Rising incidents of unpaid fuel have pushed the latest Forecourt Crime Index to a new record high of 244, according to the British Oil Security Syndicate (BOSS).
The BOSS Forecourt Crime Index increased by 16.7% to 244.1 during the three months to 30 September 2022, reaching the highest level since the Index was introduced in 2015. The Index collates reports of no means of payment and drive-off incidents made to BOSS Payment Watch, the specialist forecourt fuel loss recovery service.
BOSS has found that during the third quarter 2022 no means of payment incident reports increased by 18.3%, while the number of drive-off incidents climbed by 13.8%. Incidents of unpaid fuel are 32% higher than the same period of last year.
The average number of incidents per site rose to 24.8, up from 21.7 in the second quarter of 2022. No means of payment incidents accounted for 65% of all reports and the cost of each incident averaged £78.37, up from £75.54 in the second quarter of the year, while the average cost of a drive off incident cost increased to £56.63 per incident, up from £53.82 in the previous quarter.
Although the cost of fuel eased during the quarter, with a modest rise of 2.5% to an average of 175.8 pence per litre, BOSS estimate average annual losses per forecourt outlet increasing 22% to £7,026.67, up from £5,766.44 in the same quarter last year.
Claire Nichol, the executive director at BOSS, said: “Over the summer months the Forecourt Crime Index climbed to record levels. The trend is on the upward curve and even in the face of falling fuel prices, we expect incidents of unpaid fuel to keep growing.
“Forecourts are at greater risk of unpaid fuel incidents during peak periods. Carefully recording information about each unpaid fuel incident means that if a motorist does not return to make a payment, we can be more successful at pursuing those who either forget to pay or deliberately evade payment.”
