Forecourt Crime

Fuel theft increase by 22% during first week in June

The British Oil Security Syndicate is urging operators and staff to be extra vigilant during peak periods.

Incidents of unpaid fuel increased by 22% month-on-month during the first week of June 2022, according to the British Oil Security Syndicate (BOSS).

BOSS is urging forecourt operators to encourage staff to look out for unusual behaviour and be extra vigilant during peak periods. It said operators should also ensure that they retain accurate information about vehicles involved in driving away from a forecourt without paying for fuel or motorists claiming to have no means of payment for fuel.

Claire Nichol, Executive Director of BOSS, said: “We have received a 22% increase in reports of motorists not paying for fuel during the first full week of June. Reported incidents have been rising steadily by around 5% each month, but this month there has been a noticeable increase.

“Motorists claiming to have no means of payment account for 70% of incidents which re-emphasises a shift away from drive-off incidents.

“Average fuel prices have risen by 19% since January 2022 and there is no doubt that there is a link between rising fuel prices and increased incidents of forecourt fuel crime.”

BOSS collates reports of No Means of Payment and Drive Off incidents from information supplied to BOSS Payment Watch, a specialist forecourt fuel loss recovery service.

During the first quarter of 2022, the Forecourt Crime Index from BOSS revealed that incidents of unpaid fuel had shot up by 14.6%. Over the same period, the cost of fuel increased by 10.5%.

Motorists claiming to have No Means of Payment is the biggest challenge facing forecourt operators and accounts for two-thirds of all forecourt fuel crime. Fuel crime can cost an average forecourt outlet more than £10,000 in lost revenue every year.