How to legally save on your TV licence

There are ways to legally reduce the cost of the licence fee (Picture: Getty Images)

Households across the country will be trying to make savings where they can as the impact of the cost of living crisis continues to bite.

As we tighten our belts and cut down on non-essentials like meals out, it can be tempting to look for ways out of paying the BBC licence fee.

The TV licence is legally required if you watch live television – on any channel – or use the BBC iPlayer.

You’ll also need it if you record live television at the time it’s broadcast, for example using Sky Q, Virgin TV 360, or an old-fashioned video recorder.

Watching live sports or paying extra for live add-ons to services, such as Amazon Prime’s Video Content, will also require a licence.

You don’t need a licence to use any of the other catch-up services, such as ITVX, Channel 4 or My5, or to use streaming sites.

You only need a TV licence if you watch live television or BBC iPlayer (Picture: Alamy/PA)

In April the cost rose to £169.50 per year, equivalent to about £14 per month.

But as online streaming giants like Netflix and Disney+ offer more and more programmes and films every year, more and more people are moving away from scheduled television and instead watching what they want, when they want.

There are a number of ways you can legally forego paying the TV licence, saving yourself money as well as a potential knock on the door from enforcement officers.

You can tell TV Licensing that you’re exempt if you only use streaming sites, watch YouTube videos, and don’t watch any live television or use BBC iPlayer.

To cancel your TV licence, simply go to their website where you’ll declare that either you don’t own a television, or you don’t use it under circumstances which require a licence.

State pensioners can also receive a TV licence for free, if they’re aged over 74 and receive pension credit.

You can also reduce your TV licence bill if you live in a residential care home, supported housing or sheltered accommodation.

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If you are retired and aged over 60, or you’re disabled, you will be able to get a licence for just £7.50.

People who are blind or severely sight impaired can also apply for 50% off their TV licence bill, as long as they can provide medical evidence.

There are also loopholes written into TV Licensing’s guidance for students, which allow students to avoid paying for their own licence as long as the following three conditions are met:

Your ‘out-of-term address’ (for example, your parents’ or guardians’ address) is covered by a TV licence
You only use TV-receiving equipment (like a smartphone, tablet or laptop) that is powered solely by its own internal batteries
You’re not watching TV on that device while it’s connected it to an aerial or plugged into the mains

This means students whose parents or guardians have a TV licence are fine to use BBC iPlayer and/or watch live television on a smartphone, tablet or laptop that’s not charging at the time, without having to pay for their own licence – as long as your parents’ address is where you live outside of term time.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

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