How to legally cancel your TV Licence and reduce the £169.50 annual fee to zero
The TV Licence has been a staple for UK households for 100 years but with soaring living costs, it remains a bill that can be wiped off if you don't watch live TV
by Alex Evans · ChronicleLiveThe TV landscape in the UK, a staple for nearly a century, has undergone significant changes with the rise of on-demand and streaming services. Platforms such as Netflix, ITVX, YouTube, Disney Plus, and Amazon Prime Video have shifted the TV content landscape from scheduled programming to on-demand viewing.
From April 2024, the TV Licence fee, which funds BBC TV services and other public service functions like Welsh channel S4C, is set at £169.50 per year, or roughly £14 a month via Direct Debit. However, with the Cost of Living crisis causing high inflation, mortgage increases, and spiralling bills, many are looking to cut costs, leading to questions about the necessity of a TV Licence.
If you're a fan of Match of The Day or Strictly Come Dancing, you'll need one, but there are numerous scenarios where it's legal to forego it - and not just for students. What can I legally watch without a TV Licence?
There's a common misconception that TV Licences are only required for BBC content, with many claiming they don't need to pay because they don't watch anything on the BBC.
This is a myth, as rules on streaming platforms were updated years ago. However, there are still plenty of ways to watch TV without a TV Licence, reports the Express.
Get all the latest TV and showbiz news and gossip from Chronicle Live with our free newsletter
A TV Licence is legally required if you do any of the following:
- watch or record TV on any channel via any TV service (such as Sky, Virgin, Freeview, Freesat)
- watch live content on streaming services (e.g. ITVX, Channel 4, YouTube, Amazon Prime Video, Now, Sky Go)
- use BBC iPlayer at all
TV Licences are dictated by the property rather than individuals, meaning that in a house with multiple occupants, only one TV Licence is required unless each room is classified as a separate address. This creates a beneficial situation where one shared residence equals a singular licence cost - ideal for students cohabitating, for example.
Meanwhile, individual flats within a converted house must have separate licences if they boast independent entrances.
As to whether or not you need a TV Licence, it's not as straightforward as deciding against purchasing one. To be exempt, you must formally inform TV Licensing of your decision, ensuring you’re compliant if you opt to solely engage with streaming services like Netflix, non-live YouTube content, or just gaming on your PS5 without watching live television.
What you don't need a TV Licence for:
- Watching DVDs or Blurays (yes, they still exist and according to recent reports, sales are up as people ditch expensive streamers to go back to building their own collections)
- Watching Netflix, Disney Plus, Amazon Prime Video or Apple TV as long as it's NOT live content. E.g. you can watch Drive To Survive, Stranger Things, Ted Lasso or Clarkson's Farm without a TV Licence, totally legally. But if you stray over to watching a live Premier League game on that same Amazon Prime sub, you'll need a Licence.
- As the TV Licensing says: "You need to be covered by a TV Licence to watch programmes live on any online TV service - such as ITVX, Channel 4, Amazon Prime Video, Now or Sky Go. You don’t need a TV Licence if you only ever watch on-demand programmes on any TV service apart from BBC iPlayer."
- LIVE is not just live as in a live match, but if you watch Coronation Street as it's being broadcast 'live', you need a TV Licence. However, if you watch an ITV or Channel 4 show on catch-up later, you don't need a licence for that..
Regarding the mythic 'TV Licence detection vans,' despite scepticism about their existence, the TV Licensing authority asserts: "We have a fleet of detector vans that can detect the use of TV receiving equipment at specifically targeted addresses within minutes."
Further underpinning their surveillance capability: "We have a database of approximately 31 million licensed and unlicensed addresses. This tells us if your address has a TV Licence."
And, "All our visiting officers have access to this database. This means they can check if you have a licence or not."
"If you tell us that you do not need a TV Licence, our officers may still visit you to confirm this."
It's advisable to get in touch with TV Licensing before they come knocking. To cancel your TV Licence, if you're certain you won't watch live TV, head over to the TV Licence website and make a declaration that you either don't own a TV or don't use it under any circumstances where a TV Licence is needed.
Pensioners can also apply for a free TV Licence if they are aged 74 or above and receive Pension Credit, effectively reducing your bill to £0.
Join our WhatsApp communities
ChronicleLive is now on WhatsApp and we want you to join our communities.
We have a number of communities to join, so you can choose which one you want to be part of and we'll send you the latest news direct to your phone. You could even join them all!
To join you need to have WhatsApp on your device. All you need to do is choose which community you want to join, click on the link and press 'join community'.
No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the ChronicleLive team.
We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners.
If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'.
If you’re curious, you can read our privacy notice.
Join the ChronicleLive Breaking News and Top Stories community
Join our Court & Crime community
Join the Things to do in Newcastle and the North East community
Join our Northumberland community
Join our County Durham community
Join our Great North Run community