Incidents of unpaid fuel increased by 14.6 per cent during the first quarter of 2022, according to the latest Forecourt Crime Index from BOSS, the British Oil Security Syndicate (BOSS). Fuel prices increased a further 10.5pc to an average of 161 pence per litre (ppl). Hence BOSS estimates that forecourt fuel crime costs the average forecourt site more than £4,700 in annual lost revenue.
During the three months to March 31, the BOSS Forecourt Crime Index increased to 199 (174: in the last quarter of 2021), equalling the record level set in the first quarter of 2020, when fuel prices peaked at 128 ppl. The Index collates reports of No Means of Payment (NMoP) and Drive Off incidents made to BOSS Payment Watch, the specialist forecourt fuel loss recovery service.
During the first three months of 2022, NMoP incident reports accelerated by 17pc (down by 3.4pc in the last three months of 2021) and have increased 42pc since the same period in 2021. Drive-Off incidents also continued their upward trend, increasing 10.5pc (minus 9.5pc: in the second quarter of 2021) during the quarter. Drive-Off incident reports have increased by 48pc since the first three months of 2021.
The average number of incidents per site advanced to 20.3 (17.7 in the previous quarter. NMoP incidents account for about two-thirds, 65pc of all reports and cost forecourt retailers on average £65.73 per incident, while a Drive Off loss is about £47.41 per incident.
During the first three months of 2022 fuel prices continued an upward trend and rose 16.2pc to an average of 161.0 pence per litre (ppl) for unleaded petrol (144.8 ppl: in the final quarter of 2021), average prices peaked at 163.6 ppl during March 2022.
Claire Nichol, the executive director at BOSS, said: “When prices began to rise during early spring, we saw an unusual spike in incident reports. While this momentum has eased recently, overall, reported incidents are 37pc higher in Q1 2022 than they were in Q1 2021. Yet again, more motorists are claiming to have no means to pay for fuel. It is more than an occasional excuse and is by far the largest type of unpaid fuel incident being reported to BOSS. Drive-Off incidents are also rising, up nearly 50pc during the last 12 months.
“Unpaid fuel direct affects the profitability and viability of forecourt operators. We’d encourage all forecourt retailers to carefully record information about drivers and the vehicles involved in incidents of unpaid fuel. The more reliable information is, the more successful we are in collecting unpaid fuel payments.”
BOSS Payment Watch is a debt recovery service for forecourt fuel retailers. A free copy of the BOSS Drive-Off Prevention guide can be downloaded from the BOSS website at https://bossuk.org/guidance.
