off incidents, says BOSS.
The second quarter (Q2) saw more vehicle movements as the UK was released from lockdown from April onwards. During the three months to June 30, the BOSS Forecourt Crime Index increased to 170 (141: Q1 2021) and is now at the same level as the fourth quarter of 2019; that is, the final quarter before the covid pandemic affected travel.
BOSS says that its Forecourt Crime Index has been revised to combine the impact of No Means of Payment (NMoP) and Drive Off incident reports that are made to BOSS Payment Watch, the loss recovery service.
That large increase in the index was driven by drive-offs, with the number of incidents rising 37.6pc during the second quarter. NMoP incidents went up by only 12.9pc during April to June. While the average number of litres taken per drive-off fell to 30.5 litres in the quarter (31.4: Q2 2021) and the average value of each drive off incident rose to £39.16 (£38.19: Q1 2021).
The average number of incidents per site increased to 17 (14.0: Q1 2021), however, the average litres of fuel taken per incident increased 13.6pc to 46.7 (41.1: Q1 2021).
Generally, the average price of fuel during the Q2 period increased by 5.4pc to 128.4 pence per litre (ppl) (121.8 ppl: Q1 2021),
Kevin Eastwood, BOSS executive director, said: “The BOSS Index has returned to 2019 levels but the jump during 2021 reflects the growth in traffic as economic activity recovers from the pandemic. The big increase in the number of Drive-Off incidents emphasises that forecourt retailers should be watchful at all times, but especially when forecourts are congested with customers.
“No Means of Payment remains the biggest challenge facing forecourt operators and accounts for more than two thirds of all forecourt fuel crime by value and costs the average forecourt outlet more than £10,000 every year.”
Background
BOSS estimates that forecourt crime costs retailers more than £88m annually. Two thirds of forecourt fuel crime comes from No Means of Payment incidents (£66m per year) with the remainder reported as Drive-Off incidents (£22m).
Forecourt crime reduction guides for forecourt retailers to reduce incidents and keep forecourts safe places to work and shop are available from BOSS. A free copy of the BOSS Drive-Off Prevention guide can be downloaded from the BOSS website at https://bossuk.org/guidance.
