TV Licence- AIBU?

[Namechange10002468]

Name change as I'm sharing some personal financial background here.

OK- so in October last year we really had to tighten our belt due to DH redundancy. We basically cut everything that wasn't absolute necessity. We could only afford to keep one TV based/entertainment thing and decided to keep Netflix at 5.99/month over TV licence which was £13.25/month and at the time we hadn't watched anything live or on BBC iplayer for 5 months.
We are now thankfully in a slightly better place with finances- although nowhere near where we used to be- and would like to renew our licence so DCs can have Cbeebies and also so DH can watch all the football. We logged on expecting to be able just renew and go back to paying the £13/month. Except the website refuses to allow us to renew on any payment option other than a £159 annual payment.
AIBU to think that, considering so many people since Covid have found themselves in financially difficult times, it is really unfair of the BBC/TV licencsing people not to be offering affordable payment options for those wishing to purchase a license? I actually feel so angry. We do not have £159 to give up front and to be able to do so would mean other bills going unpaid, less food in the shopping for the next couple of months or going into a overdraft that charges interest.
Interested to know others' thoughts on this because right now I want to fire off a stinking complaint to them.

I’ve never had a licence - ever - well maybe once when I was stupid and Young .
I get the letters - they get filed in the bin
I have had them knock on the gate once or twice in maybe 20 years z I’m pretty sure they have given up on cold calling .
I don’t answer the gate ( and I have a ring doorbell) so I’m not worried about anyone getting into my house as I have a particularly vicious knob head french bulldog who would love to eat a tv licence person
I don’t even care if they know I’m in - there is no law that says I have to open my door to speak to someone .
When I bought my new Tv last month I collected it even though it was a pain in the ass so that Currys wouldn’t have my address to pass on to the tv licensing
Plus I don’t watch BBC

I did give my fathers address who does have a licence .😂

@sbhydrogen @copperpotsalot, the logic of the £26 front loaded payment is that if you spread it evenly over a year then you still have the money in the bank, whereas someone who pays a whole year up front doesn't. So you can earn interest on that money. I think the 'fee' for paying quarterly used to work out to about 5% interest. That used to make sense, but these days no one can earn that sort of interest in a bank account. So they want to to pay for a year much faster than a year and then pay the proper monthly fee. I think it's basically a very out of date legacy of the days when you bought an annual or quarterly licence from the Post Office (and paid slightly more if it was quarterly). And I wonder how many refunds never get issued when people die etc, as you're always quite a long way in credit with them.
Yes, I may have got rather annoyed with them in the past when I've been treated crappily.

Hahaha your actually going to pay TV licence?.... That's interesting. I would never and have never.

You'll have to stomach giving them over £1k when they find you!

This is yet more BBC/Capita propaganda. In reality, the vast majority of people who admit to watching without a licence are never fined any amount at all because it never reaches court. You agree to pay for a licence and that's the end of it. Of those who do end up in court, typical fines are in the range of £40-£75 in Scotland, and up to £175 in the remainder of the UK. It's not a 'criminal offence' to not have a licence no matter what nonsense the BBC try to claim with their baseless and empty threats, which is why you can simply close the door on them with impunity if, and when, they appear in person to question why there is no licence on record at your address. It only becomes a criminal matter if you are fined for watching while having no licence, and then do not pay that fine. It's also complete myth that a huge proportion of women in UK prisons are there because of non-payment of TV licence. It's the case that they were going to prison anyway for other offences and the judge was asked to take the impending prosecution for non-payment of fines into consideration and get that out of the way while they are there anyway.

@XDownwiththissortofthingX

You'll have to stomach giving them over £1k when they find you!

