How do you pay for heating oil ordered online?

How payment works on Fueltool

1. Compare prices for your postcode. Each price includes delivery, shows its delivery option and date, and totals are shown with 5% VAT. There is no service charge.
2. Place your order on Fueltool. Fueltool does not ask for card details.
3. The supplier you chose phones you to take payment for the order. Some suppliers text a secure payment link instead; it comes from the supplier you ordered from and should match the total on your order confirmation.
4. The oil is delivered by that supplier, on the delivery option you picked.

Because Fueltool never takes card details, treat any website, email or text that claims to be from Fueltool and asks for card details as a warning sign.

When the supplier calls

• Have your order confirmation to hand and check the details match: the oil, the litres, the total and the delivery date.
• The supplier needs your card details to take the payment, but no genuine caller needs your PIN, your online banking password or a one-time passcode. Take Five, the national anti-fraud campaign led by UK Finance, lists requests for these as a warning sign.
• If anything doesn't match, or you're unsure the caller is the supplier you ordered from, hang up and check using contact details you have found yourself, not a number the caller gives you.

Calls you weren't expecting

Never give card details to an unexpected caller who isn't the supplier you ordered from. Be wary of anyone calling about an order you didn't place, offering cheap oil out of the blue, or saying they are from a support scheme. Which? points out that official support schemes will never cold call you or ask for bank details or payment unexpectedly.

Take Five's advice is to stop and think before parting with money or information, and it says it is fine to reject, refuse or ignore any request. Being rushed or pressured to pay there and then is a reason to hang up.

Protecting your payment

How you pay affects how easily you can get money back if something goes wrong. Citizens Advice explains that paying by credit card gives you Section 75 protection where a single item costs more than £100 and no more than £30,000. With a debit card, you can ask your bank for a chargeback instead, though a chargeback isn't guaranteed and the trader can challenge it.

If you want to spread the cost, the CMA found payment plans widely available across the UK but not always clearly signposted. Which? advises checking whether paying by direct debit would lock you into a contract. See spreading the cost of heating oil.

If you think you've been scammed

• Contact your bank straight away, using a number you know is genuine, or call 159.
• In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, report it to Report Fraud at reportfraud.police.uk or on 0300 123 2040.
• In Scotland, report it to Police Scotland on 101, as of October 2026.
• Forward suspicious texts to 7726, free of charge. To report a suspicious call, text 7726 with the word Call followed by the caller's number.

When you're ready to order, compare prices for your postcode.