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GrantUK-wide

Free TV Licence (Over-75s on Pension Credit)

TV Licensing (on behalf of the BBC)

Details being confirmed

Some figures on this page (such as the amount, deadline, or rate) are provisional and due a fresh verification pass against the official source. Please confirm the current details using the official link below before relying on this information.

Description

A free TV licence for households where the licence-holder is 75 or over and either they or their partner at the same address receive Pension Credit (either Guarantee Credit or Savings Credit, or both) — worth £180/year, the current standard colour TV licence fee from 1 April 2026. Since the universal over-75s free licence ended on 31 July 2020, age alone no longer qualifies; Pension Credit receipt is required. One free licence covers everyone living at the same main address regardless of their own age, but only one per address even if more than one resident independently qualifies. Administered centrally and identically across all four UK nations by TV Licensing (on behalf of the BBC), with the underlying Pension Credit eligibility determined by DWP in England, Scotland and Wales and by the Department for Communities in Northern Ireland.

Amount

Free TV licence, worth £180/year (2026/27 standard colour licence fee) — no partial/reduced-rate tier; it's either free or the full standard fee.

Deadline

Rolling / no fixed deadline

Eligibility summary

  • Available across the whole UK (England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland).
  • Open to individuals — not restricted to businesses.
  • Relevant income bands: earning under the Personal Allowance.
  • Relevant age groups: 65+.
Notes
Confirmed directly on nidirect.gov.uk (a primary UK government source) that eligibility is based on receiving 'Pension Credit' without restricting to one component, and that application is required rather than automatic. Multiple independent secondary sources consistently describe this as covering either Guarantee Credit or Savings Credit (or both) — but TV Licensing's own tvlicensing.co.uk pages returned no retrievable content to automated fetching in this pass, so that specific Guarantee-vs-Savings-Credit detail could not be directly cross-checked against the primary TV Licensing source itself. Flagged for review on that basis. The £180/year standard licence fee (up from £174.50) took effect 1 April 2026 under the 2022 Licence Fee Settlement's inflation-linked increase, corroborated by multiple current secondary sources. Not modelled on Profile.disabilityOrAdditionalNeeds — eligibility turns on age plus Pension Credit receipt, not disability.
Requirement
The person named on the licence must be 75 or over, and they or their partner living at the same address must be receiving Pension Credit (Guarantee Credit or Savings Credit). Not automatic — an application to TV Licensing is required even once Pension Credit is in payment, though you can apply from age 74 if already receiving Pension Credit, so the free licence takes effect from your 75th birthday.

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You can also do this yourself for free via the official source

How to apply

Apply to TV Licensing online or by phone (0300 790 6117) once you're 74 or over and receiving Pension Credit — the free licence then takes effect from your 75th birthday. Northern Ireland residents apply the same way; the underlying Pension Credit award is simply determined by the Department for Communities rather than DWP.

View official source

Last verified: 3 October 2026. See the footer disclaimer — this is general information, not financial or tax advice.