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?

@thewordistoosmall yeh I have both accounts and there's so much choice and quality. I don't watch "normal" t.v. much at all but do watch news. Although I'm not sure why as it's all biased bollocks!

Jesus Christ, no! PIL's are incredibly wealthy, yet love the free licence, bus pass etc. I'd pay more to means test it so very wealthy weren't getting anything for free.

Oh why can't we just abolish BBC licence fees. The BBC spent 84 million pounds on a new EastEnders set, pays ridiculous salaries to top celebs yet exploits newcomers. BBC used to train makeup artists and other young people. Now, IMO, they just take and give little back.

No. Not really.

Anyone who can't afford it still gets it for free.

The Tories cut the subsidy. I don't think it's unreasonable to ask over 75s to pay. You don't become some sort of Saint on your 75th birthday.

Let's face it, there won't be any of these perks by the time we get there.

No I damn well wouldn't and I suspect I'm closer to 75 than the OP is.

Britbox is because others are now cottoning on to the demand for nostalgia TV I watch a lot of Talking Pictures TV and Forces TV and they show older programmes.

No reality TV or soaps or poverty porn on these channels Bliss.

And before anyone says the BBC has never done poverty porn google We All Pay Your Benefits.

I would, my mum 83, lives on her own my dad died 10 years ago. One pension coming in, not low enough income to claim pension credit but not 'well off'

Had 2 hip replacements, one knee replacement arthritis in her spine, mobility impaired but not enough to qualify for help, just on the edge for everything.

So I think there must be loads of people in the same boat.

She's in pain a lot of the time and bloody hell if she can't listen to the radio or watch a bit of tv for free at her age and in her situation then it's a sad state of affairs!

@HelenaDove I don't understand your comment about your mum considering private healthcare but now can't because she will have to pay £145 a year. If that's the case, she couldn't have afforded to go private anyway.

It's £3 a week.

all i know is i dont like to see her crying in pain. Would help if our surgery wasnt run by Virgin Care

@@Whisky2014 The news I get it all online.
And before anyone jumps on me, no I don't go to bbc news.

@Exactly younger generations are getting their 'perks' cut left, right and centre, And let us not forget the ever increasing retirement age.

@Godgivemestrengh no you couldn't buy a house for £23000 these days, but what was your mum earning then? Ask her about the 15% interest rates in the 80s!

It's all relative and some people have money, some don't. I'm constantly surprised at posters on here talking about taking their children abroad, eating out, living in London on £100k a year, but no - according to mumsnet it's the pensioners who are rich

@mydogisthebest my DM did the same as yours work wise. Then went back to work FT when i was 3 months old And repeat with DB.

@TeamDixon With my DM its head pains hip pains and leg pains.

My kids (in their 30s) work much harder than my parents had to (same/similar jobs), and have a lot less security and pension rights. Working life has become a lot more intense and people are way more accountable. So this sanctifying of people over 75 is just silly.

And yes, as I said before, I'm one of the older posters here. I don't need my kids' generation's help. They need mine.

Nope. My DH's parents, divorced, are both very comfortably off, with significant savings, and don't need a free TV Licence. My DM is less well off but can also easily afford it.

It should be means tested and I think the Pension Credit criteria is right. Why the chuff should I contribute to a free TV Licence for anyone over 75, who can quite obviously afford it? More so than those in their 20s and 30s?

@NoonAim, the interest rate was 15% for a whole month.

House prices are so high now, that even with low interest rates, it's way more expensive to pay a mortgage on a small family home than it was for me in the 80s.

My PIL qualify for this. They are really quite wealthy (decent pensions) and fritter money on all sorts of nonsense. So no, I don't feel the need to further subsidise people like them. We will never experience a retirement like they've had so far.

@whiskey2014
I agree. Considering getting rid of it and watching Netflix and prime, maybe NowTV.

Can still listen to BBC radio without a licence.

I dislike the BBC’s bully boy tactics - pay us or we’ll send the heavies round and land you with a fine and a criminal record.

I also dislike paying for the likes of Gary Linekars salary. Someone cheaper could do just as good a job. Hopefully the outcome of this will be that the BBC will have to look at its costs and become a more efficient organisation.

They've had years to look at their finances. There have been online petitions going back at least 10 years about the costs. All that will happen is they will increase the fee until it becomes unaffordable for many.

No I wouldn't.

Both my parents and PILs are wealthy and don't need it. My uncle would have qualified next year, he retired at 55. There's not a cat in hell's chance that we're going to have anything like a similar lifestyle as pensioners, we don't now.

If any of them were 40p over the deadline and it would cause them genuine hardship then I'd pay for it

No absolutely not. Due to my job I am well aware how wealthy some pensioners can be. I am also outraged at the amount of pensioners who actively claim the winter fuel allowance when they aren't even in the country for most of the winter. We need to realise that pensioners are not the most hard up generation in this country.

@NoonAim she actually wasn't working she was claiming income support so her income was low and the deposit was 1000 which she borrowed off a relative it was when Thatcher brought in right to buy

No, there’s mostly tripe on anyway.

@NoonAim her mortgage was just 90 pound per month that's low no1 would get a mortgage for that now so yes house prices was more affordable back then than it is now that's why most 75+ people own there own homes and the pensions where much better aswell and there was no such thing as zero hour contracts