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.

In reality, when OP cancelled she probably stopped payment, but continued to have the use of the license she had already paid forin advancefor several months.
I got a refund of what I had overpaid in advance when I cancelled.

Do you need a license if you watch itv/channel 4 etc. I have sky and Netflix and prime. I think 159 is crazy money to charge ppl.

You still need a TV licence if you have the ability to watch live TV.

It doesn't suddenly not apply if you don't watch BBC channels.

@HOkieCOkie if you watch live (as it is aired) you need a licence but if you watch it catch up you don't.
We found it very easy to stick to the rules, MSE has a comprehensive guide.

Ok thank you @TheQueef I tend to record on the sky box and watch later. But I guess I do need a license for that.

@MikeWozniaksGloriousTache

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.

Yeah I only got threatening letters too when I hadn't completed the cancellation online and declared I didn't need it. Bit stupid but it's done and they don't bother me anymore.

www.moneysavingexpert.com/broadband-and-tv/tv-licence/

If anyone fancies cutting the licence out.
We found it simple enough to implement (this was JS time) and keep up with the changes.

Yeah you need it Hokie but if you got rid of the sky you could avoid.

I vaguely remember when setting up a TV licence we paid for a years TV licence over 6 months then started paying the £11 odd a month which went towards the next TV licence. So think you are always 6 months ahead on paying the TV licence anyway. So technically after cancelling you should be able to watch for 6 months as you paid up to that. But obv that doesn't help you now as you cancelled 6 months ago!

Maybe call them and say you can't afford to pay up front and can you pay monthly?

Yeah the BBC is awful. Their news is always so depressing, plane crashes, wars, covid etc., whereas on YouTube (no licence required) there are cats and kittens doing funny things and people falling into swimming pools. Much more wholesome and free!

YANBU - but then I've been ignoring the letters for 3 years since I last moved house and they still haven't turned up on my doorstep despite a threatening letter every month or two telling me they will.

@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.

Really?

Some neighbours of mine were fined £200 a few years ago.

Last year, they got done again and were fined £1,000! The husband tried to tell the court that they never watched BBC channels, but he was still found guilty.

I must admit, I don't know why people object to paying. I think it's very reasonable. I'd pay £13 a month just for Radio 3 and Radio 4 alone, I think they're fantastic.

I got caught out by them when I paid for my DS to have a licence at university (he likes to watch live sport) I bought it on 30th September - do you get a whole year from that point? Oh no! We lost the whole of September “because that’s how the system works”.

In this day and age it’s ludicrous that a company can take a whole extra month rather than start the licence the day you buy it. They are thieves. When I bought it again for him for the following year I told him we’d start it on 1st October so we weren’t caught out again. Robbing bastards.

@Royalbloo

You still need a TV licence if you have the ability to watch live TV.

No, it's only if you watch live TV or BBC iPlayer. We have a TV and therefore the ability to watch TV but we don't so don't need a licence. We use it for Netflix and the PC.

They really need to get rid of the TV licence. Lots of people don’t even watch the BBC yet still have to pay it to watch other channels. We haven’t had a licence for years, we don’t really watch TV but if we do it’s usually Netflix, prime, all 4 etc. Used to watch Iplayer until they started insisting on a licence for that too. Twats. It’s a shame because I love radio 4 but I’d never pay £13 a month on top of a subscription like sky to watch drivel on TV.

Why on earth did your neighbours tell the TV inspectors he didn't have a licence @LakieLady ?,they have no right to come in and check ,the only way they know if someone is watching TV without a licence is if they admit it .

I cancelled ours about 4-5 years ago - did it by email

I get an email every other year saying 'do you need a licence now' I reply saying 'I don't watch live TV' they ignore me for the next 2 years, never had a letter or a knock at the door

@VeniVidiWeeWee

No actually don't drink.
And yes FBI. They came and arrested the guy who started one of those sites in NZ, he lived up the road from me.
They don't care about the average watcher. They do like to make an example of the people who start the streaming websites.

@Royalbloo

You still need a TV licence if you have the ability to watch live TV.

Not true. Anyone with a TV, smartphone, tablet, computer etc. has the ability to watch live TV.

Lmao!

We stopped paying years ago and I don’t watch BBC anymore. There are so much more to watch then BBC. We have Netflix, Prime and Apple TV+ (free for a year). We also have cinema paradiso Blu-ray subscription. I just don’t have time for BBC and it’s more expensive than everything else and you can’t pay per month and without that lump sum advance payment. I would get Netflix, Disney+, now tv all ahead of BBC. Now if they come up with a no commitment, easy pay monthly system that you can subscribe and unsubscribe from a website, maybe I might consider depending on the shows on offer.

They only send me a email once a year or two years to confirm I don’t need a license.

@LakieLady because I don’t listen to radio either. I pay a spotify subscription. I don’t like the broadcast model at all. It’s outdated.

The only BBC content I listen to is podcast via Apple podcast. But they put it up there for people to listen though. They are also on Spotify.

Just watch cbeebies old videos on YouTube op.

We don’t have a licence. We watch nothing live, we have Netflix and prime and Amazon music.

We don't have one here either and I cannot think of anyone I know under 30 who pays for it.

There are so many other services out there that are better value for money. I feel like the only reason the BBC have yet to scrap it or change it for something more akin to what is offered by their competitors is because so many people still think it mandatory and they have to pay for it.