Cheques have been declining as a method of tender for years now but there is still a sizeable minority who are using them to pay for their TV licence, according to new data from the BBC.
There are roughly 350,000 people from across the country who paid the £145.50 needed for their access to British television using cheques last year, making up around one percent of the 25m plus licences in circulation.
In terms of raw numbers London, Birmingham and Bristol have the highest number using cheques, although that is unsurprising as they are also among the country’s biggest cities.
We do not have the figures for what proportion cheques make up of overall licences in each of these towns but an alternative measure is to look at how the use of cheques compares to the number getting e-licences - a paperless way of paying online, which 5.6m used last year.
An example of the variance here is that while Norfolk has the fourteenth most e-licences, it comes seventh for people paying by cheque.
When you adjust the figures and look at how many people pay by cheque for every person who has an e-licence then a clear pattern emerges as the top ten list below shows.
Locations in Northern Ireland dominate the list with the highest proportion paying by cheque relative to the number getting theirs online (we’ve excluded places where there are fewer than 1,000 e-licences to make sure there is a robust sample size).
They do seem to have an old-school way of doing television in Northern Ireland - if you do a population adjustment on the number of people with black and white licences they also come out on top.
The statistics also reveal that about £300 a month is received from customers using TV Licensing stamps, which have not been available to buy since 2008.
Maurice Flack, a Fellow of the Royal Philatelic Society, said: “TV Licensing stamps were once a popular way of paying for a TV licence in a time before widespread use of direct debits and credit cards.
“I remember buying the stamps with my father who would let me stick them in a special card which he then posted to TV Licensing in return for the next year’s licence. However, I’m surprised to learn stamps are still being returned to TV Licensing six years since they ceased to be available.”
Cheques are a relatively cumbersome payment method and the authorities would obviously rather people used the cheaper online route.
Stephen Farmer, spokesperson for TV Licensing, said: “We would encourage our existing customers, as well as those buying their first TV licence, to manage their licensing account and payments online. If you’re renewing your licence, it’s worth checking that you’re using the payment method that’s best for you.
