New TV licence rip off?

Sprint_48

Hi.  So following a break up I’ve just moved to a new address.  As the TV licence was paid by someone else (girlfriend’s parents - long story) at my old address, I went online to set up a new one in my name.  I opted for the Direct Debit option, but when I had  finished and saw the resulting payment plan I was a bit confused.  

So the licence fee for a year is now £157, but they want me to pay £31.50 a month for the first 5 months, and then from the 1st April 2021 to 1st March 2022 it is only £13.12 split over the full 12 months.

So why do I have to pay a full year’s subscription fee for only 5 months use, before it is split correctly?   Surely a new licence should be a year’s subscription split over 12 months on DD? 

Neil_Jones

This is normal.  It tells you this on the website - "You’ll usually pay for your first licence over six months ... If we have to spread the cost across less than six months, each payment may be slightly higher. After this, you pay for your next licence in 12 monthly instalments of around £13.12 – six payments before your licence is due to be renewed, and six after."

Neil49

Another option would be to pay the full amount for the entire year upfront. There's no additional charge for doing it that way. 

iniltous

As already said it’s normal for anyone who wants to pay monthly, if you think about it, it’s not a bad deal, you want/need a licence now ( so you owe the full amount ) but they ‘give’ you 6 months to pay, they could , then leave it 6 months but you would be in the same position, owing the full amount , if they gave you the same deal again ( which costs them money) why would anyone ever pay in full, if they said you can only have the first licence in this deal, then in 12 months you would have to find the full amount and not have the choice of monthly payment,
What you get  is when you have paid in full after 6 months you start to pay towards your next licence, so you start 6 months in arrears and end up 6 months in advance.

As already said, if you don’t want to ‘lend’ 6 months payments, why would they give you 6 months interest free in the first place...if you don’t like those terms, you can pay for the year in full and in 12 months time do the same again....it’s ( imho ) not a bad deal.

bradders1983

When will details of the rip-off be posted?

pphillips

bradders1983 said:

When will details of the rip-off be posted?

I don’t think the OP is the only person who thinks the TV licence is a rip off 😁

Sprint_48

Thanks for clarifying things, just wanted to make sure it was correct and there wasn’t an error.  Good old BBC...

Sprint_48

bradders1983 said:

When will details of the rip-off be posted?

That’s why my title had a question mark.  Wanted to be sure the payments were correct.

luckybert

So I do not watch live tv, or record tv or watch iplayer so I do not need a tv licence.
I wish to cancel my licence but it says I need to complete a form and print out. Can you do it any other way?

jon81uk

luckybert said:

So I do not watch live tv, or record tv or watch iplayer so I do not need a tv licence.
I wish to cancel my licence but it says I need to complete a form and print out. Can you do it any other way?

Looks like you only need to print and post the form if you need to provide evidence that you are covered under an existing license.
If you just want to cancel then use their contact form https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/check-if-you-need-one/topics/cancellations-and-refunds-top7#cancelorrefund

idc1

Question having read the rules on this license malarkey the only live TV is sports and news everything else has been pre recorded  so why does e eryone need a TV license?
Of course if your a fan of the BBC you should pay even more!!!!