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Forecourt fuel crime is continuing to grow, albeit at a slower pace. That’s according to the latest Forecourt Crime Index from BOSS – the British Oil Security Syndicate. The trade association’s Forecourt Crime Index has shown that the volume of forecourt fuel crime reported during the third quarter (Q3 2021) increased by 9pc.
During the three months to September 30, the Forecourt Crime Index increased to 185 (170: Q2 2021). That 9pc quarterly increase was lower than the 20pc growth reported during Q2 2021, primarily because ‘drive-off’ incident reports grew at a lower rate during the quarter. The Index covers reports of No Means of Payment (NMoP) and drive-off incident reports that are made to BOSS Payment Watch, a forecourt fuel loss recovery service. During Q3 NMoP incident reports increased by 11.5pc (12.9pc: Q2 2021) and Drive-Off incident growth fell to 7.5pc (37.6pc: Q2 2021).
The average number of incidents per site increased to 18.7 (17.1: Q2 2021), however, the average litres of fuel taken per incident increased 20.5pc to 56.3 litres (46.7 litres: Q2 2021).
During that third quarter of the year, fuel prices held steady at an average of 131.5 pence per litre (ppl) (128.4 ppl: Q2 2021) for unleaded; however, the UK saw significant supply disruption during September.
Kevin Eastwood, BOSS executive director, said: “We’re getting to a stage where forecourt fuel crime costs forecourts nearly £100 million every year and it’s of great concern that incidents of this type of crime continue to grow. While the pace of the increase has slowed it is still putting added financial pressure on forecourt operators.
“Motorists claiming to have No Means of Payment is the biggest challenge facing forecourt operators and accounts for more than two thirds of all forecourt fuel crime by value. Fuel crime can cost an average forecourt outlet more than £10,000 in lost revenue every year.
“In the majority of cases motorists make a genuine mistake when they have no means to pay for fuel. We recommend that forecourt staff should follow well documented procedures, such as Payment Watch, so that motorist can return to pay either in person, via phone or online.”
About BOSS Payment Watch
It’s a debt recovery service that is available to fuel retailers. The scheme features a set of guidelines and procedures that help forecourt retailers to deal with bilkings, Drive-Off and No Means of Payment incidents. Forecourt crime reduction guides that help forecourt retailers to reduce incidents and keep forecourts safe places to work and shop are available from BOSS. A free copy of BOSS’s Drive-Off Prevention guide can be downloaded from: https://bossuk.org/guidance.
