What Is Rontec on My Bank Statement?
Rontec operates around 260 petrol stations and forecourt shops across the UK. You will have filled up at what looked like an Esso, BP or Shell — Rontec runs the site, so Rontec is the name that reaches your bank.
The second half of the explanation, and the one that causes real alarm: if you paid at the pump, the amount held may be far more than the fuel cost. That is a pre-authorisation, not a charge, and it corrects itself.
At a glance
- Company
- Rontec Roadside Retail Limited
- Companies House
- 09129964
- Sites
- Around 260 UK forecourts
- Fuel brands
- Esso, BP, Shell
- Formed
- 2011, from former Total sites
- Shops
- Include Morrisons Daily
Who they are
Rontec Roadside Retail Limited, company number 09129964, is a British operator of filling stations, forecourt convenience stores and food outlets, running roughly 260 sites.
The business was formed in 2011 when the businessman Gerald Ronson acquired a portfolio of former Total sites in the UK.
The important thing for your statement is that Rontec operates sites that fly other companies' fuel brands. The Esso, BP or Shell sign belongs to the fuel supplier. The forecourt belongs to Rontec. Card payments go to the operator, so that is the name you see.
What the charge will be
- Fuel — the most common by far
- The forecourt shop, including Morrisons Daily and similar in-store formats
- Food and drink from a franchise concession on site
- An ATM withdrawal at the station
- A car wash or air and vacuum machines
Pay at pump: why the amount is wrong
This accounts for most alarmed searches about forecourt charges, and it is not an error.
When you pay at the pump, the station cannot know how much fuel you will take before you take it. So your card is pre-authorised for a fixed amount — a holding figure that reserves funds while you fill up. The exact figure varies by station and by bank.
What then happens:
- The pre-authorisation appears, often much larger than the fuel you bought.
- The real amount is settled afterwards.
- The hold drops off, typically within a few working days.
You are not charged twice, and the larger figure is not taken. But it does reduce your available balance in the meantime, which matters if you are close to your limit.
If the hold has not cleared after several working days, that is worth raising with your bank — they can release it.
Reading the descriptor
The entry usually carries a location, and that is your fastest route to placing it. It names the town or the site rather than head office, so it tells you where you were.
If the location is somewhere you have not been, that changes the question from "what is this" to "who used my card", and the answer matters more.
Is it a scam?
No. Rontec is a substantial UK forecourt operator and the descriptor is legitimate.
Two genuine risks are worth knowing about, and both are about the site rather than the company.
Card skimming at fuel pumps happens. Unattended outdoor terminals are harder to supervise than a staffed till, and a charge you cannot place at a station you have never visited is worth treating as a compromised card rather than a puzzle.
Fuel price and volume disputes — if you believe you were charged for more fuel than you took, the station's pump records and your receipt are the evidence. Raise it with the site first.
If you did not make the purchase
Report it to your bank as an unauthorised transaction. They must refund unauthorised payments by the end of the next working day, and your liability before you report is capped at £35.
Do not wait for a pre-authorisation to clear before reporting a payment you know you did not make — those are two different things, and only one of them resolves itself.
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If you were overcharged
Take it up with the station directly first, with your receipt. Forecourt billing errors — double taps, a wrong pump selected at the kiosk, a car wash charged twice — are usually settled on site.
If that fails, a card claim is the fallback: chargeback on a debit card, usually within 120 days, or Section 75 on a credit card where the amount was £100 or more.
🛡️ Build your recovery plan
Tick what applies to you. The order below is deliberate: most of these organisations will ask for your Action Fraud reference number, so doing it in this sequence saves you making the same call twice.
Nothing ticked yet: the steps below are the ones that apply to everyone. Tick a box above to add the rest.
- 1
Report it to Action Fraud and get your crime reference number
Action Fraud: the national reporting centre for fraud
- Onlinereportfraud.police.uk
- Phone0300 123 2040
Do this second, and do it before you contact anyone else. Almost every organisation in this list (lenders, credit reference agencies, debt collectors) will ask for the crime reference number Action Fraud gives you, and without it you end up making the same call twice. It also creates the official record you'll rely on if you have to dispute anything later. Expect an update within 28 working days, though that's about the investigation, not about clearing your name; that part is on you and starts now.
Have ready: What happened and roughly when · Any account or reference numbers involved
- 2
Get all three credit reports and read every line
Experian, Equifax and TransUnion
- Experian0800 013 8888
- Equifax0800 014 2955
- TransUnion0330 024 7574
All three, not one. Lenders report to different agencies, so a fraudulent account can sit on one file and be invisible on the others: checking a single report is the most common way people miss the second and third account. You're looking for accounts you didn't open, searches you didn't authorise, and addresses linked to your name that you've never lived at. That last one matters more than it sounds: a linked address you don't recognise is often how the fraud was set up in the first place.
Have ready: Your addresses for the last six years
- 3
Add a CIFAS protective registration
CIFAS: the UK fraud prevention service
- Onlinecifas.org.uk
- Phone0330 460 9601
This puts a warning flag against your name in the National Fraud Database, so member organisations run extra identity checks before granting credit in your name. It costs £30 and lasts two years. It does not affect your credit score, and it doesn't touch accounts you already hold, but it will make your own applications slower, which is the trade-off. If someone has your details, that's usually a trade worth making. Note that not every application is checked against the database, so treat it as a strong deterrent rather than a lock.
- 4
Check you're on the electoral register at the right address
Your local council
A quick one that's worth doing while you're here. The electoral roll is one of the main ways lenders confirm you live where you say you do, and being missing from it both weakens your own applications and makes it easier for someone to claim your identity elsewhere.
- 5
Escalate if you get nowhere
Financial Ombudsman Service, or the ICO
- Financial Ombudsman0800 023 4567
- ICOico.org.uk
If a bank refuses to refund you, or a lender won't remove an entry it has accepted is fraudulent, complain to the firm first and give it eight weeks. After that, or as soon as you get a final response, take it to the Financial Ombudsman. It's free and its decisions bind the firm. Where the argument is specifically about inaccurate data staying on your credit file, the Information Commissioner's Office can also look at it. Both routes cost you nothing.
- 6
Close the door behind you
You
Change passwords on your email account first, not your banking: email is the master key, because it's where password resets land. Turn on two-factor authentication wherever it's offered. If documents were lost or stolen, report the passport or driving licence to the issuing body so it can be flagged. And set a reminder to re-check your credit reports in three months: fraudulent applications sometimes surface long after the original breach.
Contact details and process reflect Action Fraud, CIFAS, the credit reference agencies and National Debtline guidance for England and Wales. Scotland reports fraud through Police Scotland on 101 rather than Action Fraud; the rest of the process is the same. General information, not legal advice: free, independent help is available from National Debtline, Citizens Advice and StepChange.
