A standard colour TV Licence now costs £180 per year, but some households are legally entitled to one for free. The fee increased on April 1, and anyone who needs a licence but does not have one risks enforcement action and a fine of up to £1,000.
Who Can Get a Free TV Licence?
According to TV Licensing, you can apply for a free licence if the person named on the licence is aged 75 or over and either they – or a partner living at the same address – receives Pension Credit. Guidance explains: "If you already receive Pension Credit, you can apply for your free licence when you are 74 years old. We’ll update your payments to cover you until your 75th birthday, and then you'll be covered by your free licence. We’ll confirm this in writing."
People who are blind (severely sight impaired) can apply for a 50% concession. Once that application is accepted, they can then apply for a free TV Licence.
How to Apply
To apply over the phone, call 0300 790 6117, Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 6.30pm. Calls to 0300 numbers cost no more than a national rate call to an 01 or 02 number, and may be included free in inclusive minutes.
How TV Licensing Detects Unlicensed Viewing
TV Licensing uses a national database of approximately 31 million licensed and unlicensed addresses, visiting officers who can check if an address has a licence, and a fleet of detector vans that can detect TV receiving equipment at targeted addresses within minutes.
Penalties for Not Having a Licence
Watching, recording or downloading TV programmes without a valid TV Licence can lead to prosecution. If convicted, you could be fined up to £1,000, plus any legal costs and compensation ordered by the court. In Guernsey, the maximum fine is £2,000.
