Shop around for better prices, motoring group tells UK drivers

Motorists are being advised to shop around for fuel before filling up this weekend as as cost of petrol is expected to climb further, heaping fresh pain on squeezed household finances , reports stated today (23).

Supermarket fuel can be up to 5p a litre cheaper for petrol and up to 6p lower for diesel, motoring group AA said, suggesting supermarket forecourts could offer big savings.

AA said shopping around was the best short-term tactic for consumers, with supermarket fuel up to 5p a litre cheaper for petrol, while the saving on diesel was up to 6p.

The motoring group, which also monitors local price differences, said it had found that in towns with competing supermarkets the pump price could be 3p a litre cheaper than in a neighbouring town with higher-priced fuel. Supermarkets use fuel discounts to attract shoppers to their stores.

Fuel prices in the UK rose sharply over the past month, during which a driver shortage caused supply problems and led to panic buying that resulted in filling stations across the country running out of fuel.

The fallout from the crisis is still ongoing with almost two in five drivers unable to buy fuel over the past fortnight because it was not available, according to an Office for National Statistics (ONS) survey carried out between 6 and 17 October.

As per most recent figures from Thursday (21), average petrol prices were within a whisker of the UK record, reaching 142.16p a litre against a record of 142.48p in April 2012. Diesel averaged 145.68p, against a record of 147.93p a litre in 2012, reports said.

“The AA recognises there is probably still turmoil in the fuel trade after the panic buying, and that may well have disrupted diesel contracts,” Luke Bosdet, the AA’s fuel price spokesperson, said. “It also understands that it is basic commerce for a retailer to load more profit on to some items than others.”