A LITTLE-KNOWN TV licence rule means that over one million households could save £170 a year.
A whopping £249million worth of free TV licences are left up for grabs and remain unclaimed, according to Policy in Practice.
Anyone who wants to watch live TV, including the BBC, ITV and Sky, must pay for a TV licence.
A colour TV licence currently costs £169.50 a year, while a licence to watch a black-and-white TV costs £57.
However, there are some scenarios where you can get a free licence, including if you're on certain benefits.
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For example, free TV licences are available to pension credit claimants over the age of 75.
In the year to March 2023, 947,000 free TV licences were issued, worth more than £150million in total.
However, with eligibility linked to an existing pension credit award, as well as relying on an application being made, nearly 1.5million older people are still missing out, according to Policy in Practice.
This figure includes the 807,704 people eligible for pension credit who haven't put in a claim to receive it.
On top of the free TV licence eligibility at 75, these households are estimated to be missing out on up to £2,677 a year in extra support.
You can check your eligibility for a free TV licence by visiting www.gov.uk/pension-credit.
Who is eligible for pension credit?
Pension credit is available to people over the State Pension age, currently 66, who live in England, Scotland or Wales.
To qualify, you must have a weekly income of less than £218.15 if you are single and £332.95 if you are in a couple.
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Your income is worked out taking into account various elements, including:
- Your State pension
- Any other pensions you have saved, for instance, workplace or private pension savings
- Most social security benefits, for example, carer's allowance
- Any savings or investments worth over £10,000
- Earnings from a job
It's worth noting that the calculation does not include:
- Attendance allowance
- Christmas bonus
- Disability living allowance
- Personal independence payments (PIP)
- Housing benefit
- Council tax reduction
How much can you get?
There are two parts to the benefit, and pensioners can be eligible for one or both parts - here are the current rates for the tax year:
- Guarantee credit - tops up your weekly income to a guaranteed minimum level. This is £218.15 a week if you're single and £332.95 a week for married couples.
- Savings credit - provides extra money if you've saved money towards retirement. You can get an extra 17.01 a week for a single person or £19.04 a week for a married couple.
You can also get additional pension credit if you have a disability or caring responsibilities or have to pay certain housing costs such as mortgage interest payments.
For example, you can get either £66.29 a week or £76.79 a week for each child you're responsible for.