Editorial Standards & Trust Policy
Data Provenance
Every fuel price displayed on Fuel Costs UK originates from a single authoritative source: the UK Government's CMA Fuel Finder service, operated by the Competition and Markets Authority. This open data scheme legally requires fuel retailers to report their pump prices.
We do not accept price submissions from users, retailers, or third parties. We do not estimate, interpolate, or model prices. The price you see is the price the retailer reported to the government.
Station metadata — names, addresses, opening hours, amenities, and fuel types — also comes from the CMA scheme and is synchronised daily.
Data Pipeline & Freshness
- Price synchronisation: Every 4 minutes, 24/7, we fetch the latest prices from the Fuel Finder API. Only genuine price changes are recorded, giving us an accurate change-level history for every station.
- Station synchronisation: Once per day we refresh station metadata to capture new openings, closures, and updated details.
- Automated validation: Incoming prices are checked against reasonable bounds. Outliers that fall outside expected ranges are flagged rather than silently published.
- Historical storage: Every price change is stored permanently, enabling trend analysis, cheapest-day calculations, and price range statistics.
The “last updated” timestamp shown on each station page reflects the most recent API fetch that returned data for that station, not when the retailer last changed their price.
Editorial Independence
No Sponsored Rankings
Station listings are sorted by price or distance. We do not accept payment to boost, feature, or prioritise any station.
No Affiliate Pricing
We have no commercial relationship with any fuel retailer, supermarket chain, or oil company.
Unmodified Data
Prices are displayed exactly as reported to the CMA. We never adjust figures to favour or disadvantage any brand.
Open Methodology
Our data sources, sync frequency, and calculations are documented publicly on this page and our About page.
Limitations & Corrections
No data source is perfect. We are transparent about the limitations of the information we present:
- Prices are self-reported by retailers and may occasionally be delayed or incorrect at source.
- Some smaller independent forecourts may not yet participate in the CMA scheme.
- Temporary promotions or loyalty-card discounts are not reflected in reported prices.
- We recommend confirming the price at the pump before filling up, especially if making a special journey.
If you spot an incorrect price or station detail, please contact us. We investigate all reports and, where the error is at source, escalate to the CMA Fuel Finder team.
Why Trust Fuel Costs UK
- Official government data — the same data the CMA publishes, with no modifications.
- Updated every 4 minutes — prices are never more than a few minutes behind the official feed.
- 5,000+ stations — comprehensive UK coverage across England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
- Free, no registration — no account walls, no paywalls, no data harvesting.
- No ads or sponsored content — rankings are determined by data alone.
- Price history since launch — every price change is recorded, enabling full transparency on how prices have moved over time.