This is yet more BBC/Capita propaganda. In reality, the vast majority of people who admit to watching without a licence are never fined any amount at all because it never reaches court. You agree to pay for a licence and that's the end of it. Of those who do end up in court, typical fines are in the range of £40-£75 in Scotland, and up to £175 in the remainder of the UK. It's not a 'criminal offence' to not have a licence no matter what nonsense the BBC try to claim with their baseless and empty threats, which is why you can simply close the door on them with impunity if, and when, they appear in person to question why there is no licence on record at your address. It only becomes a criminal matter if you are fined for watching while having no licence, and then do not pay that fine. It's also complete myth that a huge proportion of women in UK prisons are there because of non-payment of TV licence. It's the case that they were going to prison anyway for other offences and the judge was asked to take the impending prosecution for non-payment of fines into consideration and get that out of the way while they are there anyway.

Now, I know I don't need a licence, because I stopped watching live TV on principle to avoid having to hand over any money to the TV licensing people. I despite Capita and their culture of scaremongering, and I'm prepared to forgo watching the few programmes I would like to see live if it means I can legitimately avoid sending any cash their way. Some of them eventually end up on Netflix or Amazon anyway.

However... how on earth do they catch people who do need a TV licence? Who answers the door to an unsolicited caller, invites them into their home, shows them their TV and says, yep, I don't have a licence? That's the bit I've never quite understood.

It still happens because of naive ignorance. Women are disproportionately affected because they are an order of magnitude more likely to be at home when the Capita lot call around during 9-5 'working' hours, but a great many people are still totally ignorant of the reality of TV licencing. You are under no legal obligation to own a licence, you do not need to engage with Capita on any level, but some people still do because Capita turn up acting 'all official', which prompts people to afford them a degree of respect they do not merit, and also leads to the homeowner becoming compliant as they mistakenly believe the person with the clipboard and formal ID card holds some sort of authority. There is footage on Youtube of Capita staff reading homeowners their rights as if they are performing an arrest. It's baffling how they get away with it, but here we are.

Just don’t. Use Netflix. Disney plus is good too.

I’ll never go back after I emailed them informing them we didn’t no require one, they sent a reply listing all the ways we might need one and I responded saying we didn’t fit any of those requirements and to cancel and they responded confirming that. We still got a bloody rude letter telling us we could be prosecuted for non payment, and a month later another letter saying a visit had been authorised to my home to prove we did not require a listener, not both letters were unnecessarily intimidating. They came a few days later but we refused entry and they plodded off

The other thing they do is make statements like 'I need to enter your property to ensure you do not require a licence", and of course, if you are home alone with a couple of screaming kids driving you up the wall it's tempting to just acquiesce with what, on the face of it, appears to be a harmless, or indeed, helpful offer from the Capita rep. In reality, what happens is they'll clock your TV set plugged into an aerial or a box of some description, which is all they really need to start the 'watching without a licence' and threatening prosecution spiel.

As always, the best thing to do if they appear is either not open the door in the first place if you know who they are, or upon them ID'ing themselves, simply state you have no reason to talk to them and close the door. They have absolutely no powers whatsoever to compel you to engage or let them into your home.

Usually these threads end up with many posters wittering on about what a wonderful ‘service’’ bbc does and lists the amazing content 😂🥴 they refuse to believe that nah, loads of people really do not listen to the radio, or use a bbc website 😄, nor watch any live tv. It’s easy. There’s so many options to pay for quality content you actually use, no need to pay a pretend ‘licence’ for some obsolete shite.

I’ve totally moved away from bbc content.
You can get most of CBeebies on YouTube
And most of bbc drama stuff on britbox
We don’t even have a television anymore. I used to be a big fan of the Bbc.

I don’t think they are going to be able to keep the license fee going much longer.

Just don't get one and watch what you want. Enough tips on here to get away with it. The licence fee is just a robbery, they are the ones who are morally in the wrong here IMO.

I'm shocked at the amount of people that actually buy a TV licence
Haven't done for years.

