does 89 year old have to pay for tv licence?

roddydogs

So she's only just bought a tv?

LeesArt

Cornucopia said:

iniltous said:

95% of the nations favourite TV is ‘free’ , but needs a TV licence if it’s watched ‘live’ , some of it could be consumed later on catch up services without a licence, so really Sky , Netflix, Prime only supply the other 5% ( obviously some will claim they never watch anything other that pay ) so in that regard the TV licence at £13.25 a month to watch 95% of favourite TV , compared to something like £40 a month to watch the other 5% on Sky, Netflix,Prime etc, seems pretty good value in my opinion.

Not sure about the maths there.    The TV Licence covers the costs of the BBC.   For those that make good use of it, it's good value for money.   But many people choose not to, for a wide variety of reasons, and that is their prerogative.   Anyway, the Licence doesn't pay for 95% of content in the same sense that £X pays for Sky, Netflix or Prime.   The Licence controls access to TV Channels, but that's no longer the only game in town.

iniltous said:

It was this Conservative Government that removed the free TV licence from all over 75 year olds , that’s the very group that are most likely to vote for them, and whinge about the BBC.

The OP question was does an 89 year old have to pay for a TV licence, the answer is yes , unless they get pension credit, because  this Government changed the law, it wasn’t the BBC that made this change , it was imposed on them.

Technically, no.   The universal Over-75s Licence disappeared in negotiations between the previous Government and the BBC.   At the time, the BBC welcomed the new agreement, but that seems to have been rather glossed-over in the intervening years.

The BBC agreed that they would make future decisions about the provision, and cover its costs.  And that is where we are.

It was the BBC that instigated the change to Pension Credit means-testing, the Government simply enacted the BBC's choice.

iniltous said:

What does ‘goon activity’ even mean ?, 

It's a slightly pejorative term for the BBC's Licence enforcement activity under its TV Licensing brand.  

"Goon" being an unofficial enforcer, more generally.   The issue being that TV Licensing under the BBC's control likes to habitually over-play its hand of very limited powers, misinform the Public, etc. etc.  

Sometimes to thank someone for a post is simply not enough

You are absolutely right in correcting that it was the BBC who made the decision to charge the over 75's, they wanted the right to increase the TV License each year with inflation and the trade off they gave was they would take on the cost  of the over 75's.  That is how they sold it and implied that they would be taking on the cost.

The BBC needs to put it's content on it's own streaming platform, it is sitting on content that could be worth tens of billions worldwide.  Amazon created a worldwide IT platform called AWS on the back of fulfilling it's IT needs, one can now even rent the unused element of Amazon servers on a bidding system.

The license needs to go forever, along with it the goons and their brand.

They apparently send more mail than any other organisation, massive waste of paper and huge intimidation.  I shred mine and ignored them since around 2010 or 12, can't remember exactly.

Funny thing is that getting a ring doorbell has made them do a U turn as soon as they see it.  I got my Ring Wired doorbell on a promo but cost be tiny amount, although I noticed Ring are increasing subscription cost by around 50% this month.

I would protect some parts of the BBC such as local radio and news which can be funded across the industry.

Cornucopia

LeesArt said:

Cornucopia said:

iniltous said:

95% of the nations favourite TV is ‘free’ , but needs a TV licence if it’s watched ‘live’ , some of it could be consumed later on catch up services without a licence, so really Sky , Netflix, Prime only supply the other 5% ( obviously some will claim they never watch anything other that pay ) so in that regard the TV licence at £13.25 a month to watch 95% of favourite TV , compared to something like £40 a month to watch the other 5% on Sky, Netflix,Prime etc, seems pretty good value in my opinion.

Not sure about the maths there.    The TV Licence covers the costs of the BBC.   For those that make good use of it, it's good value for money.   But many people choose not to, for a wide variety of reasons, and that is their prerogative.   Anyway, the Licence doesn't pay for 95% of content in the same sense that £X pays for Sky, Netflix or Prime.   The Licence controls access to TV Channels, but that's no longer the only game in town.

iniltous said:

It was this Conservative Government that removed the free TV licence from all over 75 year olds , that’s the very group that are most likely to vote for them, and whinge about the BBC.

The OP question was does an 89 year old have to pay for a TV licence, the answer is yes , unless they get pension credit, because  this Government changed the law, it wasn’t the BBC that made this change , it was imposed on them.

Technically, no.   The universal Over-75s Licence disappeared in negotiations between the previous Government and the BBC.   At the time, the BBC welcomed the new agreement, but that seems to have been rather glossed-over in the intervening years.

The BBC agreed that they would make future decisions about the provision, and cover its costs.  And that is where we are.

It was the BBC that instigated the change to Pension Credit means-testing, the Government simply enacted the BBC's choice.

iniltous said:

What does ‘goon activity’ even mean ?, 

It's a slightly pejorative term for the BBC's Licence enforcement activity under its TV Licensing brand.  

"Goon" being an unofficial enforcer, more generally.   The issue being that TV Licensing under the BBC's control likes to habitually over-play its hand of very limited powers, misinform the Public, etc. etc.  

Funny thing is that getting a ring doorbell has made them do a U turn as soon as they see it.  

They don't want their interactions with the Public to be captured on camera.  

Kind of weird when you consider what the BBC's major occupation is.  

For all they like to imply "nothing to hide, nothing to fear", they sure do like to hide (and presumably to fear the consequences, too).  

LeesArt

Yes I think you have to be a particular type of lowlife to do that job, we have seen a plethora of examples on youtube where they try to con people at best or downright break the rules, such as entering when only a child is at home and then proceeding to check all devices) without adult consent.

I put them in same category as cowboy clampers, operators of parking companies and high court enforcement officers.

Scum, as in what is left on your bath, is not strong enough, but I do believe in Karma which is why these goons end up having such awful lives. 

Cornucopia

I'm not sure - it seems likely that just as they like to misinform the Public, they probably misinform their staff, too.   

Some of their themes ("we have a right to investigate") seem absolutely bound to give staff a misleading idea about the legal situation on the doorstep.

I've not met any of their doorsteppers personally, so don't even have that experience to call upon.

brewerdave

As a matter of interest, have any of the older generation ,who were in receipt of the free licence, been prosecuted in Court for non payment yet ?? I suspect not many (if any) as the Press would have had a field day !

Cornucopia

brewerdave said:

As a matter of interest, have any of the older generation ,who were in receipt of the free licence, been prosecuted in Court for non payment yet ?? I suspect not many (if any) as the Press would have had a field day !

Not seen any, and there have been various statements by the BBC that it won't happen.

I think you're right that it would be a PR disaster for the BBC, although it saddens me slightly that no one has ever taken much of an interest when other vulnerable people have been prosecuted in the past.  

What it does, though, is to create a two-tier enforcement system.