TV Licence not accepting payments?

[alpo287]

Hi,

my partner who is on disability was told by TV licence to pay £5.60 per week on the payment card via letter when she first set up the licence at this address about 5 months ago.

 

 

This amount was too much to afford but they refused to lower it or accept fortnightly payments instead.

 

 

of course she missed a few payments but i made them up for her since.

 

 

They have sent letter after letter since these missed payments with a different amount owed each time.

 

 

A couple of letters have come through from a debt collection agency and now there are more coming from the TV licence itself.

 

The thing is I have been paying them regular payments of at least £12 a month (around 6 every 2 wks) since she first missed the £5.60 payments, only they don't reflect on the letters they send.

 

 

I have all the receipts here of the payments i have made so why are they still sending these letters and acting like i haven't been paying them anything?

 

The letter comes through "You owe £58.60" or something like that and then the next one says "You owe £67.89" or something even though in between letters they have had at least 12-15 pound off me.

 

 

Why aren't all these payments i have made being knocked off their letters? Where has the money gone?

 

Any clarity on this?

 

 

I have heard you are only supposed to communicate with them in writing not on the phone?

 

 

But the amount of letters they are sending is absolutely doing my head in.

 

They are sending about 4-5 letters a month!

[Sparks_]

Are you using the right payment card? I would phone them up and say what payments have been made and which card has been used.

[Bazooka Boo]

Unless you pay them the exact amount they demand, then their archaic systems cannot compute any different.

 

Most certainly DO NOT ring them up, you'll only get bullied and threatened by one of their spotty faced telephone jockeys.

 

If you are paying on the payment card they sent you, and you have proof of all your payments to them, as well as knowing how much you have outstanding, then IMO I would ignore their empty threat letters.

 

As for their tame DCA, you can most certainly ignore them too!

 

Deal direct with the BBC/TVL.

 

If any one of their commission paid clowns turns up on your doorstep, laugh and shut the door.

 

NEVER ever let them into YOUR home, and most certainly NEVER sign ANYTHING on the doorstep, not even to just 'confirm they spoke to you'.

 

This is the price you pay for trying to do the right thing.

 

Unless you're watching live broadcasts, do you really need a TV licence??

[unclebulgaria67]

If you go to the TV licence website, there is a contact us page and you can send them an email asking for details. Just quote the licence number and ask them for details of payments made, when the licence has been paid up to. I suspect letters received concern paying for the licence for x number of months in advance.

 

If any TV licencing person comes to the door, don't even open up the door. You don't have to speak to them.

[alpo287]

Just as i made this thread another letter has dropped through the door this morning stating "Thank you for your recent payment of £5.60 a new arrangement has been set up for you" and it's the same thing as the old one - £5.60 per week, and then it goes on to state the same thing that if you miss any of these payments they may cancel the agreement and take to court blah blah. But this time there is absolutely no mention of any arrears or anything. Just a new 'payment plan' stating £5.60 per wk is what they require.

 

The problem is she cannot afford the 5.60 a WEEK, she can only afford to pay it fortnightly yet everytime I have written to them explaining this they ignore the fortnightly request and send a WEEKLY payment schedule again. If she was to pay weekly it would mean less gas and electric and with 2 under fives in the house i will not prioritize TV licence over gas and elec.

 

I am definitely using the right card, yes, as it says on every letter they send "You can use your payment card you already have there is no need for a new card" or something like that.

[Consumer dude]

The license is I believe £145.50 so if I had to pay it and to make sure I was covered, I would pay £13.50 for the first month and £12.00 each month there after, none of this six months in advance nonsense..