Would you be willing to pay more for your TV licence to ensure it stays free for over 75s?

[ChaosTrulyReigns]

I blinking would.

I know it's be a administrative impossiblity to achieve, but volunteering to pay an extra £5/£10 per year? Could it work?

Nope. Most over 75 year olds i know have way more disposable income than I do. Those who need it should get it.

Absolutely not. I know many over 75s who have plenty of spare cash. I'm not bloody subsiding them.

Im sorry but no. Poor pensioners can still claim for it anyway. Most over 75s I know are pretty well off, multiple holidays etc.

no

No I would not and while we're at it we should also abolish free bus passes for all OAP's as well and means test both.

Too true. If we can "means test" child benefit for people earning over £50k, then we can means test OAPs too.

They don’t need to be rich enough to fund multiple expensive holidays a year to pay the c £13 a month fee. I expect that most pensioners could afford the fee just as they could afford to heat their homes. And for those that actually can’t only, I don’t begrudge subsidising.

No

No.

managedmis, well good for your parents because, as I said, my parents can't afford a holiday and haven't for years. Their last holiday was in Cornwall.

I don't know any rich pensioners. Well certainly none over 75. But in the non reality world of mumsnet they must all be rich swanning off on holiday 10 times a year and not any old holiday either

No I wouldn't. Quite rightly it is free for those in receipt of pension benefit but a lot of pensioners can afford the tv licence. My grandparents don't let us pay for meals out with them as they argue they are better of than us as they are mortgage free and have good pensions while we have a mortgage and childcare to pay. Before she died my grandma went on around 5-6 holidays a year.

Another no.

My parents have way more money than we do. Several holidays a year. Final pay pension.
We are a family of 4 both working fulltime and struggle to make ends meet.
Oh and my parents were working class so didnt come from money.

Formerbabe - you are not far wrong. My Fil (aged 89) has no idea how much money he has ( a fair amount) and never has known really. When my dad died (at 68yrs) he had constantly said for years that he was too poor to retire but we found nearly 40k in cash in the house after his death!!! This was on top of 90k of investments that we liquidated for his probate.

Fancy, so we mustn't look at one family living well on benefits because not all families are but people who know of well off pensioners can claim all pensioners are well off!

My parents worked a damn lot harder than a lot of youngsters, most of who don't even start work until well into their 20's.

It's all very well saying if they were hard up they would still get the licence for free but what if they only get a few pence more than pension credits allows?

Not a chance. And I'd scrap bus passes too, or at least means test them - my Dad used to take the train to work in the city centre in his very well paid job between 60 and 65, he thought it was hilarious!

Hilarious that the state presumed he was poor that is, not hilarious that taxpayers' money was wasted.

It's all very well saying if they were hard up they would still get the licence for free but what if they only get a few pence more than pension credits allows?

The same can be said about tax credits. A couple of pennies over and no free school meals, prescriptions etc.

Nope. My dad lives in a massive house and refuses to downsize as he’s too proud of his ‘castle’ when he really really needs one floor and no stairs! He’s fine for the tv license even though he’ll definitely moan.

No I would not and while we're at it we should also abolish free bus passes for all OAP's as well and means test both.

The traditional argument about means testing pensioners is that it costs more money than it saves - much like the bedroom tax.

The problem is that pensioners aren't a group that needs to be taught a lesson about being poor, unlike people claiming housing benefit. So there's no political will.

There's also the fact that most pensioners simply would not have the documentation needed to assess for means testing anyway.

He’s fine for the tv license even though he’ll definitely moan.

He can moan all he likes. The only real question is will he vote ?

No one should be paying a fucking TV licence. it's bloody ridiculous we do in this country.

@LaminateAnecdotes probably for Farage he’s that much of a fool.

Ffs, no

No, I wouldn’t.

No one should be paying a fucking TV licence. it's bloody ridiculous we do in this country.

Until 2016 I'd have disagreed. Relatives in the US are astounded at the quality we had for such a paltry sum - even if they were also astounded at the compulsion of the licence. Growing up, I'd have put the BBC into that category of things that are uniquely British

But now - fuck 'em. They can compete with everyone else, and die if they can't. I won't cry.

It will be means tested, so the theory is the "poor" pensioners will still receive it for free and the "comfortable" pensioners will pay. So in theory they should be fine, but as always it will be the people that get "just enough" to then have to pay for it that will suffer.

I just hope the threshold is quite high as our elderly shouldn't struggle