Tv License Starting to Contact 75 and over People about Paying Tv Licenses .
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Ive received an email from Age concern about 75 year olds who now have to pay for the tv license unless in receipt of certain benefits .They have said if someone is contacted outside the ways described then the people contacting them are likely to be scammers.
Here's the email ,
This week TV Licensing have started sending letters to anyone aged over 75 asking them to either pay for their TV licence or apply for a free one. I want to make sure you know what to expect when you get your letter, so that if you’re contacted by scammers before then you’ll be able to spot them.
TV Licensing will only ask you to pay using the following options:
By post using the address: TV Licensing,
PO Box 578, Darlington DL98 1AN
Online at tvl.co.uk/75pay or tvl.co.uk/75apply
Over the phone on 0300 790 6151
If you are contacted and asked to pay for your TV licence using a different phone number, a different website or by posting your details to a different address you have been contacted by a scammer.
TV Licensing have also been clear that they will not come to your doorstep to collect the licence fee if you are over 75, so anyone who claims to do so is also a scammer.
I've seen my mother's form to claim a free tv license and it looks very easy with just a signature required and a scan of her pension credit letter needing to be attached. She has the 2nd type of pension credit not the more generous type but I think that is still enough for a free tv license. I don't have a tv license myself so on the rare occasions I need to watch anything on the BBC I pop over to her house to watch it. Last time that happened was when the BBC made 'War of the Worlds' but the series was amateur at best and clearly made by someone who had no interest in science fiction. Not a fan of the BBC to say the least.
Thanks for the warning. Sadly only a handful of people will read this and maybe one or two will pass on to any over 75s they know.
The way chat is set up topics disappear almost before they have seen the light of day (everyone scrabbling to post 2 a day on any old thing) and rarely stay on page 1 for a whole day. Some really interesting chats are ignored as people judge by the title and move on if it doesn't appeal.
They also post comments without reading the others and often repeat something already said.
I think it’s ridiculous that they are charging for TV licences at all nowadays.. I really begrudge paying it to watch the odd programme on live TV when we spend most our time watching netflix..
sarahgreen15 I think that it's an outrage too seeing the pile of nonsense that the BBC put out. I would agree to not watching any output by the BBC if I didn't have to pay the fee.
But I do agree that over 75s should pay for it (except the poorest who are on pension credits). They get enough benefits as it is, and if they can afford it, why wouldn't they be expected to pay?
And don't give me this 'I've paid taxes all my life' rubbish, because I'm just not having it.
TheChimp I agree, there are plenty of super rich pensioners with better incomes than struggling families. They shouldn't receive bus passes, heating allowance etc either.
However, my pension is £550 and I can only manage because I stuck with a hated job for 26 years and received a pension from that so can manage, just. I still have a mortgage but once that is paid I won't have to struggle.
TheChimp it depends. If the pension is substantially lower than minimum wage then no. Also I think that for one thing loads of these old people may not have someone to take care of these things for them, live alone or any other factor that stops them from having a normal adult life.
Also I like to think that the problem is not the people who watch tv and not pay for it, but more the actual problem of having to pay a license to watch tv.
EDIT: the letters are the worst, passive-aggressive, threatening. Some people really fall for that.
Well don't pay it then, you must have better uses for close to £150 or whatever it is now. For me it is so rare that I actually want to watch a program on BBC that I'm happy just to visit my mother who is only 4 minutes away walking if I need to, I visit her regularly anyway and spend more time there watching itv programs. Don't forget you can watch itv, ch4, ch5 programs on catchup services without a tv license. I really don't miss the BBC at all and can still listen to BBC radio stations and access their website freely. Not that I listen to the radio stations but do have an occasional look at BBC news and also mainly use the BBC weather service online.
Lynibis we have fiends who have such large pensions they are in the higher rate tax brackets earning more than my husbands full time job. We do tease them about the extra winter fuel payments etc but they are lovely and appreciate their good fortune. Others, however are tight fisted and do not help their children. I find it hard to socialise with them now.
People should cancel their license, the things the money is spent on is ridiculous and it is disgusting that they will be charging pensioners as well now, to pay for their staff transport etc.
It's disgusting that they are charging anyone, I don't see why anyone who doesn't want to watch BBC programmes has to pay to watch programmes that have nothing to do with the BBC. It might be better if they made BBC "subscription" then those who don't want to watch don't have to subsidize those who do.
