As the cost of filling has skyrocketed in recent weeks, so has the number of incidents where motorists have either left without paying or claimed to have no means of payment. Data from Forecourt Eye, a company that collects payments on behalf of around 1,000 garages across the UK, show a 39% increase in non-payment reports between January and May this year. The company’s CEO, Nick Fisher, said there were up to 3,000 theft attempts a day at the locations where he works. The British Oil Security Syndicate (Boss), another body seeking debt for petrol retailers, said theft attempts increased by 22% in the first week of June, compared to the same period in May. Claire Nichol, Boss’ chief executive, said: “There is no doubt that there is a link between rising fuel prices and rising crime rates in the backyard.” A spokesman for AA, Luke Bosdet, said: “When pump prices reach record levels, stealing fuel from cars and backyards attracts two types of thieves: the desperate and the organized. “Some fuel is stolen because the thief is someone who relies on his car, motorcycle or scooter to go or continue his work, but his finances have been shattered by the cost of living crisis. Fuel theft then becomes an act of despair. And then you have organized thieves who see the high price of a basic item as extremely lucrative and easily sold. “ Forecourt Eye and Boss said more drivers claim to have forgotten their wallets than just driving without paying, a shift from what used to be around 50-50. The average cost of refueling a typical family car exceeded 100 100 for the first time this week, in what experts described as a “really dark day” for UK drivers. Data from the RAC showed that the average price of a liter of gasoline reached a record 183.16 p.m. on Thursday, raising the average cost of filling a 55-liter family car to ,0 101.06. Subscribe to the First Edition, our free daily newsletter – every morning at 7 p.m. BST As fuel prices rise, consumers are facing a wider cost-of-living crisis, with rising energy and food bills also pushing up budgets. Rishi Sunak introduced a 5 p reduction in fuel duty in its March spring statement to help cut costs, but some campaign supporters argued that the reduction was not passed on to pumps. RAC Fuel spokesman Simon Williams accused the government of “seeking to ensure that retailers fully pass the 5 am tariff reduction.” of March “, claiming that this” ignores the fact that the wholesale cost of fuel has skyrocketed since then “.