TV Licence article Discussion

stragglebod

Watchkeeper wrote: »

Don't be so ageist!

I'm the other side of 70 and haven't paid for a licence these last 50 years - perfectly legally. I refuse to fund the BBC on principle, an organisation diametrically opposed to my own world view.

You want media which neither informs, educates, or entertains? You do realise that you still need a TV license even if you only watch Channel 5?

[Deleted User]

No license needed for Ch5 catch up :beer:

Cornucopia

stragglebod wrote: »

You want media which neither informs, educates, or entertains?

Wouldn't that be impossible?

Nick_C

Cornucopia wrote: »

Wouldn't that be impossible?

I think there are some religious channels on Freeview? They might fit the bill!

But in terms of education and information, Sky News, ITV, and Channel 4 all manage to meet that need to an extent.

For entertainment, you can't beat the BBC News channel. OBs regularly not up to scratch, missed cues, wrong camera angles. BBC News is truly amateurish.

And BBC entertainment has sunk (possibly) as low as it can go.

Nick_C

Cornucopia wrote: »

Wouldn't that be impossible?

I think they are some religious channels on Freeview? They might fit the bill!

The shopping channels do.

But in terms of education and information, Sky News, ITV, and Channel 4 all manage to meet that need to an extent.

For entertainment, you can't beat the BBC News channel. OBs regularly not up to scratch, missed cues, wrong camera angles. BBC News is truly amateurish.

And BBC entertainment has sunk (possibly) as low as it can go.

Watchkeeper

stragglebod wrote: »

You want media which neither informs, educates, or entertains? You do realise that you still need a TV license even if you only watch Channel 5?

The BBC does not have a monopoly on informing, educating and entertaining. When it was the sole provider (by Government fiat) it did, and under those circumstances the licence could have been justified. That is manifestly not the situation now. Reason notwithstanding, the BBC continues unabated (to misquote Douglas Adams). It's a huge, lumbering dinosaur way out of its geological period.

As for when a TV licence is needed - I know exactly when a TV licence is needed, and that is why I don't have one.

Come on - join us licence-free people in the 21st century!

cw18

Due to a discussion on another forum (not related to the change in TV Licences for over 75's) I've discovered there's another group of low income pensioners who'll lose them - and they were already set to be a lot worse off than they would have been in the past.



Those households with someone over 75 and on Pension Credit will still get Pension Credit (and the free licence). But benefit changes on 15th May mean that if one person in a couple is State Pension Age but their partner isn't and they're making a new claim, they now have to apply for Universal Credit rather than Pension Credit.



My (late) husband was 10 years and 5 months older than me. He'd have got State Pension at 66, but I won't get until I reach 67 - which is over 11 years later. So on his 75th birthday I'd still have had 2 years and 5 months until I reached 67, and that would have meant that if we were on a low income (eg. only his State Pension) we'd have had to apply for Universal Credit - and that doesn't give entitlement to a free licence. It also appears that UC could be a significantly lower payment than PC, which means we'd already have been struggling.

As well as the various extra benefits available for pensioners, Pension Credit rates are much higher than Universal Credit rates. For example, in 2019/2020 the standard minimum guarantee for a couple in Pension Credit is £255.25 per week (£1106 per month). In comparison the couple rate for Universal Credit, for a couple over 25, is £498.89 per month.

from entitledto





The only 'good' news is that once the younger partner reaches State Pension Age, entitlement to UC ends - and at that point the couple can apply for Pension Credit instead.

[Deleted User]

oldernonethewiser wrote: »

As I didn't respond to their previous letter "an investigation into your property has now begun"

They've conducted 30 investigations into my property, although, curiously, I've not been told the result of any of them.

[Deleted User]

Bedsit_Bob wrote: »

They've conducted 30 investigations into my property, although, curiously, I've not been told the result of any of them.

I especially like the one that asks on the actual envelope if I will be in on such and such day, yep I am but where are you, I dunno the amount of times they have promised to come but then haven't

[Deleted User]

FreeBear wrote: »

"And so it begins" - Only to be repeated again in six months time.

At one point, they were opening an "investigation" into my address, every other month.