TV licence fee to rise by from April – official MSE News discussion

wild666

Could we see some cancelling the DD in March 2024 then taking out a new licence for £159 with a one off payment? That's a possibility then they can evaluate paying for another licence in March 2025.
Personally I think we'll see a load of cancelled DD and licences and people taking a chance they won't be caught watching without a licence, there could be lots of closed curtains and blinds from people watching without a licence.

wild666

Cornucopia said:

Petriix said:

Is it worth cancelling in March (can you get a refund?) then getting my partner to apply for a new one in their name? 

AFAIK, there's no value in doing this - the monthly DD cost, and the quarterly cost will simply be pro-rata to the annual cost as it applies across the time period you have a Licence for.

If you've paid annually, then cancelling would cost you more, I would have thought.

It could work out cheaper if the other person makes a one off payment of £159 in March then they can revaluate the payment in 10 months or so as to whether to pay for another 12 months 

xtw2

I'm hoping I can address this to Kelvin...

Re your article: TV licence fee to rise by £10.50 a year to £169.50 | MSE News, where you say: 

Paying for a TV licence in instalments via direct debit... You'll only start to pay the new, higher price when your licence next comes up for renewal after 1 April 2024.

I don't understand what TV Licensing is doing and I don't see how I am saving money as per your comments above.

I pay by Direct Debit. I was paying £13.25pm from 08/03/2024 (12 x £13.25 = £159), however this has increased to £15.00pm from 09/09/2024 (6 x £13.25 = £79.50 + 6 x £15.00 = £90.00 = Total of £169.50 from 08/03/2024. Alternatively, 12 x £15.00 = £180.00).

So, EITHER I'm paying £169.50 from 08/03/2024, which is 23 days earlier than the price rise date of 01/04/2024 OR I'm now paying £180 from 09/09/2024, in which case I'm being overcharged by £10.50 for the Year Commencing: 09/09/2024.  Either way, I don't appear to be saving any money paying by Direct Debit, as indicated by your article.

Am I missing something?  Can you clarify please?  Thanks. L

Cornucopia

xtw2 said:

I'm hoping I can address this to Kelvin...

Re your article: TV licence fee to rise by £10.50 a year to £169.50 | MSE News, where you say: 

Paying for a TV licence in instalments via direct debit... You'll only start to pay the new, higher price when your licence next comes up for renewal after 1 April 2024.

I don't understand what TV Licensing is doing and I don't see how I am saving money as per your comments above.

I pay by Direct Debit. I was paying £13.25pm from 08/03/2024 (12 x £13.25 = £159), however this has increased to £15.00pm from 09/09/2024 (6 x £13.25 = £79.50 + 6 x £15.00 = £90.00 = Total of £169.50 from 08/03/2024. Alternatively, 12 x £15.00 = £180.00).

So, EITHER I'm paying £169.50 from 08/03/2024, which is 23 days earlier than the price rise date of 01/04/2024 OR I'm now paying £180 from 09/09/2024, in which case I'm being overcharged by £10.50 for the Year Commencing: 09/09/2024.  Either way, I don't appear to be saving any money paying by Direct Debit, as indicated by your article.

Am I missing something?  Can you clarify please?  Thanks. L

The comment from the article is technically correct.   However, the installment scheme involves paying 6 months in advance, and 6 months in arrears.   So, it's likely that people will begin to pay the higher monthly payment 6 months before the new Licence is activated.

The TV Licence installment schemes do not save people money (they are not intended to do so).   Some people will find it more convenient (if more complicated) to pay monthly, and some people will prefer the simplicity of a single annual payment.  

xtw2

Thanks, Cornucopia!

PS. How do I Bookmark my Comment/Question so that I can see any Replies/Answers please?  Or do I get an Email when someone posts a Reply/Answer?

Cornucopia

If you click on the bookmark symbol (the blue flag outline next to the thread title), the forum will notify you when the thread is updated.

"Bookmarked Threads" keeps a record of all your bookmarks.

xtw2

Thanks, Cornucopia!

Mutton_Geoff

km1500 said:

quite a lot of the licence fee goes towards paying for their gold plated pension scheme rather than making programmes

BBC Studios (programme makers) are not funded by the licence fee at all.

My TV licence fee isn't going up, it's been £0 for many years.

Cornucopia

Mutton_Geoff said:

km1500 said:

quite a lot of the licence fee goes towards paying for their gold plated pension scheme rather than making programmes

BBC Studios (programme makers) are not funded by the licence fee at all.

My TV licence fee isn't going up, it's been £0 for many years.

BBC Studios is a wholly owned commercial subsidiary of the BBC.   The BBC receives the Licence Fee funds and it spends them with various content creators, including BBC Studios.   BBC Studios is also free to bid for work from other broadcasters.   Profits from BBC Studios go back to the BBC, although they are dwarfed by the Licence Fee.

To complicate things, there are sometimes original productions within UKTV (another BBC commercial offshoot), and these can be made by BBC Studios.

It's complicated, and about the only simple thing that can be said about it is that the BBC has diluted its public sector/non-commercial identity - a lot.