"Pay now or pay more"

"Pay now or pay more
As part of BW’s licence evasion crackdown, a date has been set for the introduction of the Late Payment Charge, which was announced earlier in 2008. People whose 12 month boat licence is more than one month out-of-date from 1 April 2009 will have to pay an extra £150 for their renewal."

This is a quote from the British Waterways Boaters Update newletter. That seems good value to me. If I don't pay my licence for six months, say, I could save £350. I get charged £150 and save £200.

Have I missed something? The Best Mate says I will need to pay the license fee back dated to teh renewal date as well. I do hope that is true, because I want to see the license dodgers charged with the fees from the last renewal date for their craft, whether they have "just bought it" or not! They should insist it is licensed at the time of purchase.