Price at the pumps fuelling anger amongst UK motorists
More than 9 out of 10 UK motorists feel ripped off by the current cost of fuel and a similar number are worried that the price of fuel is going to continue to increase according to research by car insurance expert Admiral.
Admiral commissioned YouGov to survey more than 3,000 drivers as part of its annual Admiral Survey of Motorists. The statistics showed 93% agree that they feel ripped off and 89% worry that the price of fuel will continue to increase. But why are fuel costs so high? Respondents overwhelmingly blamed the UK Government, with over three quarters (76%) saying they are most to blame. They were followed by oil companies (41%), world affairs out of our control (25%) and petrol retailers (20%). In fact, 73% agreed they believe the Government is trying to price motorists off the road.
With the average price of fuel per litre standing at £1.40 for unleaded and £1.44 for diesel, the driving public think a fair price for a litre is considerably lower at 92p for unleaded and 94p for diesel according to the research.
Sue Longthorn, Admiral managing director, said, "Motorists are clearly annoyed at the current cost of fuel, and don't see the price dropping anytime soon. With the proportion of the price at the pumps made up of duty and VAT, it's clear that motorists see the Government as the biggest culprits when it comes to inflated fuel prices."
The current cost of fuel is certainly having an impact on the motoring public as over half (57%) have reduced the amount of driving they do due to the cost of fuel while two fifths (40%) have had to cut back on essential spending in order to be able to afford fuel.
Sue continued, "Interestingly, our research shows that some motorists could turn this frustration into action as 42% would consider protesting publically about the cost of fuel. I'm sure no one wants to see a repeat of the scenes in recent years of petrol stations running dry and enormous queues."
More information on this, the rest of Admiral's Annual Survey of British Motorists and regional results can be found at admiral.com/surveyofmotorists.
All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 3,164 adults with valid driving licences. Fieldwork was undertaken between 8th and 18th June 2012. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+). In some table percentages equal 99 or 101 due to rounding to the nearest whole percentage number.