My TV licence once ran out. I was out of work and did not have a working TV or cash to buy one. So I just did not renew the licence.
3 months later I got a job and a 2nd hand TV so I bought a new licence.
A few weeks later I got a letter saying. '' The licence you bought has been cancelled,your replacement licence is enclosed'' . The replacement licence was dated the day the original one had run out, 3 months before the new one I bought. I told them that I did not have a TV for the 3 months but it did no good. They would not accept that I did not need a licence for 3 months.