TV license fine rises to £4,000 read here http://recombu.com/digital/news/tv-license-fine-rises-to-4000_M13268.html The penalty for not buying a TV license is set to sharply rise, after ministers announced a quadrupling of the maximum possible fine from £1,000 to £4,000. Previously, those who failed to pay for a TV license faced a £1,000 fine and a criminal record. In 2012, almost 180,000 TV license-related criminal cases were brought before the courts, with 70 given a custodial sentence. The reforms of the financial penalties surrounding TV licensing are intended to persuade the courts to issue more fines, and to move away from custodial and community punishments. This announcement comes in the wake of ministers announcing their intent to decriminalize non-payment of a TV License from 2015 onwards. Other financial penalties being increased in the same proposals include those for motoring offenses. Speeding on a motorway will soon attract a maximum fine of £10,000, whilst breaking the speed limit on dual carriageways will attract a fine of £4,000 A TV license is mandatory for anyone who watches live television in the UK, regardless of the device used. It costs up to £145.50 per year, with discounts available for those with black and white televisions. Revenue earned from the license fee is used to pay for the BBC. A TV Licensing spokesperson said: “Increasing maximum fines is a Government decision and not something we have requested. The average fine for TV License evasion is £169. Fines are guided by the Magistrates’ Courts Sentencing Guidelines which, we understand from the Sentencing Council, are not set to change.”

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Lloyds has been fined £4.3m for not paying the victims of the payment protection insurance (PPI) mis-selling scandal promptly. The Financial Services Authority (FSA) said Lloyds had broken the rules agreed on the refunds. These state that PPI refunds must be paid within 28 days of victims receiving a letter agreeing to a refund. However, of the half a million victims Lloyds had promised to pay, a quarter did not receive payment in that time, while nearly 9,000 did not get paid at at all until payments were chased by customers and the media. Tracey McDermott, the FSA's director of enforcement and financial crime, said: "The industry let customers down badly in relation to the sale of PPI. The significant volume of complaints is a product of [Lloyds'] own failings and the least customers can now expect is that redress, when it is due, will be paid promptly." More : http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/insurance/incomeprotection/9879620/Lloyds-fined-4.3m-over-PPI-delays.html

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