Fuel card fraud is emerging as a concern for UK businesses operating vehicle fleets, with three in 10 reporting suspected or confirmed fraudulent transactions during the past 12 months. At the same time, the growing adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) is creating additional challenges for businesses trying to monitor payments, manage expenses and maintain control over vehicle-related spending.
New research commissioned by Cubic³, the company behind the FleetWallet in-vehicle payment platform, and conducted by Censuswide between 16 and 23 September 2026, found that 54% of UK fleet decision-makers believe the introduction of electric vehicles has made payment management more complicated. The research surveyed 250 UK fleet managers, directors and finance or procurement professionals with direct responsibility for fleet expenditure. Despite 93% believing they would quickly identify fraudulent or unauthorised spending, only 41% said their existing payment management processes were fully under control.
The findings suggest that businesses may have greater confidence in their ability to recognise suspicious transactions than their current financial controls justify.
Fuel Card Fraud And Unauthorised Transactions
Fuel cards remain an important payment method for businesses operating multiple vehicles, helping to consolidate transactions and provide greater visibility over fuel expenditure. However, they can also create opportunities for misuse if spending is not monitored effectively.
Almost half of the businesses surveyed (48%) said they had encountered expense claims during the previous year that they could not fully verify or reconcile. A further 31% reported unauthorised transactions involving company payment cards or cards held by employees.
Businesses looking to estimate their vehicles’ fuel costs can use our fuel cost calculator to calculate estimated expenditure based on annual mileage, vehicle fuel economy and current pump prices.
There have also been examples of businesses suffering significant financial losses through fuel card misuse.
One reported incident involved a Welsh company operating 45 vans, which lost more than £5,000 through transactions at seven filling stations in April 2024. The business only became aware of the activity after its fuel card provider identified and flagged the suspicious spending.
Rising Fuel Costs Add To Inflationary Pressure
Fuel prices are another factor making fleet cost management more challenging. Petrol and diesel price increases can have a significant effect on businesses operating high-mileage vehicles, particularly where vans are used daily for deliveries, site visits and customer journeys. These increases add to wider inflationary pressures on business operating costs, leaving fleet operators with less room to absorb unexpected expenditure.
When fuel prices rise, the financial impact of unauthorised transactions, unverified expenses or inefficient fuel use can become even greater. Having accurate records of fuel purchases and greater visibility over driver spending is therefore important, not only for identifying potential fraud but also for keeping operating costs under control. CVC has previously examined how rising inflation and fuel prices affect business vehicle costs, as well as the impact of petrol and diesel prices reaching a four-year high.
For businesses using fuel cards, transaction monitoring, spending restrictions and accurate vehicle records can all help improve oversight. Our guide to fuel fleet cards explains how these payment systems work, the information they can provide and the controls available to businesses managing fuel expenditure.
Companies should also ensure that their company vehicle policies clearly establish how drivers can use company payment cards and what procedures should be followed when reporting suspicious transactions. Businesses reimbursing employees for business mileage in petrol and diesel company cars should also refer to the latest HMRC Advisory Fuel Rates when checking the appropriate reimbursement rates.
Electric Vehicles Add Complexity To Fleet Payments
The transition towards electric vehicles is introducing a different set of challenges for fleet managers, particularly when it comes to paying employees for charging company vehicles at home.
With conventional vehicles, fuel purchases are generally recorded through receipts, fuel cards or company payment systems. Electric vehicles introduce another variable because electricity can be supplied through domestic energy tariffs, workplace chargers and public charging networks.
Businesses therefore need a reliable way to establish how much electricity has been used for business purposes and calculate the appropriate reimbursement.
Among businesses allowing employees to charge company vehicles at home, 44% rely primarily on drivers reporting their own electricity consumption in kilowatt-hours (kWh). Only 20% mainly use a dedicated electricity tariff or separate meter to monitor charging.
Depending on individual reporting arrangements, this can create additional administration for finance teams and make it harder to maintain consistent records.
CVC has previously covered developments in home EV charging reimbursement for fleets, including how automated systems can help businesses calculate employee charging costs using their actual domestic electricity tariffs.
Our two-tier EV mileage reimbursement also covers developments in calculating electric vehicle mileage payments.
For businesses introducing electric cars and vans, understanding the different EV charging options available to companies is becoming an increasingly important part of fleet planning.
The research suggests these challenges could become more significant as electrification progresses. On average, respondents expect electric vehicles to represent 49% of their fleets within the next three years. Businesses looking to understand the potential electricity costs of running electric cars and vans can use our electric vehicle running cost calculator to estimate expenditure based on mileage, efficiency and charging tariffs.
Multiple Payment Systems Increase Administrative Work
The research also highlights how businesses are relying on several different systems to manage vehicle-related payments.
Just 25% of respondents said their organisation uses one integrated payment system. The average fleet operates across two separate platforms, systems or payment methods.
When information is spread across different providers, finance and fleet departments can face additional work bringing transactions together, checking expenses and identifying discrepancies.
The administrative demands are considerable. Fleet teams spend an average of more than 14 hours every month managing payments, reconciling transactions and processing expenses.
These additional responsibilities can also affect the people managing daily fleet operations. Our article on fleet technology and mental health for transport managers examines how better technology and streamlined processes could help address some of the pressures facing transport professionals.
Across a full year, this amounts to approximately 170 hours, equivalent to more than four working weeks.
Although 44% of respondents said they could manage their existing arrangements, they acknowledged that the processes were inefficient. A further 12% described payment administration as a genuine problem for their organisation.
These findings also reflect wider concerns around disconnected fleet information. Our article on fragmented fleet data and the hidden costs for businesses looks at how separate systems can make it harder to manage vehicle information and maintain an accurate overview of operational expenditure.
Having consistent reporting arrangements and accessible fleet records can help businesses identify spending patterns and make it easier to investigate unusual transactions.
Greater Visibility Over Fleet Spending Becomes A Priority
Improving financial oversight is becoming an important consideration for businesses managing increasingly complex vehicle fleets.
More than a quarter of those surveyed (26%) said improving spending visibility and payment management was a major priority, with their organisations actively looking for solutions.
There was also strong interest in bringing different vehicle-related payments together. Nine in 10 respondents (90%) said they would be likely to switch providers if a single payment solution could manage fuel, EV charging, tolls and parking.
For fleet operators, having a clearer picture of vehicle expenditure is important when assessing the overall cost of running their vehicles. Fuel, electricity, maintenance, insurance and other operational expenses all contribute to the total cost of ownership.
Our fleet management guide for UK businesses explores the wider responsibilities involved in managing company vehicles, while our business vehicle total cost of ownership guide explains the different expenses businesses should consider when assessing their fleets.
Paul Foley, vice president of in-vehicle payments at Cubic3, said the research demonstrated a noticeable difference between fleet leaders’ confidence in spotting fraudulent activity and their actual control over company payments.
He also highlighted how the introduction of electric vehicles is widening this gap, particularly where businesses depend on drivers to report their own home-charging consumption.
His position is that businesses should introduce payment checks against company spending policies before transactions are authorised, rather than relying entirely on reviewing expenditure after payments have been made.
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