{"id":244486,"date":"2023-11-07T19:20:40","date_gmt":"2023-11-07T19:20:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automotobuzz.com\/?p=244486"},"modified":"2023-11-07T19:20:40","modified_gmt":"2023-11-07T19:20:40","slug":"forecourt-fuel-theft-surges-by-77-per-cent-latest-figures-suggest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automotobuzz.com\/car-reviews\/forecourt-fuel-theft-surges-by-77-per-cent-latest-figures-suggest\/","title":{"rendered":"Forecourt fuel theft surges by 77 per cent, latest figures suggest"},"content":{"rendered":"

The DVLA reveals a massive spike in requests for vehicle keeper data, as filling stations battle \u2018bilking\u2019<\/h2>\n


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It\u2019s not just high street retailers battling a rising tide of shoplifting, as fuel filling stations are facing a surge in numbers of drivers failing to pay for the petrol and diesel they\u2019ve pumped.<\/p>\n

Data just released to the RAC Foundation by the DVLA shows that, in the third quarter of 2023, it received 39,563 requests for the names and addresses of vehicle keepers believed to be guilty of fuel theft from forecourts. That\u2019s a 77 per cent rise compared to the same period in 2022, when just 22,335 requests for data were made, and a whopping 362 per cent increase on pre-Covid levels. In the third quarter of 2019, the DVLA received fewer than 9,000 requests for vehicle keeper information in relation to suspected fuel theft.<\/p>\n

\u201cAmongst all the recent media attention given to the epidemic of shoplifting it should probably come as no surprise to find that the theft of petrol and diesel from forecourts looks to be a big and growing problem, and these figures might only hint at a much bigger issue,\u201d says Steve Gooding, director of the RAC Foundation.<\/p>\n