Easy TV licence tip could save you £196 before | European Markets

This nifty little trick may prevent £196 out of your TV licence price – however be fast as a result of payments are anticipated to rise from April 1. Because the new financial yr nears, so does the dawning actuality that your payments are going to price that little bit additional to cowl.

From April 1, a normal color TV Licence will rise from £169.50 to £174.50 a yr. A black and white licence will go up from £57 to £58.50. However some fortunate Brits may not need to pay a licence price in any respect.

TV and broadband knowledgeable Sabrina Hoque from Uswitch mentioned checking should you’re exempt was a “no-brainer”. The money-saving professional mentioned: “If you are only using your TV for viewing on-demand content, such as streaming via Netflix, Apple TV or Amazon Prime, then you don’t need to pay for a TV licence.

“You additionally don’t need to pay for a TV licence if you’re over 75 and receiving Pension Credit score.” So, if you’re aged 75 and over and receive Pension Credit – or you’re simply unsure if you’re eligible – search the TV Licensing website or phone 0300 790 6117 to find out and register for your exemption.

If you don’t qualify for a pension credit then your next best step is to find bundled broadband and TV subscriptions. Sabrina said many broadband providers offer bundles where customers can choose to combine their internet and TV subsciption all under one bill, at a special rate.

She said: “For instance, Sky presents a broadband and TV bundle for £35 per 30 days mixed, whereas shopping for these two subscriptions individually would price £40 per 30 days, saving up to up to £120 throughout a 24-month contract. The financial savings obtainable from ‘bundling’ can differ based mostly on the service and size of contract, however should you’re out of contract for TV or broadband, bundling these two providers collectively is a easy approach to get a higher deal on each.”

Sabrina said for those who are still required to pay for a TV licence, the next best way to save without losing access to your favourite shows is by checking what perks are offered by your provider. Uswitch also recommends looking at in-contact perks from your mobile or broadband provider.

Sabrina said: “An under-utilised approach to cut back the price of accessing streaming providers is through in-contract perks out of your cellular or broadband supplier. Uswitch’s current evaluation of perks from the UK’s high suppliers confirmed that some suppliers offer free or closely discounted entry to streaming providers together with Amazon Prime or Netflix.”

You too can legally use on demand TV, films, recorded movies and programmes, in addition to YouTube, so long as you are not utilizing them to watch or stream dwell TV. Catch-up TV or on demand TV can be found on ITV Participant, All 4, My5, BT Imaginative and prescient/BT TV, Virgin Media, Sky Go, Now TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, Roku and Amazon Fireplace TV.

You possibly can’t watch or obtain programmes on BBC iPlayer with out a TV licence. You possibly can watch on demand films from suppliers comparable to Sky, Virgin Media, BT Imaginative and prescient, Netflix and Amazon Immediate Video.

After all, you’ll be able to all the time rent or obtain a DVD or Blu-ray from the web. There’s additionally YouTube. Video clips on this platform aren’t dwell, so watching them with out a TV licence just isn’t a downside.