Latest figures from VARS Technology showed that the average value of a Drive Off incident in 2024 fell compared to the previous year, while also falling to more than £15 lower than the average No Means of Payment incident.
During 2024, VARS Technology handled over 61,000 Drive Off incidents on behalf of its customers, with an average value of £44.10. That marked a more than £4 decrease in the average value of a drive off compared to 2023, when they averaged £48.64.
Figures from VARS also showed that the average value of a No Means of Payment incident was more than £15 higher than Drive Offs, averaging £59.55. Throughout 2024, VARS Technology customers submitted almost 25,000 No Means of Payment incidents to VARS for recovery, with the money owed recovered within five days on average.
In total, VARS Technology recovered over £2.8 million in fuel costs on behalf of customers. The VARS ANPR system also alerted staff to blacklisted vehicles 706,000 times throughout the year, preventing millions more in drive-offs before they happen.
VARS Director John Garnett said: “Fuel prices hit their lowest level in three years in September, which will have had some impact on the reduced average value of a drive off incident. That doesn’t account for the stark difference between Drive Offs and No Means of Payment though.
“In 2024 we saw a jump in the number of Drive Offs for smaller amounts of fuel, typically between £20 and £30. As the presence of ANPR protection and debt recovery services on forecourts becomes more widely known, it seems that some drivers are gambling that if a theft is for a smaller amount, they are more likely to get away with it.
“The reality is that they aren’t, and once they have stolen fuel once, they will be unable to do so again across any of the sites that use our shared ANPR protection. They will also be robustly pursued for the full value of the fuel, as well as admin costs.
“For No Means of Payment incidents, the higher figure more closely reflects the cost of filling up a tank, suggesting that most of these incidents are legitimate accidents.
However, there remains a subsection of drivers that take advantage of the No Means of Payment system to deliberated delay paying for their fuel, effectively forcing forecourt operators to provide them with a loan service for fuel. With our ANPR system, these persistent offenders can be identified and blacklisted to prevent them leaving forecourts out of pocket.”
Throughout 2025, VARS Technology is offering up to three months free for forecourt customers switching to their platform from a competitor’s, ensuring that they can see out their existing notice period without having to pay for two services at once.
For forecourts particularly impacted by retail theft, VARS Face is also available which uses advanced facial recognition technology to provide staff with audio and visual warnings whenever an individual that has been added to the watchlist enters the premises. During 2024, customers using the VARS FACE system were alerted to individuals on the watchlist more than 16,000 times.
More details; please contact John McVan at j.mcvan@varstechnology.co.uk or 07837 453806
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