Can't Cancel TV License.

FiftyPents

Hi,
I've moved house in the last week (moved in with partner as per the guidelines set by the government).
I've gone to cancel my TV license online and it says they can't cancel now, due to the corona and lack of staff.
Is it a case of just continuing to pay and then claiming back a refund once this is all over?
Thanks

pphillips

Can you do the no licence needed form?
https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/cs/no-licence-needed/index.app

[Deleted User]

Mickey666 said: I'd just stop paying 

Bad advice. Very bad advice. 

pphillips

Moneyineptitude said:

Mickey666 said: I'd just stop paying 

Bad advice. Very bad advice. 

True, you won't get any refund if you just stop paying.

[Deleted User]

pphillips said:

you won't get any refund if you just stop paying.

It's not  any potential refund that would be the issue, but the unpaid debt which would continue to rack up.

No one should ever attempt to "cancel" by simply ceasing to pay....

Cornucopia

TV Licensing have said that they will issue back refunds when they re-open.   The implication is that they will either take your word on when you ceased to need a Licence, or they will want to see evidence that you made an attempt to cancel, but they were unable to action it at the time.   The most obvious way is by filling in the Refund Form, here:  https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/cs/refund/about-the-tv-licence.app

Personally, I think that I probably would cancel the Direct Debit.   Licence accounts are operated 6 months in credit, anyway, and although TVL has some unconventional views on what constitutes debt, they aren't there at the moment to put them into action.

[Deleted User]

Mickey666 said:

I also said write to them to cancel the licence.  The fact that they can't process it for a while is their problem not the customer's.

As already stated, stopping payment without any acknowledgement of the cancellation will result in the customer racking up unpaid debt. This most certainly would be  the customer's problem!

So I stand by my original assessment that you gave bad advice in your initial post. 

(Just to add that I never quote fully unless the post is short. There was no intention to "misrepresent" you therefore.)

[Deleted User]

Mickey666 said:you are suggesting that unless the customer receives an acknowledgement of this from TVL that they are leaving themselves open to some sort of debt recovery action by TVL. 

Nowhere did I ever say the customer would  be subject to "Debt Recovery Action"? 

 

However, if the customer cancels a Direct debit payment without the payee also cancelling, the Direct Debit will still be requested and then declined by his bank. 

 As this can cause a whole raft of issues, my own recommendation is to continue paying and then request a refund when the situation returns to normal. Different if no DD is involved. 

I would expect there to be no more than two monthly payments affected in any case, so hardly a fortune is at issue. 

There is no harm sending a letter of cancellation (or filling in  the online form) now, of course, though it's doubtful either will be even looked at currently.