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?

but I hate the idea that they’re a starving group of desperately poor people struggling to get by. Many of them are and that is tragic,
They shouldn’t be , the guaranteed income with pension credit is £167 single or £255 couple plus housing benefit, council tax support and winter fuel and free travel.
Yes that’s not enough to have nice holidays etc but it’s more than enough to eat well, heat your home buy clothing attend bingo or social clubs etc.
It’s really not desperately poor.

I know that Stitching But many pensioners who were AFFECTED by the war years as children developed a FEAR of poverty and became quite frugal as a result. DM spent fifty years working in poultry factories. Didnt retire until she was 79. Because she feared being poor.

This stays with you your entire life. checks im typing in English

Absolutely not. Those in need will get it free, but otherwise the baby boomers are The wealthiest generation ever!

No. Not least because I don't really understand why I have to pay it seeing as I don't watch bloody BBC.

Many groups of people fear poverty, it doesn't mean they should all have their bills paid for them because they want to squirrel away every penny like PIL who will likely lose most of it to the tax man

Nope I wouldn't. Most over 75's I know have more disposable income than I do!

Well i wasnt talking about your PIL But i get what you mean

No. I rarely watch tv and can only imagine that I won't bother at all if I'm hard up and over 75.

Cracks me up that ppl are moaning about pensioners driving though. The pension age has been moved UP so many pensioners have to carry on driving so they can get to work...............

But why does that mean they should all get free TV licences though Helenadove? I doubt that the cost of a TV licence would make the difference between being able to afford private health care. If your parents chose to live well inside their means, good for them, but why should the public subsidise that? Id rather see a working poor young family receive a free licence than someone in that situation.

Personally I agree that the bbc should fund itself by advertising and / or subscription. It's crazy in this day and age for it to be run as it is.

I would. I don't know where all these rich pensioners are because I don't know any. My parents have struggled just about all their lives, often going without when we were young (even going without food so we could eat). How they hell can they be begrudged a free tv licence? They don't qualify for pension credits so won't be entitled.

Also I don't want ads on the BBC thank you very much. I watch BBC1, BBC2 and BBC4 a lot and love the fact there are no ads. I hate all the ads on other channels particularly Sky. Seems every 10 mins or so there are ads and they go on and on and on. Such moronic ads too.

Yes I can record programmes and fast forward the ads and most of the time I do but it's still bloody annoying. You just get into something and wham the sound goes up massively and some stupid ad starts.

Sorry, no. Those with the lowest incomes remain exempt from paying and the majority of over 75's I know are far better off than I will ever be!

My aunts & uncles are late 60s/early 70s and they’ve all got loads more money than me, so no I don’t fancy subsidising them thanks.

@HelenaDove If your parents can't afford a TV licence then they can't afford private health care. A TV licence is £12 per month. Private health insurance is a LOT more than this.
Your argument is ridiculous.

Wealthy pensioners also don't deserve the winter fuel discount. My aunt gets it with £100k sat in the bank.

@mydogisthebest YY If this was about any other benefit (e.g. a child related one )this thread would be full of posts about how some people fall between the two thresholds. Plenty of people fall between the cracks here too. Not poor enough for PC (ive seen a tweet from someone who is over the threshold by FORTY PENCE.)

How they hell can they be begrudged a free tv licence?
Because they aren’t struggling now @mydogisthebest

If the beeb stop paying the likes of Fiona Bruce £500,000 per annum their finances may improve greatly so cannot feel sorry for them. Possibly means test free licences but would that involve a lot of costly admin so not sure which is best?
I think an awful lot of people don't have a licence anyway as they don't watch bbc and just pay for netflix etc so why can't we just pay for what we watch (pensioners included) as that would be fairer.

No as pensioners are better off than working age and they don't usually have dependents www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-38957903

No

The TV license is expensive. Netflix is 7.99 a month, all 4 funded by ads. We hardly watch any live TV but do watch a bit of iPlayer- CBeebies is always handy and we watch box sets/documentaries now and again. TV license is about £14 per month, not good value for us, as it is.

For the love of fucking Christ. Im talking about the PSYCHOLOGICAL affects of having been through what DM has Dont be so sociopathically ignorant.

There was a thread on here a few years ago about how poverty can affect you psychologically and most of the posters had been through it when they were younger. And it still affects them now

Thread was full of people saying YY YY YY
Perhaps i should have gone on the thread and told them Dont worry the affects of what you went through will magically disappear when you are over 65 or the general public/MN will expect it to.

They stopped our child benefit a few years ago, that seemed to be done easily enough without costly admin. There'll always be those on the borderline of any benefit. That's unfortunate. People will have to re-prioritise their outgoings accordingly.

Maybe it could be means tested via income tax returns. Like child benefit is?

Pensioners pay tax on their pensions. Maybe set a limit, if you’re on minimum wage or less, whether that’s from salary, benefits, pension, or a combination of - then you get a free TV license.

Absolutely not! The BBC are about to lose a vast majority of viewers, hopefully enough to encourage them to scrap it completely and be self funding like other TV services.

Some posters may remember the thread im on about.

The variety packs of mini boxes of cereal were mentioned a lot in it.