UK households can cut the cost of their TV Licence to £0 in just 16 minutes.
The government has confirmed the TV Licence fee will increase to £174.50 from next April, adding an extra £5, or 42p per month, to household bills.
The fee, which is currently £169.50, applies to any household that watches or records live TV on any channel or service, or uses BBC iPlayer.
But if you’re aged 75 or over and are claiming Pension Credit, you can get a TV Licence completely free.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has issued a reminder to pensioners this week to submit a claim for the benefit as it serves as a getaway to an abundance of other support, including a free TV Licence.
The DWP says it only takes 16 minutes on average to apply for Pension Credit and it’s worth up to £3,900 a year on average if you’re eligible.
If you qualify, you can also get help with housing costs, Council Tax discounts, NHS treatment costs, and this year’s Winter Fuel Payment, which is worth up to £300.
To be eligible for Pension Credit you must live in England, Scotland or Wales and have reached State Pension age.
For those who don’t meet the eligibility criteria for Pension Credit, there are other ways to reduce your TV Licence bill, or avoid it altogether.
TV Licences are per household, not per person, so if you live in a house with several people you don’t all need to have one in some cases and could all chip in to share the cost of one licence.
You can share a TV Licence with the whole household if you watch TV in a single shared area or have a joint tenancy agreement. But if you have separate tenancy agreements and watch TV in your own room then you will need to pay for your own.
You also don’t need a TV Licence to watch streaming services, such as Netflix and Disney Plus, on-demand TV through services like All 4 and Amazon Prime Video, videos on websites such as YouTube, or DVDs and Blurays.
So if you’re happy to just stick to watching any of these, and not watch or record any live TV or BBC iPlayer, you can save yourself £174.50. But if you do watch or record live TV without a TV Licence then you can be issued a fine of up to £1,000.