New TV licence rip off?

pphillips

idc1 said:

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!!!!

Because the law says you need a TV license to watch TV that is subject to a broadcasting schedule. Ignore the word "live", which isn't even mentioned in the legislation, but a clumsy word used by TV Licensing as a means of confounding the public.

bradders1983

Sprint_48 said:

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

"Good old Capita", you mean.

Holberg917G

Want to switch back to yearly payments from monthly DD rip-off, contacted TVL about my account balance, got a load of nonsense replies,

idc1

If you've been paying by dd for some time just cancel it with your bank as you will be some months in advance that's what I did

Holberg917G

Cancelled DD with bank in December, told them again I want to switch to annual payments, even got a refund !, with a prior warning letter about DD cancellation. They set up another DD in Jan 2021 which I duly erased.

jimbow25

I've always thought this arrangement is a bit of a cheek even as someone that supports the TV licence as a principle.

How many other utilities start from the point of view that "you must pay a whole year up front", and therefore "6 months paid early and 6 months paid later" is "the same"? This isn't how other services work....energy companies, phone contracts, TV subscriptions, council tax, rent ...all work on the proviso that you are, at most, paying for the month that is about to start. The original query is not about whether what they are doing is fair...but just an observation.

Neil_Jones

jimbow25 said:

I've always thought this arrangement is a bit of a cheek even as someone that supports the TV licence as a principle.

How many other utilities start from the point of view that "you must pay a whole year up front", and therefore "6 months paid early and 6 months paid later" is "the same"? This isn't how other services work....energy companies, phone contracts, TV subscriptions, council tax, rent ...all work on the proviso that you are, at most, paying for the month that is about to start. The original query is not about whether what they are doing is fair...but just an observation.

Council tax is technically a year up front.   You get the invoice in April 2020 and it pays for the services it provides for the upcoming tax year.  You can pay it all up front if you want or in monthly direct debit instalments.  If you fall too far behind they start demanding the entire outstanding balance there and then.

Energy company is a 1/12th payment towards usage, in the default monthly direct debit scheme of things anyway, and the DD is not a bill.  Especially in the summer where you can pay £50 or whatever in payments and get a monthly bill that if you're lucky gets into double figures, particularly for gas.

thefirs

jimbow25 said:

I've always thought this arrangement is a bit of a cheek even as someone that supports the TV licence as a principle.

How many other utilities start from the point of view that "you must pay a whole year up front", and therefore "6 months paid early and 6 months paid later" is "the same"? This isn't how other services work....energy companies, phone contracts, TV subscriptions, council tax, rent ...all work on the proviso that you are, at most, paying for the month that is about to start. The original query is not about whether what they are doing is fair...but just an observation.

Take a parallel example though, house or car Insurance. You can opt to pay monthly, but only by paying a fat interest rate to the insurer, not something most MSEs would willingly do. The installment option is really rather generous in this light? 

jimbow25

thefirs said:

jimbow25 said:

I've always thought this arrangement is a bit of a cheek even as someone that supports the TV licence as a principle.

How many other utilities start from the point of view that "you must pay a whole year up front", and therefore "6 months paid early and 6 months paid later" is "the same"? This isn't how other services work....energy companies, phone contracts, TV subscriptions, council tax, rent ...all work on the proviso that you are, at most, paying for the month that is about to start. The original query is not about whether what they are doing is fair...but just an observation.

Take a parallel example though, house or car Insurance. You can opt to pay monthly, but only by paying a fat interest rate to the insurer, not something most MSEs would willingly do. The installment option is really rather generous in this light? 

You are right that a year's insurance is a fair comparison to how a TV licence works, since a year up front is also the default option there.
I don't agree that Council tax and energy bills are comparable since I have always paid each of these monthly without paying a premium for the privilege, nor having to pay any ahead of the due date. You could argue that the energy companies sit on some of your money for some of the year and that is some ways a premium. Anyway I'm not starting a campaign over this, I just think the business of putting out TV programmes get a 6 month advance on your money that many other service providers do not.

iniltous

Another example could be football season tickets , say its £600, payed in advance , the club also offer a 12 month payment plan ( even though the season is only 9 months ) and charge £60/month (£720 for the ticket) , is it a rip off , or just a commercial arrangement , in effect they  loan you £600 and charge £120 ‘interest’ for doing so....council tax is obviously down to scale, £150 a year isn’t a particular large figure, my council tax is £2500 for the year, that would be difficult to find as a single payment , so ( imho )  paying 6 months in arrears, then getting to the point of being 6 months in advance isn’t too bad.