BBC spending £38m chasing over-75s’ fees

The BBC is spending £38million on chasing over-75s for the licence fee, warning that it will “enforce the law” if pensioners refuse to pay but continue to watch television. Letters have begun going out to 4.5million pensioners and the BBC has set up call centres with 800 staff to take payments and deal with queries. But Silver Voices, which lobbies for the rights of the over-60s, is asking people to come up with “creative” ways of complicating the system for the BBC.

THE BBC is spending £38million on chasing over-75s for the licence fee, warning that it will “enforce the law” if pensioners refuse to pay but continue to watch television.

Letters have begun going out to 4.5million pensioners, a task expected to take at least two months.

The BBC has set up new call centres and hired 800 staff to take payments and deal with queries. The implementation cost of the scheme will be £38million, the BBC said, and £13million per year thereafter – a total of £90 million over the next five years.

The 16-page letter gives recipients two months to respond or their licence will be cancelled automatically. It also offers the option of cancelling an existing licence if recipients state that they no longer watch or record live television programmes, or use iplayer.

Asked what would happen if over75s did not pay for a new licence but were later found to be watching television, a BBC spokesman said: “When TV Licensing is informed a property does not need a licence, our records are immediately updated to reflect this, and no further letters are sent for approximately two years.

“TV Licensing (TVL) may visit the address to verify the situation.” The spokesman added: “TVL does its best not to trouble genuine non-viewers. TVL never presumes guilt, but people do say they do not need a licence when they do. TVL has a duty to enforce the law on behalf of those who pay.”

Campaigners are urging pensioners to disrupt the payment system by using cheques rather than direct debit.

Silver Voices, a group that lobbies for the rights of the over-60s, said it had gained 500 new members in the past week after launching its Gum Up The Works campaign. It is asking people to come up with “creative” ways of complicating the system for the BBC.

They include stopping direct debit payments and only settling licence fee matters by cheque or postal order, and sending 12 postdated cheques rather than paying the £157.50 upfront.

Dennis Reed, director of Silver Voices, said: “We have been getting a fantastic response. People have been coming up with interesting new ideas.

“At the moment, paying by monthly cheque is not an acceptable method – you are only allowed to pay by monthly direct debit – so TVL would have to write back and tell you this is not an appropriate way of paying. But we would urge people to appeal and say it is clearly age discrimination not to accept a form of payment that older people may prefer to use.”

The objective is to make implementation of the scheme so laborious that the BBC goes back to the Government and asks for another way through.

Mr Reed said: “Imagine if 100,000 or 200,000 pensioners managed to delay their payment by four or five months – what that would do to the cash flow. The Government has been blaming the BBC and vice versa. There needs to be some discussion about a solution.”