TV Licensing has confirmed exactly which UK households can get a free or discounted TV Licence, and which groups do not qualify for any reduction. A standard colour TV Licence currently costs £180, while households that only watch on a black-and-white TV pay £60.50.
Who can get a free or reduced-fee licence
To be eligible for a free licence, the named licence holder must be aged 75 or over, and either they or a partner living at the same address must receive Pension Credit. Applications can be made from age 74, with payments corrected automatically.
If you cannot get a free licence, you may be able to get a reduced-fee licence. This includes the following groups:
- If you are blind (severely sight-impaired) and can provide the appropriate evidence, you are eligible to apply for a 50% concession, bringing the cost to £90.
- If you live in a care home or sheltered accommodation, you may be able to pay a reduced fee of £7.50.
Who must pay the full cost
TV Licensing says that if you do not meet any of the eligibility criteria, you will need to pay. It confirms: "If none of the above apply to you, you will need to buy a TV Licence." It also confirms there is no discount specifically for students or for people who live alone.
Fines and when a licence is not needed
TV Licensing says you can be prosecuted for watching, recording or downloading TV programmes without a valid TV Licence. If you are convicted, you could face a fine of up to £1,000, plus any court-ordered legal costs and compensation. In Guernsey, the maximum fine is higher, going up to £2,000.
You do not need a TV Licence if you never watch live on any channel, pay TV service or streaming service, or use BBC iPlayer. This applies to watching on any device.
If you only do the following, you do not need a licence:
- Stream, rent or buy movies from providers like Sky, Virgin Media, EE TV, Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney Plus or Now.
- Watch DVDs or Blu-rays.
- Watch S4C programmes on demand.
- Play video clips through services like YouTube or play video games.
- Watch on demand or catch up programmes on services other than BBC iPlayer.
