ANNUAL rod licence demand has been high from anglers in recent weeks - but there are some pitfalls you should be aware of.
Angler’s Mail reader Alan Oakley has warned of the dangers of buying your annual rod licence online when he paid an extra £15 as a ‘service charge’.
When he Googled for his £30 two-rod annual rod licence, he was directed away from the official GOV.UK website
This can happen as the rogue websites, that anglers are advised to swerve, use paid for adverts to boost their ranking to the top of search engines.
Birmingham-based Alan said: “I was directed to fishinglicense.com and was charged £45, and didn’t even receive confirmation, no receipt.
“It is upsetting and I would hope nobody else ever uses them so I want people to be aware.”
50% more for annual rod licence
The Environment Agency didn’t get back to Angler’s Mail in five working days for an official response to the fact loyal law-abiding anglers are being conned by an extra 50 per cent of what it should cost.
But the EA have said in the past they can’t shut these rogue website down as they aren’t doing anything illegal, as they are just adding a surcharge on for their ‘service’.
Although Angler’s Mail didn’t get an official response from the EA, one of their fisheries technical specialists Chris Bainger independently reminded anglers to use the official website for buying annual rod licences and short-term options too.
Chris Tweeted: “Don’t pay more for your fishing licence. Ensure you are going through the official secure GOV.UK website: https://get-fishing-licence.service.gov.uk/”
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