State pensioners being handed £0 BBC TV licences thanks to one form

State pensioners are being handed £0 BBC TV licences thanks to one form. On its website, BBC TV Licensing gives state pensioners the ability to apply for a refund for a TV licence - if they have started to claim Pension Credit, which is a gateway to free licences.

You can apply for a refund if you won’t need your licence again before it expires, and you have at least one complete month left on it. If you’re eligible for an over 75 or blind concession, you can apply for a refund at any time and for any length of time left on your licence.

You can apply for a refund up to 14 days before the date you no longer need the TV Licence. The TV Licensing group states: "We aim to process and issue refunds within 21 days of receiving your application. Any refund due to you will be paid to you by either a cheque or by BACS transfer directly into your bank account.

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"Your refund may be delayed if we have to contact you for more information." It adds: "Working out precise refund amounts can be complicated. But we will do it for you. We’ll look carefully at the information you give us and let you know if we can offer you a refund, and how much it will be."

"If you have a free or blind TV Licence, you can apply for a refund for any length of time left on your licence, and no matter how long ago you became eligible," it adds. "We do not reconsider claims or change refund amounts once a refund has been applied for and processed."

You need to be covered by a TV licence to watch programmes live on any online TV service - such as ITVX, Channel 4, Amazon Prime Video, Now or Sky Go. You don’t need a TV licence if you only ever watch on-demand programmes on any TV service apart from BBC iPlayer.