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#Post#: 105412--------------------------------------------------
Re: not paying for fuel
By: DWMB2 Date: January 11, 2026, 10:17 am
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Worth noting that Morrisons petrol stations were bought by MFG a
couple of years ago, so although still branded up as Morrisons,
Morrisons 'proper' might not be the creditor for the debt for
any unpaid fuel.
#Post#: 105414--------------------------------------------------
Re: not paying for fuel
By: lateman Date: January 11, 2026, 10:20 am
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well morrisons' main store were very sympathetic and as helpful
as they could be, but because they are separate from the fuel
stations, i had to go speak to them. there, the lone attendant
let me use his phone to speak to the manager, who was not very
helpful at all. he first told me I'd have to pay the fine. he
also told me the police were involved (i doubted this, as i have
not been contacted by the police, and the letter from Pay My
Fuel was issued the day after the offence). so i asked him for
a crime number, to which he replied that i would have to see him
in work tomorrow and he would give me the details. (I'm unable
to meet him due to work but he said my wife could call on my
behalf), which she is going to do).
morrisons' main store customer services also gave me the main
customer services phone number, and also the head office phone
number, and from the fuel station i got a business card for MFG,
who run the stations apparently, so I'll be calling some of
those tomorrow too.
in the meantime, if anyone has any advice, what info should i be
trying to obtain from any of these people, I'd be most grateful.
#Post#: 105422--------------------------------------------------
Re: not paying for fuel
By: NewJudge Date: January 11, 2026, 11:51 am
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I haven’t heard of “Pay My Fuel” (PMF). However there have been
a number of threads on another forum with similar topics
involving a firm of solicitors called QDR. They operate on a
similar model.
Their letters do not mention an intended prosecution nor do they
mention a penalty charge.
There were different opinions in responses to those threads. The
principal issue that I could see was that QDR make their demand
solely on the basis that the person they demand payment from is
the Registered Keeper. It seems “Pay My Fuel” do the same.
That’s not surprising as they have no idea who was actually
responsible for the alleged debt.
QDR have no interest in pursuing anybody other than the RK. In
one thread the RK was not in the car at the time and he offered
to provide the driver’s details to QDR. They didn’t want to
know. In another the debt arose because of a fault with he “Pay
at Pump” system. The driver had inserted a card and had £100
holding sum debited. The pump was supposed to see him charged
with the cost of the fuel and his £100 returned. It failed to
charge for the fuel but his deposit was returned in full and he
didn’t notice this until after QDR had become involved. Again,
QDR were not interested. I would imagine PMF operate similarly.
My view is that these charges can only be levied on a
contractual basis and to do that PMF would have to show who was
party to the contract. I don’t see how they can do that in most
cases. Only after they have done that would the terms of he
contract become relevant.
[quote]"...he first told me I'd have to pay the fine.[/quote]
He seems as legally ignorant as PMF seem to be. In general, only
courts can impose fines.
I take it Morrisons now know that you were the driver at the
time?
#Post#: 105430--------------------------------------------------
Re: not paying for fuel
By: lateman Date: January 11, 2026, 12:19 pm
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PMF did give me the option to name the driver, I've attached a
photo of the form they sent with the letter.
HTML https://i.postimg.cc/xdNhzKPs/IMG_20260110_WA0026(1)(1).jpg
but yes, morrisons (both the main store and the fuel station)
know it was me from the conversations i had with them (a bit
silly and short sighted of me perhaps).
and apologies NewJudge, but i don't quite understand your last
sentence. do i need to speak to PMF to get to ascertain who
was/is party to any contract?
and when my wife visits tomorrow, if she gets a crime number, is
it worth contacting the police?
#Post#: 105433--------------------------------------------------
Re: not paying for fuel
By: andy_foster Date: January 11, 2026, 12:37 pm
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If it were me, I would make a reasonable attempt to pay MFG for
the fuel. If they wanted me to jump through hoops beyond what is
reasonably necessary to conduct the transaction, I would take
the view that they could FRO.
