BBC licence fee

Khouri1954

My mom is 87 and has just been informed that she will have to prove that she is in receipt of pension credit, that's not an issue as she has my sister and myself to administer her affairs, however I'm concerned about people who don't have someone to sort things out such as this, I don't feel it's right that older people should be put to the unnecessary aggravation involved to prove their entitlement to a free license, surely this is down to the BBC licence fee collection agency, or do they just send them to everyone and hope a percentage won't bother claiming what's rightfully theirs.

JJ_Egan

See multiple Licence threads .

Its a been the fact that the over 75 licence is posted to those of age .

Cannot expect the BBC to know who is eligible for xyz befit and who is not .

Khouri1954

JJ_Egan said:

See multiple Licence threads .

Its a been the fact that the over 75 licence is posted to those of age .

Cannot expect the BBC to know who is eligible for xyz befit and who is not .

Perhaps the collection agency ie "not" the BBC should find out.

unforeseen

Khouri1954 said:

JJ_Egan said:

See multiple Licence threads .

Its a been the fact that the over 75 licence is posted to those of age .

Cannot expect the BBC to know who is eligible for xyz befit and who is not .

Perhaps the collection agency ie "not" the BBC should find out.

I would think the collection agency and even the BBC would not be allowed to access this information at all under GDPR. They have no valid, legal reason to be party to this information. 

JJ_Egan

Likewise all the other services / entitlements  you get with Pension Credit .

Optician going to have full access to your information likewise Dentists .

OP soon be complain if a couple of hundreds  had access to his mothers data .

brewerdave

unforeseen said:

Khouri1954 said:

JJ_Egan said:

See multiple Licence threads .

Its a been the fact that the over 75 licence is posted to those of age .

Cannot expect the BBC to know who is eligible for xyz befit and who is not .

Perhaps the collection agency ie "not" the BBC should find out.

I would think the collection agency and even the BBC would not be allowed to access this information at all under GDPR. They have no valid, legal reason to be party to this information. 

On that basis ,I suppose a pensioner could claim that they are in receipt in order to claim "free" license ?

pphillips

brewerdave said:

unforeseen said:

Khouri1954 said:

JJ_Egan said:

See multiple Licence threads .

Its a been the fact that the over 75 licence is posted to those of age .

Cannot expect the BBC to know who is eligible for xyz befit and who is not .

Perhaps the collection agency ie "not" the BBC should find out.

I would think the collection agency and even the BBC would not be allowed to access this information at all under GDPR. They have no valid, legal reason to be party to this information. 

On that basis ,I suppose a pensioner could claim that they are in receipt in order to claim "free" license ?

It just means that TV Licensing can't do a benefit check through DWP because they are not a government department. Therefore, they need to see evidence that pension credit has been awarded.

jon81uk

Maybe people shouldn't have voted for the Tories who decided to stop paying for the free licenses.

pphillips

jon81uk said:

Maybe people shouldn't have voted for the Tories who decided to stop paying for the free licenses.

At the time, the BBC seemed happy with the deal they agreed with the government.

giraffe69

Not clear why there is a problem. Those who find it hard to afford can continue to have a free licence. If they don't wish to apply for pension credit (and they will have had most of a decade from pension age to get around to it) then, frankly that is their look out. An alternative will be to give up watching  live TV and a final alternative to pay around £3 per week which many (but not all) can well afford.

Bigphil1474

Giraffe, you do realise that even with pension credits, your annual income is only topped up to about £8,500 a year for a single person, and a little over £13k for a couple - and that's dependant of any savings you have. Someone on a combined private and state pension of £9k a year will have to pay for their license now. Yes, £3 a week is a small amount, but lots of small amounts add up.
I think the OP has a fair point. There will be 1000's of people who currently automatically enjoy a free TV license without having to faff about, who will now have to faff about if they are able to or have family who can help. Those who can't/don't may end up with the TVL thugs knocking on their doors and conning them into confessing their crime. My dad is 76 and even though he has a Tivo box with 100s of channels, he still really only watches BBC. He'll be ok paying for his TVL, but many more won't.