Fuel Finder Scheme Branded 'Disaster' After Data Errors Cost Drivers £260

Fuel Finder Scheme Under Fire

Rachel Reeves' Fuel Finder scheme, launched before she was replaced as Chancellor, has been slammed as a 'disaster' by leading motoring organisation WhatCar?. The scheme, which aims to help drivers find the cheapest fuel, is plagued by data errors that make it impossible to know if prices are up to date, potentially costing motorists up to £260 a year.

Reeves was replaced by John Healey as Chancellor on Monday night, following Andy Burnham becoming Labour Party leader and Prime Minister amidst the Iran war and soaring fuel costs. The Fuel Finder scheme was introduced to provide third-party websites and apps with fuel price data, enabling drivers to locate the cheapest fuel.

Data Flaws Exposed

WhatCar? has criticised the scheme for its flaws. Clare Lafferty from PetrolPrices.com, which supplied data to WhatCar?, stated: 'If someone is relying on the Fuel Finder data to try and save money, if they're in an area where some of the fuel stations aren't updating prices, they are at a disadvantage.'

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Lafferty added: 'The implementation has been a disaster. Both the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), which oversees the scheme, and VE3 Global, which implements it, have been poor in engaging with the industry about how to get it to work.'

Consumer Impact

What Car?’s consumer editor, Claire Evans, said: 'The Government has said repeatedly that its Fuel Finder service helps consumers save money by finding the cheapest fuel, but the extremely poor quality of the information provided and the lack of transparency about prices being up to date makes Fuel Finder not fit for purpose.'

Research reveals that 9 of the 8,300 fuel stations on the data feed have their longitude and latitude coordinates the wrong way round. Additionally, 9 petrol stations appear to be in the Indian Ocean rather than the UK, and 155 petrol stations are shown as 500 metres or more away from their actual location. Furthermore, 825 petrol stations are marked incorrectly as supermarkets, and 81 supermarkets are not flagged as such.