In reply to a post by 4M2:

What happens if somebody doesn't wish to renew - do they refund the full six months advance payment?

They do, but they only refund in whole quarters. So if you cancel with 5 months and 3 weeks remaining, they only refund 3 months.

Also, if you want more than 3 months of refund, you have to send them photocopied evidence that you no longer watch TV at your current premises, e.g. "a final utility bill, a tenancy agreement, confirmation of college terms, a bill of sale or receipt or a solicitor�s letter".

It's unclear how any of these items proves you no longer watch TV at your current premises.

Edited by Oliver341 (Sun 26-Jan-14 23:11:24)

In reply to a post by 4M2:

In reply to a post by Oliver341:

Another weird thing about the TV licence is that if you pay by monthly Direct Debit you have to start paying for your next TV licence 6 months before it begins. So at any given time you have paid for your next 6 months of licence up front. None of my other Direct Debits work in this way.

What happens if somebody doesn't wish to renew - do they refund the full six months advance payment?

Yep. they refunded my money a couple of years back when I decided not to renew, it is now two years since I last had a Tv licence. One of the better things i have done.

I used to pay the full amount in cash a few years ago but decided not to renew in October 2012 - now I don't watch any live (or as it is being broadcast) TV

Err, yes. That's exactly what I (thought I) was talking about. The result is the same.

Are you saying if you want to pay monthly then you can't have the licence until six months after you start paying? Or that after the first six months you have to pay double for six months, before reverting to the normal monthly instalment?

Even then, I can't see any difference in the average credit/deficit balance.

M1-M6 payment P, used. M7-M12 payment 2P. Balance at the start of M13, 6P. Thereafter, the balance is always 6P.

Annually, balance at the start of M1, 12P At the end of M12, zero. Average balance 6P. Repeated for the following year.

No difference, surely?

Edited by RobertoS (Mon 27-Jan-14 00:23:24)

An analogy would be, in broadband terms:

Customer signs up to Plusnet. Plusnet charge 7 months broadband in advance on month one. On month two, normal monthly payments at regular amount start. When leaving Plusnet, the customer has to apply to Plusnet for a refund. In order to receive a refund for unused months, the customer would have to supply Plusnet with one of various form of photocopied "proof", and only blocks of three months can be refunded.

No broadband company in their right mind would try this stunt, it would be suicide. The only reason TV Licensing can do this is because, by law, people wanting to watch live TV have no other choice.

I agree the refund arrangements are suspect, though not a lot different from broadband really with minimum terms and quite steep cancellation charges from all the major ISPs.

Do you know what happens about refunds of an annual payment? I expect it is also 3-month chunks.

Refunds though are a different question. The monthly payment system doesn't really seem different in respect of the average credit balance from the annual.

Edit - the licence refund info page won't load.

Edited by RobertoS (Mon 27-Jan-14 01:39:00)

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

Logic fail Adrian .

How much would the DVDs cost if they were the only thing that funded the making of the series?

The same as Doctor who not only makes a big profit for the BBC it is the number one income generator for them. In both sales to other TV companies around the world as well as DVD sales and other merchandise.

Top gear is number 2 and strictly is number 3.

The sales of the DVD in the UK alone makes more than it costs to make and it is seen as a cost savings exercise at BBC wales as their drama department didn't have a recurring drama to keep people occupied.

And I would happily love to see the BBC go onto a paid for model with subscription plans or even just have ads on it like any other commercial channel as they seem completely unable to cater for my entertainment needs.

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

Do you know what happens about refunds of an annual payment? I expect it is also 3-month chunks.

Refunds though are a different question. The monthly payment system doesn't really seem different in respect of the average credit balance from the annual.

Annual payments are also refunded in three month chunks, when TV Licensing are supplied with the photocopied "proof".

Paying annually in advance does not offer any discounts as it would with, say, Line Rental Saver, therefore I cannot see why anyone would choose to pay annually in advance rather than monthly in advance. However I suspect TV Licensing are keen to retain the annual payment option so that they can justify taking 6 months of advance payment from monthly billing customers.

I didn't even know there was a monthly payments option. (Maybe a distant recall of it being introduced). I'll stick with annual I think .

Personally I think the way the BBC is funded has resulted in some unique material over the years but now the world is a very different place.

If the BBC really feels its output is good value for money then why is it frightened of competition ?
It is quite feasible for the BBC to be a subscription service that only people who want it would pay for it but they are reluctant to go down that route as they know full well that a significant number of people wouldn't bother subscribing.

As for iPlayer it could be subscription based just like netflix or love film. I don't really care if they change the rules to require a licence to use iPlayer as long as it doesn't mean that everyone who has an internet connection is required to have a licence.