The over 75 free licence was a farce anyway, it might have been better if all in the household had to be over 75 to qualify.
davidstockport Oh yes, a subscription IF you want to watch BBC.
I don't and really begrudge the fee.
Why should we, in the UK, all pay for the whole world to have access to BBC services - let the rest of the world pay it for a change. But they won't do that because we are easy fodder and are forced to comply by the Government, therefore, you should all consider it an additional tax!
tumblespots I believe world services (mainly radio) are paid for by the government from taxes (not from the licence fee) and the programmes that aren't have to be bought by the countries showing them, it is a major source of revenue for the BBC. Many programmes earn more than the production cost on foreign sales.
davidstockport It's surprising then that they still have so many repeats to show over here 
Filled me parents form for them in June was returned with new licence for free easy to do
It's not right. I don't agree. My late grandma (passed away in May) was not going to have to pay due to being on pension credits. I don't think anyone should have to pay for the BBC. I only like Gardener's world. I'm not interested in anything that boardcaster has to offer.
TheChimp Thank you. Lucky for Grandma from time of diagnosis to her death was about 3 weeks and she didn't go into hospital, refused hospice care, refused meds and was on her feet until 3 days before her death packing up her things. She handled it amazingly. she was 86. I got to see her one last time one day before my birthday. We broke quarantine rules but sod it, she was dying and I was going to see her one last time. she came to the new house and I showed her the garden, which she loved.
ShellyAnn That's quite a touching story. She sounded like a strong soul. Not being religious I can't see anything positive about death. I used to work for age concern and saw many wonderful people disappear from this world. One day you were listening to some fantastic story of the past full of interesting characters and the next day that person was gone. Ok perhaps not next day but you get the idea it didn't seem long between the two events.
BonzoBanana She was a tough cookie. Hard upbringing, terrible ex husband. she went through a lot. She was not religious. No funeral, no vicar she said, just put me in the ground. she had bought her burial plot years before and had the money ready for her burial. She just accepted death with a fair enough when it is your time to go, its your time.
to be honest i stops sky etc got a fire stick tv and watch netflix prime etc, and ive saved so much money! i dont even have to pay for a licence now! i think if more people done it the money grabbing would stop on the governments behalf
It's digusting, I read that it take's 12000 pensioners tv licence payment to pay for Gary Linikers fee. No body but no body is worth that much. If the BBC were a manufactoring company it would not be so top heavy and squander money. I might not mind so much if the programs put out were worth watching but we seem to get repeat shows mostly. Come on you over paid whiz kids, show some common sense.
TV Licensing made a mistake. The application form for over 75's they sent was wrong. It told me I was visually impaired and therefore have to pay a reduced fee.. I AM NOT AND HAVE NEVER CLAIMED TO BE VISUALLY IMPAIRED so am not entitiled to the reduced rate. Despite writing and spending hours on the 'phone (auto and person) trying to get them to sort out this mistake they just don't seem to care. Their contact system is a nightmare. At 76 years old why should I get totally stressed out trying to give them the money I owe them. However, if I pay the fee they have asked for would I be prosecuted.
They just 'bogged me down' with security questions and the auto machine could not understand my accent. When I finally got through to a person they wouldn't listen to the problem they caused anyway just wanted security, security, security. I am totally stressed out because of their error - yet another example of how they would prefer to kill some of us old ones off.
My mother's application was returned as incorrect although seemed to fit all their criteria of proof but have since done an improved letter and returned it and I'll have to ask her if there is any response to that as she probably wouldn't tell me if it just went through without problems. Alternatively they haven't processed that letter or have mislaid it due to a huge backlog to process. I don't think she would pay for the license anyway, I don't think she watches the BBC that much and could probably work around not using live tv channels. She is quite savvy using computers although I have to fix any technical problems.
This situation has become a farce now. People use televisions for gaming, computers, streaming services and many different advertising funded channels the idea that somehow the BBC is the main purpose of a tv is completely out of date. The situation for older people is a lot more rely on the BBC for entertainment so you have the situation where perhaps the majority of elderly people don't need to pay for the TV license but watch the BBC and younger people don't really need the BBC anyway as a service have to pay for it if they want to view free tv channels. This brings me back to the terms freeview and freesat neither of which are free as you have to have a tv license to use them. Extortionview and Extortionsat would be better terms.
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