Whilst some might prefer to play silly b*ggers with "prove it
was me", the proper thing to do (if you have morals) is to at
least make a reasonable attempt to pay what you owe. And
document it as best you can. If they refuse to allow you to pay,
that's their problem in my book. Also, as they happily set their
[s]fraudulent crooks[/s] 'dubious' recovery agents on you, I
would have very little sympathy for them.
If they were to take you to court and found a judge sufficiently
'motivated' to look beyond the fraudulent attempts to extort a
penalty, the identity of the driver would be a minor
consideration.
#Post#: 105435--------------------------------------------------
Re: not paying for fuel
By: Southpaw82 Date: January 11, 2026, 12:38 pm
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[quote author=The Slithy Tove
link=topic=9447.msg105410#msg105410 date=1768147756]
And you can't transfer a debt without both parties (Morrisons
and Pay My Fuel) contacting the alleged debtor stating this
[/quote]
Are you sure?
#Post#: 105441--------------------------------------------------
Re: not paying for fuel
By: lateman Date: January 11, 2026, 12:58 pm
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well i have already stated to morrisons store and the fuel
station that I'm happy to pay the debt, but not very happy to
pay the extortionate penalty.
but i also don't want the hassle of it going to court,
especially if I'm not certain that i wouldn't be made to pay the
penalty (especially if it goes up to £150 for not paying
promptly), and any other court costs
#Post#: 105443--------------------------------------------------
Re: not paying for fuel
By: DWMB2 Date: January 11, 2026, 1:11 pm
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[quote] but i also don't want the hassle of it going to court
[/quote]
A combination of this, and some people's lack of knowledge of
the legal position in these cases, are probably key to the
success of PayMyFuel's business model.
#Post#: 105445--------------------------------------------------
Re: not paying for fuel
By: NewJudge Date: January 11, 2026, 1:51 pm
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[quote]…well i have already stated to morrisons store and the
fuel station that I'm happy to pay the debt, but not very happy
to pay the extortionate penalty.[/quote]
Yes, that’s probably the view most people take. I’m not
suggesting that people who have made a mistake should simply not
be liable to make good the debt. But all PMF has done is to
obtain your details from the DVLA and send you a template
letter. Fifty quid is an excessive charge for that task and
three times that for a “late” payment is outrageous.
[quote]A combination of this, and some people's lack of
knowledge of the legal position in these cases, are probably key
to the success of PayMyFuel's business model.
[/quote]
And there’s the rub. QDR sate in their letter
“You are the current registered keeper of this vehicle and we
require you to make full payment of this debt within 7 days.”
They know that some drivers are aware that liability for some
decriminalised offences can be transferred to the RK and they
rely on that to fool those they deal with that the same applies.
PMF heads their letters “notice of intended prosecution” and
threaten court action.
#Post#: 105461--------------------------------------------------
Re: not paying for fuel
By: Dave Green Date: January 11, 2026, 9:21 pm
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[quote author=Southpaw82 link=topic=9447.msg105435#msg105435
date=1768156734]
[quote author=The Slithy Tove
link=topic=9447.msg105410#msg105410 date=1768147756]
And you can't transfer a debt without both parties (Morrisons
and Pay My Fuel) contacting the alleged debtor stating this
[/quote]
Are you sure?
[/quote]
The Slithy Toad is partly correct.
The debtor must be contacted to inform them that the person or
company that the money is owed to has, or is going to be
changing although there is nothing in the relevant legislation
that states that both the original creditor and the creditor
that the debt is being transferred to must separately inform the
debtor.
This is covered by fairly old legislation (section 136 of The
Law of Property Act 1925).
HTML https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Geo5/15-16/20/section/136
The requirement for the notification is to stop both the
original and the new creditor continuing to attempt to recover
the debt.
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