Why you could be hit with a £1,000 TV licence fine from this Sunday

The TV licence will no longer be free for over 75s from August 1, 2021. Photo from Shutterstock.The TV licence will no longer be free for over 75s from August 1, 2021. Photo from Shutterstock.
The TV licence will no longer be free for over 75s from August 1, 2021. Photo from Shutterstock.

On 1 August 2020 the BBC announced TV licences would no longer be free for those over 75.

Now, a year later, that rule change is about to come in to force.

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The BBC will start charging everyone for a TV licence from Sunday – and people could be hit with a four figure fine if they don’t have one.

Hundreds of thousands of people aged over 75 could face a £1,000 fine from August 1, if they do not buy a TV licence.

What the BBC said in a statement

In a statement, the BBC said: “As we have now reached a situation where over-75s households are in line with the general population, the extended transition period we put in place due to Covid-19 will end on 31 July 2021.

"In line with general policy, anyone who watches or records live TV programmes on any channel, or downloads or watches BBC programmes on BBC iPlayer, must be covered by a valid TV licence.”

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Today, the TV licence costs £157.50 a year, or £53 for black and white TV sets.

The licence fees existence is guaranteed until at least 31 December 2027 by the BBC's Royal Charter.

However, if people claim Pension Credit they will still be entitled to a free TV licence.

If you are eligible, you need to apply for a free TV licence as it’s not given out automatically. For an application form you can call TV licensing on 0300 790 6117.

A version of this article originally appeared on NationalWorld.com

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