Direct Debit TV Licence

EmehEm2005

For the third year running I've set up a direct debit TV licence.

Now you might be thinking shouldn't it be one continuous direct debit ie after the first 6 months you pay for your current TV Licence in monthly instalments of around £23 then in the seventh month, you'll then start to pay in advance towards your next licence with twelve monthly instalments of around £11 (so you'll make six payments before your new licence is due and six payments after)? You continue paying for future licences in this way.

Not if you cancel the direct debit after 6 months (or five months in my case ie 135.50 divided by 5)!

As I stated earlier this will be the third year I've done this because I don't see the point of paying up to 18 months in advance for to watch rubbish telly (even with freeview) when it's difficult enough when you're on a low income to pay a year in advance.

As far as I can see as long as you have paid the current TV licence fee you might be using some sort of a loophole but you are not breaking any laws.

What do other people think?

Mike

We_Laugh_Indoors

Do the dates on the licence cover the the time you are not paying?

A_fiend_for_life

As far as I know about the TV Licence you pay for it in advance hence you pay more for it when you first start the TV licence. There is another method you can pay and that is by Cash Easy Entry Scheme - try a google search. This prevents you picking up charges if you are low in the bank - just means you have to got to a shop that has paypoint.

nomoneytoday

The idea is that you keep the DD running, so pay £23 in months 1-6 and then £11 per month ongoing, so are always ahead. By cancelling the DD you need to "start again". If you didn't cancel then months 13 to 18 would be £11 a month instead of £23

If you bought a TV licence at the post office it would cover the year ahead.

Mikeyorks

EmehEm2005 wrote: »

What do other people think?

I'm totally confused by what you think you're achieving?

Most people sign up to the DD as a new licence is due. So, they send you the new licence and you pay for it (in arrears) in 6 x monthly DDs of just over £20. Then (in advance) you pay towards the next licence at half that rate .... so you pay 6 x £11'ish. Then they send you the next licence and ..... you finish paying for it with (now, in arrears) another 6 x instalments of £11'ish.

And you then continue paying half in advance and half in arrears (so it's interest neutral) for future year's licences.

So you're not achieving anything by cancelling the DD ...... as you're never :

because I don't see the point of paying up to 18 months in advance

.. ever paying more than 6 months in advance. And that is fully balanced by you paying the other 6 months in arrears!

shellsuit

Mine is different again.

I set up a DD for mine in January. (It was due though in November 07, whoops!)

I have paid/will pay :

£33.89 in feb
£33.87 in march
£33.87 in april
£33.87 in may

Then I will continue to pay £11.29 for 6 months in advance for my next licence ~ come November, I will pay the same again for another 6 months until that licence is paid for and so on and so on.....

Why bother cancelling the DD and setting up a new one, you will still pay the same price overall??

I understand what you are getting at, but by continuing with the DD you will pay less over a longer term, rather than a higher price over the 6 months.

EmehEm2005

We_Laugh_Indoors wrote: »

Do the dates on the licence cover the the time you are not paying?

Yes, you get a full 12 months licence because they expect you to start paying the £11 odd a month after August when the £27.10 a month for 5 months has finished.

EmehEm2005

shellsuit wrote: »

Mine is different again.

I set up a DD for mine in January. (It was due though in November 07, whoops!)

I have paid/will pay :

£33.89 in feb
£33.87 in march
£33.87 in april
£33.87 in may

Then I will continue to pay £11.29 for 6 months in advance for my next licence ~ come November, I will pay the same again for another 6 months until that licence is paid for and so on and so on.....

Why bother cancelling the DD and setting up a new one, you will still pay the same price overall??

I understand what you are getting at, but by continuing with the DD you will pay less over a longer term, rather than a higher price over the 6 months.

Well, that 11.29 a month or whatever if I don't pay it would earn me 2.52% AER on credit balances with smile.

Mikeyorks

But then you pay double that just 6 months later. So again --- what do you achieve! What you save in the first 6 months you cancel .... you pay double the next 6 months.

Sorry ..... pointless exercise.

nomoneytoday

EmehEm2005 wrote: »

Well, that 11.29 a month or whatever if I don't pay it would earn me 2.52% AER on credit balances with smile.

2.52% on £11 over one month is less than 3pence !!

EmehEm2005

nomoneytoday wrote: »

2.52% on £11 over one month is less than 3pence !!

If you look after the pennies, the dollars will look after themselves.
J. Paul Getty US oil industrialist (1892 - 1976)
http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/36510.html