Why no ‘pay at the pump’ in UK?

[Enrichetta]

Why don’t we have pay at the pump technology like they have in other countries, for instance the US…

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/jul/21/petrol-theft-crisis-uk

it seems an obvious solution to what has clearly become a real,problem.

We do. I only know one station in my town that doesn't.

When I lived elsewhere, you'd roll up, in your car, hand over your cash, and they'd fill it up for you. Personally I prefer that even to pay at the pump.

Valet parking - there's another thing that the UK should have more of to.

They probably do have pay at the pump. Some people just prefer to go in to pay. If you don’t have a car, you wouldn’t know for sure unless you go and hang around the forecourt 😂

I think pay at pump may be more common in some areas of the UK than others. I know of 1or 2 within about 30 miles but mostly not. I don’t know what petrol stations are like elsewhere but given our petrol stations, even small ones, generally sell some basic groceries, it may be because petrol stations want to encourage people to come in.

I stopped using unmanned stations when idiots kept filling up with the engine running.

I stick to the small independent station that I pass a lot, it's cheaper and the staff are always cheerful.

We do. Had it for years.

More likely that the indies don't want to pay the £100k plus to get all their pumps converted.

I mean there is a solution. Whether it is cost effective or not is another issue.

Plus you are right after a bit of thought - if there is no pay at the pump then people have to go into the shop. Which means they buy chocolate etc.

My local Asda petrol station only has pay at the pump……

We do

Asda has pay at pump everywhere - there fuel forecourts are unstaffed

Our Sainsburys has the option of pay at pump

But most of our local stations are not even new ones or ones that have had new pumps

I suggest that The Police quite rightly are not impressed by the petrol station operators. By not having pay at pump they are creating a nice little earner for criminals.

Bear in mind that garage owners dont lose the full price of the stolen fuel as there is no VAT payable and they can reclaim the duty

I actively look for pay at pump most of the time. I have two very young children with me
most of the time that I can’t leave in the car and I can’t easily and safely get in and out of car seats and usher through a petrol forecourt to go in and pay. And I would be willing to pay a few more pence per litre for the convenience to be fair.

They’ve had it here for years.

Our local garage now has pay in advance at pump - the old pay at pumps we’re paying after you’ve filled up but this one you pay first. No more fuel theft!

What are you talking about, they are literally everywhere

The article does mention pay at pump technology:

Parekh says officers “take the view that this is a totally preventable crime”, telling him he should install prepaid pumps to stop thefts. This, he says, is a non-starter because “the whole trade has to move to that system, otherwise people will get annoyed and go elsewhere”.

He would lose business to other petroleum stations unless everyone does it.

What is shocking is that the police don’t treat it as a crime, even though making off without payment is in the Theft Act 1978. They say he should sue in the civil courts, but criminals are cloning number plates and innocent people are getting summonsed.

It’s like shoplifting. The police don’t have enough resources. It’s considered a low level crime and the victims are usually massive supermarkets or petrol companies.

Personally I think we need to crack down hard on petty crime to prevent larger crime becoming a problem.

I don't use pay at the pump as they bag £100 of your cash until the payment goes through and I've known people who haven't had the extra they take returned and have to chase after it

That's what puts me off too. I've known it happen to a few people.

My problem is that I usually only have my phone now so I have to go into the bloody kiosk.

Some petrol stations with a shop choose not to have Pay at the Pump because they hope people will pick up something in the shop when they go in to pay.

Some people prefer to pay at the counter rather than the pump (for security, because they’ve heard of people being charged the initial £100 check the pump does, because they have cash, etc)

Lots of reasons - and lots of Pay at the Pump pumps 😝

I wonder whether you are thinking of a system where you MUST pay before you fill. That’s the only way thefts will be stopped.

Some petrol stations (mainly Asda) are pay at pump only. Some independent stations open late at night in areas prone to drive off, get you to pay at the window (no way you're getting into the shop) before fueling, if you want a proper fill, they pre_authorise your card and keep it until you're ready to leave.

Some do. We found it at most of the pumps we used in Scotland last year (all at supermarkets) but I have never seen it round my way (SW London).

Sainsbury's have it but when they updated the software it buggered up recognising Nectar cards so now I've gone back to kiosk payments.

When you “pay at pump” it requires a pre-scan of your card, that reserves an amount from your bank account, then you get charged the actual amount afterwards

The reserved amount does not get instantly cleared, and if you don’t have sufficient funds beyond that you can end up with being declined subsequent payments

No problem if fully solvent, a major problem if on limited funds
Paying at the counter avoids the issue for the customer

My tiny rural petrol station has pay at pump options and has had for a good while.

For the context of the article, pay at pump would not prevent thefts due to drawing fuel and driving off, nor from people who draw fuel before pay day then tell
the staff that they “can’t pay today”

As he mentioned in the article, it would annoy honest customers if they had compulsory pay at pump, and he would lose business to other garages (hence the “industry would have to adopt it”)

Pay at pump secures some funds against your account, and the banking system does not instantly release that when the actual charge is made. That can leave people short of funds when they really do have it in the account
e.g. they have £150 in the account, pre-pay secures £99, they take £30. That locks access to £129, and their available balance is £21 instead of £120 -
perhaps for a few days

Or they prefer to pay cash - do they have to leave cash at the counter?

An inconvenience is that if you want to fill from almost empty then the pre-authorised amount will probably not allow a fill for all but the smaller ranges of cars