Incidents of forecourt crime recorded by BOSS (British Oil Security Syndicate) fell by 4% during the final quarter (Q4) of 2018, according to the latest results from the BOSS Forecourt Crime Index.
The index is based on No Means of Payment (NMoP) incident reports that are made to BOSS as part of its Payment Watch scheme. During Q4 2018 the BOSS index fell to 153, from 160 in the third quarter of 2018. The index was estab-lished at 100 in Q2 2015.
There was a combination of factors affecting the BOSS Forecourt Crime Index during Q4 2018:
• incidents per site fell by 4% during the quarter;
• the average fuel price fell by 0.3% to 131.1ppl (131.5ppl: Q3 2018);
• the average litres taken per incident rose to 39.8 (37.5: Q3 2018); and
• as a result the average initial loss per incident rose to £52.15 (£49.32 Q3:2018)
During 2018 as a whole, the average number of incidents recorded per site was up significantly to 31.8 (2017: 25.1) with an average incident value of £47.81 (2017: £41.73). This resulted in the average initial loss per site, before any BOSS Payment Watch recovery, reaching £1,521 (2017: £1,048) for the year.
BOSS executive director Kevin Eastwood said: “Increases in fuel prices have contributed to a rise in the average initial loss, before BOSS Payment Watch re-covery, of more than £1,500 per site during the year.
“It is positive to see the average number of incidents start to fall during the sec-ond half of 2018 as BOSS has worked hard to tackle forecourt crime. These ef-forts have seen the BOSS Payment Watch initiative help to recover more than £8m during the year on behalf of retailers.
“Any loss is unacceptable, and BOSS will continue to promote stronger partner-ships between retailers and police forces. These can reduce losses for retailers, reduce demands on police time, and bring persistent offenders before the courts. We still need retailers to remain vigilant and take responsibility to en-sure that, where incidents do take place, the correct evidence is collected and retained.”
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