Incidents of forecourt crime fell by 7.5% during the first quarter of 2019, according to the latest results recorded by BOSS.
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. During Q1 2019 the BOSS index fell to 142 ( 151: Q4 2018). The index was established at 100 in Q2 2015.
During Q1 2019, the average number of incidents recorded per site was 10.1 (Q4 2018: 10.7) resulting in the average initial loss per site, before any BOSS Payment Watch recovery, falling to £484 in the quarter (Q4 2018: £560). The average fuel price in the quarter was 125.2 ppl, 4.5% lower than in the previous quarter (131.1ppl: Q4 2018), and the average initial loss per site in litres fell to 386 (428: Q4 2018)
Kevin Eastwood, BOSS executive director, said: “All our indicators are moving in the right direction and during the early part of 2019 we have seen incidents of forecourt crime continue to fall. It is positive to see the average number of incidents per site fall again as BOSS has worked hard to tackle forecourt crime and increasingly retailers are taking on more responsibility to control crime.”
“Any loss is unacceptable and we still need retailers to remain vigilant and take responsibility to ensure that, where incidents do take place, the correct evidence is collected and retained. BOSS will continue to promote stronger partnerships between retailers and police forces. These have proved to reduce losses for retailers, reduce demands on police time, and bring persistent offenders before the courts.”
Forecourt crime is estimated to cost retailers more than £30 million annually with some two thirds of crime resulting from drive-offs and the remainder coming from NMoP incidents. BOSS Payment Watch is now responsible for recovering more than £8 million of NMoP losses for retailers.
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