Money Problem: The £35 'fine' landing on drivers' doorsteps after a trip to the petrol station

This week, two drivers asked for help with two very similar disputes against a forecourt firm. It had tried to fine them after petrol stations failed to take their payments...

I received a letter from Forecourt Eye saying I had driven off from a petrol station without paying. The letter required me - with all manner of threats of debt agencies, police and the inability to draw fuel anywhere else in the UK - to pay the petrol cost plus their £35 administration fee. I recall the occasion, and the conversation with the member of staff. We discussed the heatwave and he asked if I wanted a receipt, which I declined. I believed this concluded the transaction and I left in a timely fashion. I have agreed to pay for the petrol immediately but I dispute the administration fee because I believe this is an error on the part of the member of staff.
Ruth

I received a letter from Forecourt Eye. Yes, it was my car and there was no fuel charged to my card that day so I am responsible. I have paid the full amount. But the cashier did not say the payment had not gone through; I was unaware I had not paid for the fuel as I had gone to the pay desk and assumed payment was taken from my card. This is surely a cashier error. I am happy to pay for the fuel taken, but an admin charge of £35 is excessive when it was not my mistake. Online there are a lot of complaints about Forecourt Eye and they mostly seem to be at Tesco petrol stations. Could you investigate please?
Anonymous

Money features writer Brad Young investigates...

When you Google the company "Forecourt Eye", the first result includes its tagline "fighting fuel crime".

While thousands of pounds in fuel are stolen from Britain's pumps, and the problem has escalated during the Iran conflict, it's perhaps a grandiose motto in these readers' circumstances.

I don't think Batman ever did tilling errors, and I'm almost certain none of his sidekicks were debt collectors.

With a 1.3-star rating on Trustpilot, your frustrations with Forecourt Eye appear to be shared.

I reviewed 27 complaints about Forecourt Eye letters relating specifically to Tesco forecourts since January 2025, and cashier errors were cited in 70% of the allegations.

Chief among them were staff only charging for items bought in the forecourt shop or allowing customers to leave after the till machine failed to complete their card payment.

While Tesco forecourts will process many thousands more payments each day, this sample of disappointed drivers only represents those willing to write a review.

These disputes were over fees totalling between £945 and £1,620, depending on whether the complainants paid up before or after 14 days.

They were consistent, too, enough to warrant asking Tesco: Do you intend to raise these concerns with Forecourt Eye, given the apparently widespread nature of these errors?

Tesco wouldn't be drawn on its future relationship with Forecourt Eye, but told me millions of fuel transactions took place each week and complaints were rare.

It's worth pointing out that this appears to be a relatively new industry, with Forecourt Eye claiming to be the longest established firm of its kind having operated since 2016-17. It seems to work in the same way as the private parking industry, where businesses and landowners employ firms to chase often-legitimate debts. But, of course, these firms aren't a charity, and often innocent drivers end up being invoiced and eventually threatened. Was that the case here?

I turned my attention to your cases specifically, enlisting the help of Scott Dixon, AKA The Complaints Resolver.

First things first, he said you could consider ignoring standard third-party debt collector letters as they had "no powers to enforce alleged debts owed".

He said: "The only letter that needs a response is a Letter Before Claim, which is a precursor to court action. Only a court can enforce payment, and that is if you ignore a Letter Before Claim and a default county court judgment is issued."

While this is Dixon's advice, we must point out that failure to engage could obviously lead to escalation - if in doubt you should seek advice.

'Appalling and unacceptable'

Dixon said you had grounds to challenge the fee under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

"Ruth - interestingly, the cashier asked, 'Do you want a receipt?' A reasonable customer would take that as confirmation the payment had been successfully processed.

"Had the cashier identified the failed payment while you were still at the till, this situation could have been avoided. Why were you allowed to leave if the payment hadn't gone through?

"If the cashier didn't spot the failed transaction and allowed you to walk away believing you had paid, you could reasonably argue that the payment service wasn't performed with reasonable care and skill as required under Section 49.

"This isn't simply a case of poor customer service. Being accused of theft due to a staff member's negligence and incompetence is appalling and unacceptable."

He outlined two options available to our readers.

Option one

Go back to the petrol station, offer to pay for the fuel and ask them to contact Forecourt Eye to cancel the demand. Make sure they confirm this in writing.

Ask them to:

• Explain why the payment failed
• Provide evidence the transaction was declined
• Explain why you were allowed to leave the kiosk
• Identify the cashier who served you
• Confirm whether they have been spoken to as part of their investigation, and what other steps were taken

You can submit a data subject access request for till records, transaction logs and the CCTV footage they are relying on. Note the time you were at the kiosk, your failed payment transaction times and ask for the exact time the fuel was dispensed.

If you scanned your Tesco Clubcard at the forecourt, ask Tesco to review the Clubcard transaction history.

"I would also escalate this to the chief executive of Tesco as a formal complaint. I managed to find the email address via search engines. It's unlikely that he will read it, but the executive complaints team will," he said.

"Explain that you tried to pay for the fuel, attach screenshots of the CCTV evidence Forecourt Eye has provided of the incident as proof and say this dispute has arisen through no fault of your own.

"Ask them to review the matter urgently and confirm in writing that the alleged debt is put on hold pending investigation."

Option two

Pay Forecourt Eye's demand "under protest" to prevent the matter escalating and submit a formal complaint asking Tesco's executive complaints team to reimburse the £35 as a gesture of goodwill under the circumstances.

Make it clear you have paid it under protest to avoid further action and that you do not accept liability for the administration fee.

"Make sure you put everything in writing. If this went to court, a judge would take a dim view when presented with all the evidence, including proof that you have tried to resolve this amicably," Dixon said.

"Finally, my advice is to always ask for a receipt for every purchase - whether it's at a bar, supermarket or petrol station. Mistakes happen, and they are rarely in your favour."

Option three

Getting help from the Money team was your secret third option.

I went to Tesco first for our anonymous reader, asking them:

• Why was the customer allowed to leave the forecourt till without the payment being processed?
• Will Tesco be asking Forecourt Eye to cancel the administration fee?

Tesco said: "We are sorry to hear about this. We have asked Forecourt Eye to refund the administration fee paid by [the customer] as a gesture of goodwill on this occasion, and we apologise for the inconvenience caused."

The spokesman said staff always, when possible, alerted a customer if payment had not been successful.

Forecourt Eye told me they had agreed to waive the £35 fee.

But when I contacted them about Ruth's case, they declined.

A spokesman said: "The details of these two cases are not the same and so we are not considering removing the admin fee in the second case.

"In the first case, we were responsible for a delay in the process, not the customer, and hence we have agreed to waive the fee in that instance.

"We would remind all drivers that they have an obligation to ensure payment for fuel already taken is not just attempted, but also completed."

They said forecourts were dealing with "exceptionally high volumes of drive-offs and other incidents".

According to their analysis, drivers have stolen an average of almost £200,000 in fuel from UK forecourts every day since the start of the Iran oil crisis.

"Our advice to customers is to always check that the transaction has been approved and ask for a receipt, particularly if there is any doubt. Where payment has not been completed, the cost of the fuel remains due and may incur further administrative costs to obtain the vehicle keeper details and manage the debt recovery process," the spokesman said.

(c) Sky News 2026: Money Problem: The £35 'fine' landing on drivers' doorsteps after a trip to the petrol station