Motorist across the North West will be digging a little deeper into their pockets to pay for fuel, as the average price of petrol and diesel in the region increased as much as 7.6p in 12 months.
According to Confused.com’s fuel price index, diesel drivers are bearing the brunt of the increases the most as the average cost per litre has increased to 130.1p – up a whopping 7.6p year-on-year.
This is equivalent to £74 to fill up a medium-sized car. Similarly, petrol prices across the North West are increasing, with the cost of petrol now at 120.6p, on average – 1.2p more expensive than 12 months ago. This means the average price of filling a medium-sized tank could cost drivers £69.
While both petrol and diesel costs have gone up, the gap between the two has widened dramatically over the last 12 months. There is now a 9.5p difference in the cost per litre, compared to only 3.1p this time last year.
This equates to a £5 difference in the price of filling a medium-sized tank of petrol and diesel, compared to £2 12 months ago. And according to further research by Confused.com, motorists across the North West are left feeling slightly puzzled by the increases, as almost one in four (23%) say they are confused about why the cost of fuel is increasing.
It is a similar picture across the UK, as the average price of fuel reaches its highest yet in 2019, following months of consecutive increases. According to the data, the current price of petrol climbed to 122p per litre, on average – an 0.8p increase week-on-week – and diesel reached 130.6p – up 0.2p in the same period. March saw the first month-on-month increase since October 2018. The cost of fuel increased by 1p on average, with diesel climbing to 130p per litre and petrol to 121p.
It seems the fluctuation in petrol prices has left some motorists feeling puzzled. Further research has found more than one in four (27%) UK drivers are confused about why the cost of fuel is increasing. And a further 23% don’t know what makes fuel so expensive.
These increasing fuel prices seems to be having a serious effect on UK motorists. Almost one in three (32%) say it’s making it less affordable to run a car. And more than half (54%) have noticed they get fewer miles for their money.
The average amount spent per trip to the pumps costs motorists £32, on average. This is not enough to fill a small car (42L), which costs £51 for petrol and £55 for diesel, on average. With this in mind, one in eight (12%) UK drivers admit they can’t afford to fill up their car regularly. And more than a third (36%) are calling for fuel to be made more affordable.
But cutting back on the amount they spend when topping up isn’t the only measure motorists are taking to save the pennies. Nearly one in five (19%) say they avoid making trips in their car to reduce their spending. One in four (26%) UK drivers would even change jobs to cut back on the amount spent commuting. Nearly one in seven (15%) would seek a better salary in order to afford to run their car.
