Motorists ripped off at a rate of £6m A DAY at petrol pumps

Motorists ripped off at a rate of £6m A DAY at petrol pumps by ‘greedy retailers and fuel supply chain businesses’

  • Analysis of wholesale and pump prices reveals the staggering profit from drivers
  • Retailers’ failure to pass on savings cost motorists an extra £334m in 2020
  • FairFuelUK says the unregulated industry is making almost £4.8m from diesel and £1.2m from overpriced petrol a day
  • It has called for the industry and the prices retailers charge to be regulated 

Drivers pay £6million a day more than they should at the pumps because retailers and fuel businesses are not passing on savings, a campaign group claims. 

The fuel industry has been accused of pocketing massive profits by selfishly failing to reduce pump prices in line with falling wholesale costs, which has ultimately cost motorists £334million already in 2020.

FairFuelUK has called for the Government to introduce measures to clampdown on businesses that ‘fleece hard-pressed motorists’.

Fleeced: Analysis by a fuel campaign group suggested that motorists are being overcharged £6m a day by retailers who are not passing on savings at the pumps

More than 83million litres of diesel and 44million litres of petrol is being pumped into vehicles’ fuel tanks on a daily basis in the UK.

Retailers and businesses are profiting at an alarming rate by charging far more for both fuels than they had to pay. 

The difference in wholesale prices paid by retailers and price per litre at forecourts means the industry makes almost £4.8million in profit from diesel drivers and nearly £1.2million from owners of petrol vehicles every day. 

This is based on analysis of wholesale and average pump prices over eight weeks from the end of 2019 to the final week of February. 

This amounts to over £334million profit for the fuel industry in the first two months of 2020. 

FairFuel said the figures show UK motorists – the ‘world’s highest taxed, most demonised drivers’ – are continually being ‘exploited by greedy unchecked fuel supply chain’. 

Howard Cox, founder of FairFuelUK said: ‘If it were not for supermarkets, notably Asda reducing pump prices following a 14 per cent drop in the price of oil, the unchecked independents and greedy fuel supply chain businesses would be fleecing hard-pressed motorists even more. 

‘The world’s highest taxed drivers never ever see fair and honestly set prices on the pumps. 

‘Every day £6million of wholesale falls are being deliberately held back from motorists.’

The fuel industry is pocketing almost £6million a day from drivers, according to analysis of wholesale and average pump prices by FairFuelUK

The fuel industry is pocketing almost £6million a day from drivers, according to analysis of wholesale and average pump prices by FairFuelUK

Wider analysis shows that the price of crude oil has dropped by almost £9 a barrel in the past 12 months. 

However, over the same period, the average cost of unleaded fuel at the pumps has risen up by almost 5p a litre.

The campaign group has called for the Government to step in to take action to put a stop to the industry fleecing motorists by introducing more regulations and restrictions.

The most expensive UK forecourt the Mail On Sunday found last week was at BP's Heston motorway services on the M4 (above)

The most expensive UK forecourt the Mail On Sunday found last week was at BP’s Heston motorway services on the M4 (above)

‘How can the Government condone an essential resource being sold at radically different prices, just miles apart,’ Mr Cox added. 

‘Gas, electricity, water and telecoms are regulated, so why not petrol and diesel? 

‘The perennial unchecked fuel supply chain selfishly rides roughshod over the world’s highest taxed drivers, knowing they will never be policed.

‘In July 2019 Boris’s Treasury promised FairFuelUK to consider introducing PumpWatch, an independent fuel pricing watchdog initiative. 

‘Such a consumer protection body would stop the customary ripping-off, of motorists every time they fill up at the pumps.’

No only are motorists being overcharged for fuel in general but they are also facing a ‘forecourt lottery’ depending on where they full up, which could be a difference of almost £18 to fill the tank of an average-size family car.

Analysis by The Mail on Sunday suggests the cheapest unleaded petrol in the country – found at a Costco warehouse in Manchester – is 115.7p per litre.

In contrast, the most expensive – at Heston motorway service station on the M4 in West London – cost 147.9p. 

Just two miles down the road from the services is an Asda supermarket, which during the same period was selling unleaded for 116.7p and diesel for 118.7p.

The startling difference between the highest and lowest prices – 32.2p per litre – means that a driver of a car with a typical 55-litre tank could end up paying £17.71 extra to fill up.  

SAVE MONEY ON MOTORING



Source link