A LITTLE-KNOWN TV licence rule means that 475,000 households could save £174.50 a year.
Hundreds of thousands of households are eligible for a free TV licence but aren’t claiming one, according to Policy in Practice.
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The cost of a standard colour TV Licence increased from £169.50 to £174.50 a year last month.
And the price of a black and white licence increased from £57 to £58.50.
However, some people might not need to pay for a TV licence at all, which could mean huge savings.
Anyone who wants to watch live TV including the BBC, ITV and Sky needs to pay for a TV licence otherwise, they will be breaking the law.
But, under current rules, certain groups are exempt.
For example, if you’re claiming pension credit and are over the age of 75, you qualify for a free licence, meaning you could save £174.50 a year.
There are currently 425,000 people aged over 75 who are eligible for pension credit based on their income but have yet to apply for the benefit, according to Policy in Practice.
Plus, 50,000 individuals already receiving pension credit are not taking advantage of the subsidised TV Licence they are entitled to claim.
To apply for a free TV licence, visit tvlicensing.co.uk/cs/pay-for-your-tv-licence.
Alternatively, you can call 0300 790 6071 and apply over the phone.
Do you qualify for pension credit?
Pension credit tops up your weekly income to £227.10 if you are single or to £346.60 if you have a partner.
This is known as “guarantee credit”.
If your income is lower than this, you’re very likely to be eligible for the benefit.
However, if your income is slightly higher, you might still be eligible for pension credit if you have a disability, you care for someone, you have savings or you have housing costs.
You could get an extra £82.90 a week if you have a disability or claim any of the following:
- Attendance allowance
- The middle or highest rate from the care component of disability living allowance (DLA)
- The daily living component of personal independence payment (PIP)
- Armed forces independence payment
- The daily living component of adult disability payment (ADP) at the standard or enhanced rate.
You could get the “savings credit” part of pension credit if both of the following apply:
- You reached State Pension age before April 6, 2016
- You saved some money for retirement, for example, a personal or workplace pension
This part of pension credit is worth £17.30 for single people or £19.36 for couples.
Claims for pension credit also open doors to a number of freebies and discounts.
Claims for the benefit also provide eligibility to £25 a week cold weather payments and the £150 warm home discount.
How do I apply for pension credit?
YOU can start your application up to four months before you reach state pension age.
Applications for pension credit can be made on the government website or by ringing the pension credit claim line on 0800 99 1234.
You can get a friend or family member to ring for you, but you’ll need to be with them when they do.
You’ll need the following information about you and your partner if you have one:
- National Insurance number
- Information about any income, savings and investments you have
- Information about your income, savings and investments on the date you want to backdate your application to (usually three months ago or the date you reached state pension age)
You can also check your eligibility online by visiting www.gov.uk/pension-credit first.
If you claim after you reach pension age, you can backdate your claim for up to three months.
How can I watch TV for free without a licence?
Pluto TV
Pluto TV is another free streaming service with more than 100 channels.
Anyone can access Pluto TV for free on the web or on your iPhone and Android device.
Virgin Media has just made it available via some of its boxes – but bear in mind you’d need to pay a TV licence and take out a contract with Virgin to take advantage of this.
Amazon Freevee
Amazon Prime Video may be the first thing you think of but the retail giant also has a growing free alternative.
Freevee is home to exclusives like Judy Justice.
It’s the new home of Neighbours too, which is set to return later this year.
But there’s some classic on-demand content too.
The L Word, Nashville and Parks and Recreation are among the shows available.
All4
All4 is the main source of on-demand programmes from Channel 4, E4, Film4 and More 4.
The service is free to use and funded by advertisements.
All4 offers a free and extensive library of both classic shows and more recent programmes, including complete box sets of some of our most popular series like Gogglebox.
UKTV Play
If you’re a fan of Dave, Drama, W and Yesterday then the UKTV Play is the place for you.
The latest featured shows include Meet The Richardsons, Annika and Great British Railway Journeys.
You’ll have to sign up to start watching – and there are ads.
ITVX
ITVX launched in November, replacing the old ITV Hub.
ITV now drops many new and exclusive shows online before they’re shown on ITV1.
There’s also a load of other shows, including more niche interest like anime.
Free trials
You should take advantage of free trials to keep more of your hard-earned cash.
Some trials are as short as seven days, while others last an entire month.
For example, Amazon Prime Video offers newbies 30 days streaming for free.
Now TV also offers weekly free trails for Sky Cinema and Entertainment packages.
But any savvy savers must remember to unsubscribe to any subscriptions before the end of the trial period or risk incurring further charges.
Customers can also nab a free trial of streaming services when buying new technology.
Some Apple technology purchases will include a free trial of Apple TV+.
TV LICENCE NEED-TO-KNOWS
IF you want to watch or record live TV, you need a TV licence.
Live TV includes all programmes on any channel, including soaps, series, documentaries and even movies.
The rules apply even if you don’t watch the shows on an actual TV – for example, if you watch programmes that are being broadcast live on a PC, laptop, tablet or phone.
A colour TV licence currently costs £169.50 a year. A licence for watching a black and white TV costs £57.
You can legally use on-demand TV services (apart from BBC iPlayer) as long as you aren’t using them to stream live TV without a TV licence.
This includes streaming catch-up content on ITV Player, All 4, My5, BT Vision/BT TV, Virgin Media, Sky Go, Now TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, Roku and Amazon Fire TV.
You also don’t need a TV licence to watch video clips that aren’t live through services such as YouTube.