Major bank Halifax has issued a warning to customers over TV Licence payments tonight.
The bank, part of Halifax Bank Of Scotland and owned by Lloyds, has tonight sent notices to Halifax customers about TV Licence Direct Debits.
The warning comes as the cost of the TV Licence increased by more than £10 per year to £169.50 from £159.
Read More: DWP’s £2,323 freeze for people on multiple benefits
The Licence funds BBC TV and radio content and is payable by anyone who watches live TV on any service including YouTube and Amazon Prime, or catch-up TV on the BBC iPlayer.
The notice, issued as a push notification to customers, says; “Your TV LICENCE MPB Direct Debit looks higher than usual. £15.00 has been paid from your account ending [account number] , which is £1.75 more than your previous payment.”
That is because Direct Debits for the new TV Licence amount have gone out from today, April 2, whereas the payment would normally be taken on April 1, but Direct Debits will not go out on a Bank Holiday.
After much pressure and debate, and kickback from government, it was confirmed that the TV Licence is set to go up by £10.50 a year from April 2024 to £169.50, which means TV Licence fees have gone up on monthly direct debits.
A common misconception is that TV Licences are only needed to watch BBC content. Many will comment saying things like ‘oh well I don’t watch anything on the BBC so I don’t need to pay’. This is a myth, and rules on streaming platforms were changed some years ago. But there are lots of ways you can watch TV without a TV Licence.
A TV Licence is a legal requirement if you do any of these:
- watch or record TV on any channel via any TV service (such as Sky, Virgin, Freeview, Freesat)
- watch live on streaming services (e.g. ITVX, Channel 4, YouTube, Amazon Prime Video, Now, Sky Go)
- use BBC iPlayer
TV Licences are per house, not per person, though.
This means if you live in a house with multiple people, you don’t all need a TV Licence *unless* your rooms are counted as separate addresses. Put simply, one shared address = one licence, so a group of students all living under one roof can split the cost, but if you live in a separate flat with its own front door, even within a single house that’s been split into flats, you need your own TV Licence.
The TV Licensing says: “You can apply for a refund if:
- you won’t need your licence again before it expires, and you have at least one complete month left on it AND
- your licence expired less than two years ago*.
Read More: World News | Entertainment News | Celeb News
YorkshireLive
