TV Licensing
- / Helping customers with the TV Licence fee
Helping customers with the TV Licence fee
We’re doing all we can to help people, particularly those in need of extra support and who are struggling financially. That’s why we offer payment plans to help spread the cost, including our Simple Payment Plan.
Customers who qualify are able to choose from either a monthly or fortnightly payment plan that spreads the cost of a licence over 12 months, which is different to current payment plans.
The Simple Payment Plan also offers flexibility if a payment is missed, as it can be spread across the remainder of the plan instead of having to pay double the amount next time. If payments are missed three months in a row, customers are removed from the Simple Payment Plan.
Here’s all you need to know about our most affordable plan. And how it can help your clients.
An introduction to our Simple Payment Plan (SPP)
Who can sign up to the plan?
The plan is only available to specific clients. We can accept referrals from:
- Not-for-profit organisations like charities or local authority money advice groups, but not from commercial organisations.
- People who’ve had a TV Licence cancelled within the last six months because of missed payments.
- People who have held a Simple Payment Plan licence within the previous 12 months.
- People who have been visited by a TV Licensing Visiting Officer to check if they have a TV Licence.
Clients in the last two groups will receive a communication from TV Licensing inviting them to join, or a Visiting Officer will invite them.
Your client can choose a monthly or fortnightly payment plan. If they stick to the plan, it works out around £3 a week.
There are two ways to pay:
Automatic payments
Your client can pay monthly by Direct Debit. Or set up a Continuous Payment Authority (CPA) and pay monthly or fortnightly on their debit or credit card.
Manual payments
Your client can also pay at any PayPoint store, online, over the phone, using the TV Licensing Pay app, or via a Paythru link sent via SMS.
Our advisors guide explains who is eligible for the plan, how it works and how your clients can be referred.
Simple Payment Plan - Advice for advisers - English (PDF 180 Kb opens in a new window)
Simple Payment Plan - Advice for advisers - Welsh (PDF 123 Kb opens in a new window)
How to sign a client up to the plan
If you have a client who would benefit from the plan, please ask them to call us on 0300 555 0510 quoting DCHAR2 or visit tvl.co.uk/sppme to sign up (using code DCHAR2).
If your customer is invited to join the Simple Payment Plan by TV Licensing, they’ll be given a code and need to go online to fill in some details about themselves and how they want to pay.
Our Simple Payment Plan call centre is open Monday to Friday from 8:30am – 6:30pm, and on Saturdays from 8:30am – 1:00pm. Lines are closed on Sundays and public holidays.