Over 75s now pay for TV license

Efour · 11 Jun 2019 at 08:09

robj20 said:
Lol, my neighbour can barely afford to have the heating on in winter and you think they should pay more for things.
He sits there much of the time watching TV with a coat on and heating on in only the living room.
Only time he goes out is to the shops using his bus pass.
Regards NHS costs, I think it would be fairer to increase the amount people pay that sells inflict problems such as smokers and over eaters. They can obviously afford it.
Where as someone that can barely afford heating can hardly afford a TV licence.
You must live in a dream land.

So he gets a pension credit and doesn't have to pay for his liscencse? So no change he's just as poor.

My nan was the same. Spam sandwiches for dinner 7 days a week. Her pet dog ate better than her. Wore her coat indoors in winter so didn't have to put 50ps in the meter. Mad world.

The_Abyss · 11 Jun 2019 at 08:14

robj20 said:
Lol, my neighbour can barely afford to have the heating on in winter and you think they should pay more for things.
He sits there much of the time watching TV with a coat on and heating on in only the living room.
Only time he goes out is to the shops using his bus pass.
Regards NHS costs, I think it would be fairer to increase the amount people pay that sells inflict problems such as smokers and over eaters. They can obviously afford it.
Where as someone that can barely afford heating can hardly afford a TV licence.
You must live in a dream land.

It may shock you to realise that not all pensioners live in poverty. There are, and new ones can be created, established mechanisms to support people of all demographics, including pensioners who are short on income.

Perhaps you live in a dream land, a dream land where pensioners should live for free for 30+ years having paid into one of the lowest tax burden systems in Europe and still expect to have their healthcare and income all provided by the State with no further ongoing contribution from themselves.

Tinders · 11 Jun 2019 at 08:21

There are a hell of a lot of pensioners who are in a decent position due to the fantastic pensions they have had. and of course, there are some on or below the poverty line, who get state assistance, and a free license.

JonnyT · 11 Jun 2019 at 10:55

A lot of 'fake news' and mis-information going on around this change.

Yes there are a not-insignificant number of older people struggling to heat their homes and feed themselves; care home fees are also extortionate (£900pw I heard as one example on the radio this morning). However there are also a large number of older people very comfortably off; living in large houses, on final salary pensions and as others have said going on multiple cruise holidays per year.

Don't get sucked into some of the scare tactics used by Age UK though; this whole 'pensioners fought in the war, so should be exempt on this basis' argument is old hat - my parents are 71 & 70, and were born in 1947 & 1948 respectively. By all means give it free to those people, but the cut-off would be 90 and not 75. The argument that they've paid tax and NI all their lives and therefore 'paid their dues' is also misleading; the welfare state has always been a ponzi scheme - there is no 'pot' with your name on it, how do you think people suddenly got free treatment when it was introduced, and now with an ageing population why do you think it is struggling for funding?

DXP55 · 11 Jun 2019 at 11:55

I love this phrase "They are on final salary pensions so they are loaded"

I am a baby boomer and finished on a FSP - What people fail to understand is it's half of your salary per year. That's fine if you had a well paying job but there are pensioner out there like me that if you add up work pension and state pension I am just in the tax bracket and pay a small amount of tax per year - I am sure that some of you can work out how much you have to earn to pay income tax.
Reaching 75 and not having to pay TV license was very helpful and went to pay another bill. I do not have enough spare to do anything with - My car is 10 yrs old -We never have a holiday - any drain on our small savings can never be replaced so we have to be careful.

Before anyone says because you are baby boomers you made a killing on houses - We did sell for a very good profit but that went on a bungalow and the refub cost so nothing left to spend - had i lived in London I could have sold my house for well over a million and then I could have had a new car.

Not once in all the years I was working did I earn the national average wage and that goes for all my former work colleges and the people doing the job I did today.
I worked for one of the major utility companies in the UK

thenewoc · 11 Jun 2019 at 12:15

This is like the BBC doing a smash and grab on peoples winter fuel allowance. My mum mainly has a state pension circa 8.7k PA plus an attendance allowance, also has glaucoma and cataracts but because she doesn't as far as I know qualify for pension credit will miss out on a free licence next year when she would have qualified on age. I think if they wanted to exclude the well off retirees they could have chosen a better mechanism to do it.

Also, not far to go to get to 10'000 signatures...

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/234627

ubiquity · 11 Jun 2019 at 12:41

Was this not at least partually government funded, but they withdrew the funding and left the decision up to the BBC?

Given little choice to meet the deficit, it was an obvious decision tbh...

Government cutting back but leaving the decision to the BBC so they can avoid the blame (typical Conservatives)

Deleted member 77746 · 11 Jun 2019 at 12:42

I bet they will go after the bus passes next.

