TV Licence Question

dodge08

Hello all, I've got a TV licence related question but the context is still a little tough for me so please bear that in mind…

My father passed away a few weeks ago and I have the joyful task of going through his finances as sole administrator of his estate. He and my mother were estranged and I didn't have a lot of contact with him hence why I don't know some answers that you might expect me to.

I noticed that he was paying both a monthly and quarterly TV licence, his monthly was closed when I informed them of his death. The quarterly one has been a back and forth argument for weeks now. A long story short, it's in my mother's name for the address they shared between 2011 and 2016 but it was coming out of his account.

Unfortunately, due to rapidly declining health and his techno-phobia he has not noticed this quarterly bill and it has been charging from 2016 to today despite neither of them living at that address during this time.

Do we have any legal right to the money back? A quick Google search seems to imply that TV licence can't legally have charged money for an address they weren't living at since it would be an invalid and redundant service. But I fear with the troubles I've had getting this far that I won't have much luck? He turned 75 last June also but I understand that if you don't tell them you've turned that age then you still pay it, it all seems very "if you forget it's your fault" which is a bit cheeky in in today's tech age where everyone stores your personal data and considering people over 75 often have prohibiting health conditions too.

Thanks for reading.
Adam

Annabee

I hope you can get 10 years of licence fees back from them seems very unfair if not. Maybe you'd have to send proof that your parents left that address?

And just to say that over 75s no longer get automatic free TV licences, for a few years now it's only been free for those claiming Pension Credit.

dodge08

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82048728#Comment_82048728

Thank you Annabee, he was also receiving pension credit but they still said "tough", but in all fairness, I'm not trying to claw back every penny, he watched TV, and the few months of £10 a month isn't worth the argument but 10 years is literally thousands. :(

Woodstok2000

I assume there are people living at the old accommodation? Any way to find out if they've been paying for a license too? It'll be much easier to push for a refund if you can show they were double billing and won't lose out on revenue.

mta999

yes I believe TVL will refund for duplicate licences at the same address

you could either contact the people at the address and see if they have a TV license or even call tvl and ask them to check their records if there are two licences at that address

Cornucopia

TVL's standard policy on backdated refunds is 12 months as I understand it. If you've already asked about it and been refused, presumably they have a good reason for that. You can try making an official complaint using the contact info on their website.

The over-75 Licence is definitely something that has to be claimed, especially now there is further validation of the claim that they need to go through. They don't retain people's ages unless you have pre-registered at age 74+.

The situation where a person is paying for a Licence that is in someone else's name complicates things. They are likely to insist on only speaking to the account holder about it. If you have told them and they are unable to take any action about it, then cancelling the payments is possibly your only option.

It's worth bearing in mind that the TV Licence is for an address, not a person. So, someone paying for two addresses (which I think is what you are saying) is unlikely to raise red flags for TVL (in fact, they may not even know).

dodge08

An update for anyone following…

TV licence have come back and said that because the licence was technically in my mother's name, who is still alive, that this negates any obligation of a refund on their part - which I guess I can understand legally.

It doesn't resolve the issue that neither of them lived there for 10 years though :/

Will probably try once more to point that out but it's unlikely I think.

Swipe

Surely their systems should not allow multiple licences at the same address?

Cornucopia

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82064860#Comment_82064860

They probably don't have any means of identifying addresses where there could be multiple licences, and therefore don't know if multiple licences are in error.

JSmithy45AD

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82049445#Comment_82049445

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82064860#Comment_82064860

A house of multiple occupancy would require multiple TV licenses for those who need them.