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Price at the pumps fuelling anger amongst UK motorists

Tahmina Mannan
Written By:
Tahmina Mannan
Posted:
Updated:
12/10/2012

More than 9-in-10 UK motorists feel ripped off by the current cost of fuel as the price of fuel continues to increase, according to new research by car insurers 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.

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.”

Brits are overwhelmingly blaming the government, with over three-quarters saying they are most to blame.

They were followed by oil companies (41%), world affairs out of our control (25%) and petrol retailers (20%). 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.

The current cost of fuel is 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.

Longthorn 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.”


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