Werewolf · 11 Jun 2019 at 12:55

ubiquity said:
Was this not at least partually government funded, but they withdrew the funding and left the decision up to the BBC?

Given little choice to meet the deficit, it was an obvious decision tbh...

Government cutting back but leaving the decision to the BBC so they can avoid the blame (typical Conservatives)

It was fully government funded.

Then the government basically forced the BBC to accept responsibility for meeting the free TVL's as part of the last funding agreement, IIRC at the same time they also changed several other things that the BBC did for the government but were paid for to being fully paid for by the BBC.

Schlong&Stable · 11 Jun 2019 at 13:09

Having access to television is not a necessity, I don't think the government should be paying for it.

The_Abyss · 11 Jun 2019 at 13:13

thenewoc said:
This is like the BBC doing a smash and grab on peoples winter fuel allowance. My mum mainly has a state pension circa 8.7k PA plus an attendance allowance, also has glaucoma and cataracts but because she doesn't as far as I know qualify for pension credit will miss out on a free licence next year when she would have qualified on age. I think if they wanted to exclude the well off retirees they could have chosen a better mechanism to do it.

You’re Mum will be right on the limit of being able to claim. Check and see if she’s eligible for Savings Credit.

wolfie138 · 11 Jun 2019 at 13:17

mrbell1984 said:
I bet they will go after the bus passes next.

believe they already have. my ma had one that gave her free travel on the Metros, ended up being changed to payable at an OAP rate. can't honestly recall if it was the same for the bus services too though.

LoadsaMoney · 11 Jun 2019 at 14:00

Linekers got to get his 1.75m from somewhere.

thenewoc · 11 Jun 2019 at 14:13

The_Abyss said:
You’re Mum will be right on the limit of being able to claim. Check and see if she’s eligible for Savings Credit.

Thanks, will have to look into that too. Found a gov calculator earlier so will have to sit down with her and go through it. I know she qualifies for assistance with NHS expenses too in addition to free prescriptions but again it's a bit of an odd mechanism to choose as far as the pension credit is concerned since the elderly are already means tested for other benefits.

https://pensioncreditcalculator.dwp.gov.uk/pension-credit-calculator.php?new

Deluxe1 · 11 Jun 2019 at 14:27

Schlong&Stable said:
Having access to television is not a necessity, I don't think the government should be paying for it.

It's a comfort to many OAP's who maybe don't have many friends or spend most of their day alone and are struggling with other bills to pay now they have to pay for this.

ubiquity · 11 Jun 2019 at 15:02

Deluxe1 said:
It's a comfort to many OAP's who maybe don't have many friends or spend most of their day alone and are struggling with other bills to pay now they have to pay for this.

I agree, but I do not think the BBC is responsible for this - it is more the Converative policy towards austerity that is the root cause...

Firestar_3x · 11 Jun 2019 at 15:04

Because we all know the magic money tree approach works so well!

Eurofighter · 11 Jun 2019 at 15:15

ubiquity said:
I agree, but I do not think the BBC is responsible for this - it is more the Converative policy towards austerity that is the root cause...

While I disagree with austerity and vote Labour my granny is 91 and she has money but yet spends her evenings watching TV. She can't do much else.

Eurofighter · 11 Jun 2019 at 15:18

Firestar_3x said:
Because we all know the magic money tree approach works so well!

Government borrowing has increased under the Tories. You need to invest in the country and people. Get productivity up.

FatRakoon · 11 Jun 2019 at 15:31

I have been debating stopping paying for a few years.
I myself dont watch TV. The only person who does, is my wife, and she only ever watches Emmerdale or Corrie last thing at night when she gets the time to sit down, and both of those are not BBC and both of those are not LIVE.

My kids are 20, 20, and 21 and my daughter never cares for TV, my youngest son only ever watches movies and my eldest son has a netflix account.

We genuinnely dont need a TV Licence, and the ONLY reason why I have kept on paying it, is because we just always have paid it, plus I have enjoyed BBC Comedy over the years such as Red Dwarf, BlackAdder, Young Ones, Monty Python and on and on and on, plus the documentaries such as Trials of Life, Blue Planet and so on, are absolutely unbeatable in my opinon, and for those 2 reasons, I have paid it.

But this is now the straw that broke the camels back.

I am writing a letter to the BBC and I will openly invite them into my house as I am going to fully remove any chance of us getting the TV Signal. We told Sky to get lost about a year ago, and now its the BBC's turn.

Its not like we cannot afford it.... Its about a tenner a month and I probably throw that away in the number of times I tell people to keep the change when I go shopping, but itst he principle of it all... over 75's to pay the TV Licence? Utterly disgusting.