BOSS Forecourt Crime Index hits highest ever level

Forecourt Crime is continuing to rise, according the latest BOSS Forecourt Crime Index for the period from April to June 2017 (Q2 2017), and has reached its highest level since the index was established in 2015.

The results from the latest BOSS analysis show that the Index has risen by five points in the quarter to 121 (Q1 2017: 116) and by 10 points in the year to the end of June 2017 (Q2 2016: 111).

The BOSS Forecourt Crime Index is based on no means of payment (NMoP) incident reports that are made to BOSS as part of its Payment Watch scheme. It was set at 100 when it was established in Q2 2015.

In the year to the end of June 2017 the average number of incidents recorded per site was 24.3 with an average incident value of £40.30 meaning that the average initial loss per site before any Payment Watch recovery reached £979, up from £860 in the previous year.

Kevin Eastwood, executive director at BOSS, said: “The rise in the BOSS Forecourt Crime Index is being driven by a rise in the number of NMoP incidents suffered by the average site and is a symptom of a growing problem that needs to be tackled.

“The police do not record incidents where drivers claim to have no means of payment but BOSS Payment Watch does monitor thousands of incidents that have been reported and, through careful analysis, we are able to identify multiple offenders. Where there is clear evidence of fraud, or theft, then we report offending vehicles. This can help to recover money for retailers and deter further offending.”

Forecourt crime is estimated to cost retailers more than £30m pounds annually with two thirds of crime resulting from drive-offs and the remainder coming from NMoP incidents. Since BOSS Payment Watch was introduced more than £3m of NMoP losses have been recovered and returned to retailers.

BOSS Forecourt Crime Index 2015 to 2017