Brits born before a certain cut-off could be eligible for a fully subsidised BBC TV Licence fee, if they also meet certain financial criteria, saving them £174.50 ahead of the April price hike
Hundreds of thousands of Brits are eligible for a fully subsidised TV Licence, without even realising it. The annual payment, which is slated to increase from £169.50 to £174.50 in April – is a legal requirement for anyone who watches or records live TV, or watching content on BBC iPlayer.
Dodging the compulsory fee risks hefty fines of up to £1,000 (or £2,000 if you live in Guernsey). Contrary to popular belief, you cannot be sent to jail for TV licence evasion in itself, but you can be imprisoned for non-payment of a fine imposed by the court – so only cancel your TV Licence if you don’t legally need one.
However, state pensioners aged over 74 could be able to avoid the upcoming price hike – by getting a completely free TV Licence. As reported by the Express, this only applies to those born in 1951 or earlier, who also meet certain financial criteria.
You’ll need to be in receipt of Pension Credit, which is only given to those who have less than about £218 per week income (£235 for a couple), to get the hefty fee wiped. “Anyone who hit state pension age before April 2016, will be on the old basic state pension, which only pays £185 per week,” adds the Express. “Therefore, unless you have other income or savings, everyone on the old state pension will [be] eligible to claim Pension Credit.”
As we previously revealed, there are currently a staggering 425,000 people over the age of 75 whose income levels mean they qualify for Pension Credit – who haven’t applied for the benefit. There are also 50,000 people already claiming Pension Credit who aren’t also claiming the subsidised TV Licence.
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If you think you’re eligible for Pension Credit, you need to apply through the DWP. If approved, you’ll then have to apply for a free TV Licence, as the BBC does not automatically swap you onto the subsidised tariff. The Mirror contacted the BBC earlier this month to see if it would employ auto-enrolling for Brits eligible for a free TV Licence.
A spokesperson for TV Licensing did not directly answer the question, but said: “Anyone aged 75 and over who receives Pension Credit can apply for a free TV Licence and we would urge anyone who has not yet applied to do so. In 2023/24 around 775,000 free licences for over 75s were funded by the BBC and more information about the application process can be found on the TV Licensing website or via our customer service team.”
You can find the full list of people exempt from paying for the TV Licence here. If you don’t need to legally pay for the TV Licence, you can cancel or apply for a refund here.
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