TV licence by Direct Debit - monthly vs quarterly

grumbler

I have been paying it yearly by a credit card so far, but am thinking of switching to a DD because many bank current accounts require DDs nowadays and the interest I can get over-weights 0.5% CC cashback.

Is my understanding correct that monthly option doesn't incur any extra fees unlike the quarterly one?

This doesn't make much sense to me and I don't want wasting my time on trying to understand this nonsense.

I do understand that my first 6 payments will be higher.
ETA: on second thought this seems to mean that after 6 months I will always be paying in advance for the next 6 months (instead of 12 currently) - correct?

Swipe

Yes that's correct

Buzby

The licence is annual, and payments to account and designed to clear both the current viewing and the upcoming year which is why it costs more. You are correct in that it's not straightforward - especially when you expect it to be a PAYG process (payment in respect of that month's viewing).

grumbler

Can anyone explain why it is £12.18 p.m. after the first 6 months, not 145.50/12=£12.12?!

Not that 5p-6p make any difference to me. Just trying to understand how arithmetic works in this crazy company... Do they not say "at no extra cost"?

Their calculators seem to work fine for the first 6 payments: 145.50/6=24.25

tronator

grumbler wrote: »

Can anyone explain why it is £12.18 p.m. after the first 6 months, not 145.50/12=£12.12?!

Not that 5p-6p make any difference to me. Just trying to understand how arithmetic works in this crazy company... Do they not say "at no extra cost"?

Their calculators seem to work fine for the first 6 payments: 145.50/6=24.25

I think they calculate the amount on a daily basis and the first 6 month of the year have only 181 days whereas the last 6 month have 184 days. My quarterly DD varies depending on how many days the quarter has.

grumbler

Thanks, but the figures were for monthly payments, not quarterly:

TV_Licensing wrote:

First 6 months £24.25 Per month
Then £12.18 Per month

Are you saying that £12.18 will possibly vary from month to month?

tvlb1

grumbler wrote: »

Thanks, but the figures were for monthly payments, not quarterly:

Are you saying that £12.18 will possibly vary from month to month?

The way monthly DD works, you end up paying for your first full licence in only 6 months, hence the larger payments (~£24.25) for 6 months. Once those 6 months have elapsed then the fee drops down to the lower (~£12.18) figure.

Effectively, after the first 6 months, you are paying towards your second year of TV licence coverage.

It's not entirely fair, considering a lot of people paying by monthly DD are doing so for reasons of economy.

tronator

grumbler wrote: »

Thanks, but the figures were for monthly payments, not quarterly:

Are you saying that £12.18 will possibly vary from month to month?

Can't speak for monthly payments, but my last 4 quarterly payments were £37.62, £37.62, £37.62, £37.64.

Cornucopia

This TVL monthly DD scheme seems to be designed to confuse.

The exact figures depends on when you ask to go on the scheme. If your old licence has 1-6 months to run, then your DD payments can start now at less than double rate to begin paying for your next licence.

If you start from scratch, then the payments work out like this:-

Month 1-6: Double payments for your first licence, which starts at month 1.

Month 7-12: Advance single payments for your second licence. The licence won't start until month 13.

Month 13-18: Single payments for the rest of your second licence, which runs from Month 13.

Month 18-24: Advance single payments for your third licence, which won't start until month 25.

And so on.

The idea being that for half the year you are paying in advance and half the year you are paying in arrears. If you cancel the licence, you will possibly get a refund, depending on where in the cycle you are.

molerat

grumbler wrote: »

Can anyone explain why it is £12.18 p.m. after the first 6 months, not 145.50/12=£12.12?!

Not that 5p-6p make any difference to me. Just trying to understand how arithmetic works in this crazy company... Do they not say "at no extra cost"?

Their calculators seem to work fine for the first 6 payments: 145.50/6=24.25

The first payment should be £12.18 and the remainder £12.12 - 11x 12.12 = £133.32 + £12.18 = £145.5