BBC and free licence for over 75s

Yes Kitty, she has checked out all she could be entitled to, and is above that 'Line' but not by much. of course, there has to be a cut off somewhere, but there will be many more people in the same boat.I think although you are right about a lot not needing it, there are some who appreciate it, and the admin would be costly to means test .

38% of people eligible do not claim pension credits. They are the people who would not get the free licence if it was linked to pension credit. Rather than talk about the licence, maybe the discussion should be about pensioners being too proud to claim benefits.

£5.5 billion unclaimed by pensioners according to AgeUK. That's why the government wants to keep pensioners sweet. Imagine what would happen if everybody claimed pension credits, housing benefit, other benefits.

I did the AgeUK benefits calculator and found out that I could possibly claim £3 a month council tax refund. Not worth it, but there are obviously those who could claim a lot more.

I don't think it's always the case that pensioners are too proud to claim, more that they don't know they can, or the forms are baffling perhaps.

I agree with that, too. Just speaking from experience of people I know who had to be made to claim.

However, if you know anyone you think could claim, direct them to the AgeUK website. The calculator is easy to use.

The £3 though might mean that other benefits kicked in, Jen. AgeUk (as I understand it, with the backing of the government) had a big push with advertising on TV and in the papers to try to encourage pensioners to claim extra benefits. But I do think that there is an element of pride as well as lack of knowledge which stops people claiming.

My point is Roses that means testing need not be relevant if it was based on the current pension credit claimants as the means testing has already been done.

This thread is not about which pensioners should/should not get free TV but about who should pay for it. The BBC is a large and powerful organisation, and though it has taken some hits lately, it is generally respected around the world.

I suspect many governments both past and present would like to see its influence weakened.

Conversations move on Anya as we see on lots of other threads!