Viewers paying TV licences for homes they no longer live in

PEOPLE may be paying their TV licence for homes they no longer live in.

TV Licensing is urging direct debit customers in Huddersfield to check their details online as recent data shows that customers’ licences could be registered at the wrong address.

When the cost of the licence fee was fixed at £145.50 in 2011, TV Licensing wrote to 59,438 direct debit customers in Huddersfield letting them know their licence would be automatically renewed and they would not receive any contact from TV Licensing as long as they kept up their payments.

Due to April’s licence fee increase, around 12 million households are being sent new payment plans for the first time in five years when their licences are due for renewal. So far, over 8 million addresses have been mailed.

TV Licensing is encouraging anyone who has moved house to check they have updated their details as otherwise, their licence could be registered at the wrong address.

In the 12-month period between July 2015 and June 2016, an estimated 2.85 million people moved between local authorities.

If you watch or record live TV, either through your TV or live online through a website, then you need to be covered by a TV Licence. You also need a licence to watch BBC programmes on iPlayer, on any device. Updating can be done online at www.tvlicensing.co.uk/info or by calling 0300 790 6112.