This nifty little trick might save you £196 from your TV licence fee – but be quick because bills are expected to rise from April 1. As the new financial year nears, so does the dawning reality that your bills are going to cost that little bit extra to cover.
From April 1, a standard colour TV Licence will rise from £169.50 to £174.50 a year. A black and white licence will go up from £57 to £58.50. But some lucky Brits might not need to pay a licence fee at all.
TV and broadband expert Sabrina Hoque from Uswitch said checking if you’re exempt was a “no-brainer”. The money-saving pro said: “If you are only using your TV for viewing on-demand content, such as streaming via Netflix, Apple TV or Amazon Prime, then you don’t need to pay for a TV licence.
“You also don’t need to pay for a TV licence if you are over 75 and receiving Pension Credit.” So, if you’re aged 75 and over and receive Pension Credit – or you’re simply unsure if you’re eligible – search the TV Licensing website or phone 0300 790 6117 to find out and register for your exemption.
If you don’t qualify for a pension credit then your next best step is to find bundled broadband and TV subscriptions. Sabrina said many broadband providers offer bundles where customers can choose to combine their internet and TV subsciption all under one bill, at a special rate.
She said: “For example, Sky offers a broadband and TV bundle for £35 per month combined, whereas buying these two subscriptions separately would cost £40 per month, saving up to up to £120 across a 24-month contract. The savings available from ‘bundling’ can vary based on the service and length of contract, but if you’re out of contract for TV or broadband, bundling these two services together is a simple way to get a better deal on both.”
Sabrina said for those who are still required to pay for a TV licence, the next best way to save without losing access to your favourite shows is by checking what perks are offered by your provider. Uswitch also recommends looking at in-contact perks from your mobile or broadband provider.
Sabrina said: “An under-utilised way to reduce the cost of accessing streaming services is via in-contract perks from your mobile or broadband provider. Uswitch’s recent analysis of perks from the UK’s top providers showed that some providers offer free or heavily discounted access to streaming services including Amazon Prime or Netflix.”
You can also legally use on demand TV, movies, recorded films and programmes, as well as YouTube, so long as you aren’t using them to watch or stream live TV. Catch-up TV or on demand TV are available 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 can’t watch or download programmes on BBC iPlayer without a TV licence. You can watch on demand movies from providers such as Sky, Virgin Media, BT Vision, Netflix and Amazon Instant Video.
Of course, you can always rent or download a DVD or Blu-ray from the internet. There is also YouTube. Video clips on this platform aren’t live, so watching them without a TV licence is not a problem.