Thanks everyone for your comments. We will try and phone them today but doesn’t look hopeful based on what others are saying about being told they can pay £6.50 a week?! We did have an inspector bloke round actually just as schools returned and lockdown lifted a bit and luckily I heard my DH answer the door and sprinted downstairs because I know my DH is very compliant and would have let the guy in for no reason. I told him we cancelled the licence, we don’t have a working aerial point- which is true we never have done in this house we always used to watch live programmes via the iPlayer on PlayStation or on laptop- and we don’t watch live tv or use iPlayer. The licence guy said: due to covid restrictions he can’t come in anyway this visit but there will be someone coming again.
I thought how bloody cheeky you can’t come in at all at any time unless I invite you too!!! You can see how people can be intimidated.
I said we wouldn’t let him in anyway as we were shielding (a lie). Wish I had just told him we know we aren’t
Obliged to let anyone in regardless of whether it’s covid or not. We’ve told you we don’t watch live tv or iPlayer , bye have a lovely day.

We’ve also had a lot of threatening letters etc.

I might try doing as someone else suggested of registering with a new email address and see if we get offered the direct debit £13/month that way.

I cancelled our license three years ago, it hasn’t stopped the threatening letters. I detest the way the BBC operates and refuse to fund them out of principle.

We only watch Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney+ And even now I find the dc are far more interested in drawing on their iPads than watching tv.

@3Britnee

What subscription are you talking about? You buy the fire stick but you need to pay the subscription fee for any of the streaming services you choose to use. So you need to pay fot Netflix, appletv, disney plus, now TV, prime, whatever. There is no one small subscription fits all.
If they cant afford the TV license then they want afford 5 or 6 subscriptions.

The app is LTQ. I didn't buy it but its €40pa atm and I get all the content listed above.

@3Britnee what subscription is that? Looks good,but not sure if typo, can’t find it. Thanks.

Oops cross posted, sorry.

The Diana /Bashir matter was a nail in the BBC coffin. In France there is something called an AudioVisual Tax which is tagged onto your annual property tax, on the same bill - no getting away from it!

Cancelled our licence years ago but never had a single letter or caller since 🤷🏻‍♀️ The last correspondence from them was after we completed the “we don’t need a licence” declaration and it was an email to thank us for completing it.

Funnily enough I recently cancelled ours.

I realised we had genuinely not watched live tv for months and before that it was only Apprentice and Boris’ announcement then I got fed up of those.

We unplugged the Ariel to the tv, deleted iPlayer off our fire stick and all tablets and devices and we pay for prime and Netflix.

I’ve not received any letters yet…

But I’m not paying for something I genuinely do not need!

I stopped my license a few years ago when I moved - basically as I didn’t take a tv with me. I moved address on the licence then wrote and advised them. Took a while to resolve - but what absolutely enrages me is they insist I fill a form in every 2 years to state I don’t need one - this year due to bereavement I didn’t fill it in on time, and then I was hunted like I owed a huge debt and quickly threatened with a visit to check - I phoned and tried to make my feelings clear but the guy was - as usual - downright rude and accusatory. I don’t understand the rights or legality of having to prove I don’t need one - surely it’s optional and if I use their licence services then I’d get one. I appreciate some don’t get a licence that require one but that’s on the bbc to pick up when it comes to light, not demand a regular declaration you don’t require it? I don’t report to the police annually to declare I’ve committed no crime. I never followed it up but would never have a licence again out of principle against their appalling approach here and in other areas. I can live without live tv etc - only thing of value they ever got is David Attenborough- imo.

Sorry if I'm repeating have only scanned the thread.I

Capita don't have any power. They use an Implied right of access (gate/path from street) if you take that away Capita can't come to the property to knock.
If you email the BBC to cancel remember to remove any implied right. Then they can only harass you postally or digitally.

I don't need a fishing licence or a gun licence yet I'm trusted to make that decision, the BBC are mega CF.

People don't seem to understand. You are required to pay some in advance, and so the initial amount will always be more than the monthly amount of £13 or so.

In reality, when OP cancelled she probably stopped payment, but continued to have the use of the license she had already paid for in advance for several months.

When taking out a direct debit you pay for the first year over 6 months, then pay 1/12 so 6 months in advance 6 months in arrears. It's how it's done because the bill is actually due in one lump sum