Do you want to cancel your TV license?
More people are deciding against having a TV license due to the rising cost as well as the declining need due to alternative streaming platforms.
The rate of TV license evasion jumped to 10.31% in 2022-23 from 9.38% in 2021-22, the highest figure recorded.
A TV license allows you access to huge range of entertainment services including over 400 TV channels. All households needs a TV license if they watch live showings on TV or streaming platforms and to watch BBC iPlayer too. TV licenses pay for the BBC fees of their shows and services including any app, streaming services, radio and live channels.
The cost of TV license is £169.50 per year and covers all devices in the household. If you do not have a TV license you will be sent letters, if you do not respond then they could send an inspector to your address to find out if you are illegally watching TV. If they find you are using the services without the necessary License then they could fine you up to £1000 as well as court costs.
You can cancel your license if;
- You do not watch live broadcasts
- Do not watch anything on BBC iPlayer
- You no longer watch TV channels including BBC, Channel 4, ITV and more
- You do not watch live showings on streaming or paid for services such as, Youtube, Amazon, Sky, BT and any others
You do not need a TV license if you are only watching on demand programmes on paid for subscriptions like Netflix, Amazon, Disney + and others except BBC iPlayer.
To Cancel;
If you are paying by direct debit or you paid all in one go you can cancel online on the TV license website. You will then have to cancel your direct debit with your bank.
If you pay by using a payment card then you will have to contact the TV license company to cancel this.
You will need your personal TV license number to cancel which you should be able to find on any letter or email you have received from them.
The BBC experiencing a decline of users
The BBC have reported a drop in the number of people paying for a TV licence and record a drop of 500,000. Among 16-34 years olds only 71% used the BBC on average per week in 2023-24. In England there has been a decline year on year from 88% to 85% of people using BBC services. In Scotland the drop was 87% to 84%.
With fewer people paying for a TV licence it proves that you too could go without.