The scenario for watching TV is different now as people face cost of living increases and power bill hikes. There are also many on demand services such as Netflix where a licence is not needed
The TV landscape has changed hugely with the advent of watching on demand and streaming TV services.
People have now has shifted away from watching a scheduled programme to choosing when you want to watch something.
The TV Licence, now £169.50 per year, or about £14 a month on Direct Debit. But the scenario is different now as people face cost of living increases and power bill hikes.
This means you should check whether you actually need a TV Licence or not. The Express reports there is common misconception that TV Licences are only needed to watch BBC content.
Some people say ‘oh well I don’t watch anything on the BBC so I don’t need to pay’. This is a myth, and rules on streaming platforms were changed some years ago. But there are lots of ways you can watch TV without a TV Licence.
A TV Licence is a legal requirement if you do any of these:
- Watch or record TV on any channel via any TV service (such as Sky, Virgin, Freeview, Freesat)
- Watch live content on streaming services (e.g. ITVX, Channel 4, YouTube, Amazon Prime Video, Now, Sky Go)
- Use BBC iPlayer at all
TV licences are per house not person. This means if you live in a house with multiple people, you don’t all need a TV Licence *unless* your rooms are counted as separate addresses.
When you decide that you don’t need a TV licence, you have to declare to TV Licensing that you are exempt. But yiu will have to explain which services you watch which will allow entitle you to a waiver.
‘TV Licence detection vans’ are thought to be a myth by many, but the TV Licensing website claims: “We have a fleet of detector vans that can detect the use of TV receiving equipment at specifically targeted addresses within minutes.”
It adds: “We have a database of approximately 31 million licensed and unlicensed addresses. This tells us if your address has a TV Licence.”
“All our visiting officers have access to this database. This means they can check if you have a licence or not.”
“If you tell us that you do not need a TV Licence, our officers may still visit you to confirm this.”
To get rid of your licence, if you definitely won’t watch live TV, go to the TV Licence website where you will need to make a declaration that you either don’t own a TV or don’t use it for any circumstances in which a TV Licence is required.
State pensioners can also apply for a free TV Licence if they are aged over 74 and receive Pension Credit, also reducing your bill to £0.
