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UK households looking to save money this Christmas can get up to £174.50 back in their pocket by cancelling their TV Licence.
Currently, a TV Licence costs £174.50 per year (or £58.50 if you have a black and white TV set), following a £5 price hike in April this year. Households require a TV Licence to watch or record programmes on a TV, computer, or other device on any channel or service as they are broadcast – and this includes on-demand BBC programmes on BBC iPlayer. The UK Government has confirmed that the TV Licence fee will increase in line with inflation for the remaining years of the Charter period, which runs until the end of 2027, meaning households face at least two more years of price hikes in April.
But with the festive period stretching household budgets, it’s worth considering if you actually need your TV Licence, and if you don’t, then you could cancel and get up to £174.50 back.
According to TV Licensing, you should cancel your TV Licence if you no longer watch live on any channel, TV service or streaming service, or use BBC iPlayer.
So if you fall into this category, you can cancel your licence and may be eligible for a refund if, before your licence expires, you won’t be doing any of the following:
- watching TV on any channel, like BBC, ITV, Channel 4, U&Dave and international channels
- watching TV on pay TV services, like Sky, Virgin Media and EE TV
- watching live TV on streaming services, like YouTube, Netflix, and Amazon Prime Video.
- using BBC iPlayer
This includes recording and downloading programmes on any device.
TV Licensing explains: “You can apply for a refund if you won’t need your licence again before it expires, and you have at least one complete month left on it.
“If you’re eligible for a blind concession, you can apply for a refund at any time and for any length of time left on your licence. You can apply for a refund up to 14 days before the date you no longer need the TV Licence.”
Refunds are typically processed and issued within 21 days of submitting your application and any money that you are owed will be paid back either by cheque or directly into your bank account.
TV Licensing adds: “Working out precise refund amounts can be complicated. But we will do it for you. We’ll look carefully at the information you give us and let you know if we can offer you a refund, and how much it will be.”
If you still need your TV Licence then there are other ways to reduce the cost, or get it completely free in some cases.
If you’re aged 75 and over and you, or your partner living at the same address, receive Pension Credit then you can apply for a free TV Licence, saving you £174.50 per year.
People living in a residential care home, supported housing or sheltered accommodation, may be entitled to a reduced fee TV Licence, and if you’re blind (severely sight impaired) and can provide the appropriate evidence, you can apply for a 50% discount on your TV Licence. But if neither of these apply then you’ll have to pay for a TV Licence at the full rate.
If you don’t meet the eligibility criteria for Pension Credit, or qualify for a reduced fee TV Licence, then there are still a few options to save on costs.
TV Licences are per household, not per person, so if you live in a house with several people you don’t all need to have one and could all chip in to share the cost of one licence. Instead, you can share a TV Licence among the whole household if you watch TV in a single shared area, or have a joint tenancy agreement. But if you have separate tenancy agreements and watch TV in your own room then you will need to pay for your own.
You also don’t need a TV Licence to watch streaming services, such as Netflix and Disney Plus, on-demand TV through services like All 4 and Amazon Prime Video, videos on websites such as YouTube, or DVDs and Blurays.
So if you’re happy to just stick to watching any of these, and not watch or record any live TV, BBC iPlayer, or live sports such as boxing through streaming platforms, you can save yourself £174.50. But if you do watch or record live TV without a TV Licence, then you can be issued a fine of up to £1,000.
