Tv licence

anoneemouse

I've not had a t.v. for a couple of years.

So - I bought one on 31 January 2011 and paid for a tv licence for a year on that date as well.

Therefore my £145.50 years tv licence runs from 31 January 2011 to 30 January 2012 inclusive (to be 365 days).

I have just received the paper licence today and it is dated as expiring on 31 December 2011.

This would mean they would end up in January 2012 trying to charge me a second time for those 30 days 1 January 2012 to 30 January 2012 inclusive.

Is this some sort of "financial trickery" they do to everyone (ie charging them twice over for time in year 2 of a licence) and its deemed quite legitimate by them and there is nothing I can do about it - and I will just have to pay twice over for that 30 days next year? Or a genuine error and its only a matter of pointing out to them that they have made a mistake and they will send me a new licence (amended accordingly to ensure that I'm not overcharged).

I thought I had better check - because I have an idea that they might try and say that all licences bought in a month get dated as from the first date of that month (regardless of what date in the month the licence is actually bought - ie I needed to pay for the licence on the 1st of the month - so as to only be overcharged for 1 day, rather than 30 days).

So - is this a try-on and they can get away with it - or an error on their part?

Andy_L

anoneemouse wrote: »

I thought I had better check - because I have an idea that they might try and say that all licences bought in a month get dated as from the first date of that month (regardless of what date in the month the licence is actually bought - ie I needed to pay for the licence on the 1st of the month - so as to only be overcharged for 1 day, rather than 30 days).

You're right, its the same as car tax. ie it runs from the start of the month you buy it for 12 months, not the day you buy it

phill99

Have you thought about actually ringing them and asking them? Reather than random people on here offering their opinions.

tizerbelle

AndyL is right. If you ask TV Licensing, they will quite happily confirm it. When you buy a licence it starts from the first day of that month.

I was fortunate in that when I rang them about getting a licence for my bosses second home on the last day of a month, the person I spoke to actually said, ring back or go online tomorrow and buy it then otherwise you are paying for the past month.

anoneemouse

Thanks all.

In other words - this is regarded as quite "legitimate" by them - as I thought:mad:.

Which means that I needed to know how things worked - and would then have bought the licence the next day (ie 1 February). That would have saved me the trouble of making a note in each diary for the next x number of years to remind myself that I have to tell the TV Licence people at the right date at 74 years old that I have gotten rid of the tv and then bring it back out of the loft again days later (ie the 1st day of the month after the one I am 75 in) and say "I've got a tv again now - but the licence is free because I hit 75 last month".

That seems to be the only way not to have to hand over 30 days money twice then from what I can see:mad:

Well - at least I know - darn it...more diary reminders about what to do when then.

iamcornholio

TV Licensing wont do anything for a few weeks, so when/if one licence runs out, then you are safe to wait until the next month

Another tip, if you "forget" to renew a licence for a few months, then when you do the TV licensing people will back-date it to the time your old licence ran out - unless you go through the rigmarole of proving that you did not watch any telly in that time . To avoid this, use a different name to that on the old licence and tick the box for new licence not renewal

patman99

Andy_L wrote: »

You're right, its the same as car tax. ie it runs from the start of the month you buy it for 12 months, not the day you buy it

Not quite right. With Car Tax, if you renew it after the 25th day of the month of expiry they will date it from the 1st of the next month.

anoneemouse

iamcornholio wrote: »

TV Licensing wont do anything for a few weeks, so when/if one licence runs out, then you are safe to wait until the next month

Another tip, if you "forget" to renew a licence for a few months, then when you do the TV licensing people will back-date it to the time your old licence ran out - unless you go through the rigmarole of proving that you did not watch any telly in that time . To avoid this, use a different name to that on the old licence and tick the box for new licence not renewal

I hear what you're saying - there is just one thing though (ie I suspect they might check electoral registers or the like and see my "original name" is still living at my address and not accept a "new" name):cool:.

As I bought the licence on the afternoon of 31 January and the t.v. wasnt even operable on the evening of 31 Jan (as a friend of mine set it up a couple of days later) - then I have been thinking and reckon I will ring up TV Licensing and ask to speak to a supervisor (so that I dont just get "callcentre script" answer) and point all this out and that I took it for granted (as indeed I did) that the tv licence would commence the following day (ie 1 February).

Hopefully they will see reason and do me a new one (with accurate dates on). If they don't - then I guess I have to find a way to put things as right as I can at 74 years old (ie free TV licence starts at 75).

anoneemouse

Thank you all for your help.

Armed with the info. people gave me here- I rang TV Licencing today and (several requests later) finally got put through to a supervisor.

I explained I was going to be overcharged for a months worth of TV licence if the date wasnt altered on the licence and that I HAD only bought the tv and licence just a few hours before February started. He asked me if I had used the tv that evening - which I hadnt. I told him that the tv hadnt actually been "set up" until a couple of days later.

He said that he will send me a letter to attach to my TV licence explaining that it now runs to the correct date (ie 31 January 2012).

So - bar them mucking-up and I have to ring and hassle for my letter in a fortnight OR an attempt at the beginning of next year to charge me for January all over again by mistake (all well possible...:cool:) - then hopefully the matter is now successfully resolved.

amcluesent

Now you'll find there's nothing actually worth watching!