Everyone who can get full £174 refund on TV Licence

It's a bill most of us pay without thinking and a lot of people will enjoy the value for money they get from a TV Licence. After all, it's cheaper than Sky or Netflix, and there are tons of quality shows on BBC, ITV and Channel 4.

But with the rise of streaming services and the ability to watch ITV and Channel 4 on catch up, many people are realising they don't actually legally need to pay for a TV Licence for how they use TV these days.

From April 2024 the TV licence, which is used to fund BBC TV services as well as some other public service functions like Welsh channel S4C, is set at £174.50 per year, or about £14 a month on Direct Debit.

But people have been cost cutting after another cost of living crisis hit us with high inflation, mortgage increases and ever spiralling bills - so it makes sense to check whether you really do need a TV licence or not.

If you watch Match of The Day or Strictly Come Dancing then you're out of luck - but there are many other scenarios where you can legally do away with it - and it's not just applicable to students.

To get a refund on your TV licence, you can go to the TV Licensing website and apply for a refund. This is if you've already paid for the year, or have some of the year ahead left, but you no longer need a TV licence. And the way the direct debit works means you will always be paid up roughly six months in advance, so you should be able to get at least six months back.

TV Licensing says: "You can apply for a refund if you won't need your licence again before it expires, and you have at least one complete month left on it. If you're eligible for an over 75 or blind concession, you can apply for a refund at any time and for any length of time left on your licence.

"Working out precise refund amounts can be complicated. But we will do it for you. We'll look carefully at the information you give us and let you know if we can offer you a refund, and how much it will be."

Who is eligible for a TV Licence refund?

A common misconception is that TV licences are only needed to watch BBC content. Many will comment saying things like 'oh well I don't watch anything on the BBC so I don't need to pay'. This is a myth, and rules on streaming platforms were changed some years ago. But there are lots of ways you can watch TV without a TV licence.

A TV licence is a legal requirement if you do any of these:

• watch TV as it's broadcast ('live TV', not just live events like sports matches) 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 per house, not per person, though.

This means if you live in a house with multiple people, you don't all need a TV licence *unless* your rooms are counted as separate addresses. Put simply, one shared address = one licence, so a group of students all living under one roof can split the cost, but if you live in a separate flat with its own front door, even within a single house that's been split into flats, you need your own licence.

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 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.

TV Licensing can prosecute you if you decide to refund your licence but you actually do still access BBC services or live TV though.

It says: "We have a database of approximately 31 million licensed and unlicensed addresses. This tells us if your address has a TV licence. 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."

So it's best to contact the TV Licensing before they come knock on your door.