Student Guide to TV Licensing
- Each room in a hall of residence is a separately occupied place, and this means that, if you're using a TV, you will need a TV licence of your own - regardless of whether the hall itself has one.
- If you are going to be sharing a house, usually, a shared tenancy agreement would mean only one licence is needed, regardless of the number of TV sets in the house. A separate tenancy agreement would mean that you will need your own TV licence if you have a TV in your room. Only one licence is required if the only TV in the house being used, is in a communal area.
- A TV set powered by its own internal batteries - a pocket sized TV or a mobile phone for example - may be covered by a licence at the student's parents' address. However, you must not install the device (plug it into the mains) when using it to receive television. If there is no TV licence at your parents' address, you will need to obtain one to watch TV in this way.
TV Licence Refund
If you are not staying at university over the summer, and do not need your TV licence again before it expires, you could be entitled to a refund of any unused quarters (three full calendar months). So long as you bought your licence in October, and don't need it for July, August and September the following year, you could be eligible for a refund.
Ways to pay for a TV licence:
A colour TV licence currently costs £139.50. A black and white TV licence currently costs £47.50. There are several ways to pay:
Direct Debit: Direct Debit is now the most popular and hassle-free way to pay for your licence - over 12 million licence fee payers now pay this way. Phone 0844 800 6732 or visit www.tvlicensing.co.uk/dd to set up a monthly, quarterly or annual Direct Debit.
Credit/Debit Card: Simply call 0844 800 6732 and pay by credit or debit card. This facility accepts payment from a range of cards including Visa, Mastercard, Maestro/Switch, Solo and Delta. You can also pay online using your credit or debit card at www.tvlicensing.co.uk
Over the Counter: You can no longer buy your licence at the Post Office. To carry out any TV Licensing transaction in person (for example, buying a new licence, or making a cash or debit card payment towards a licence face to face), visit one of more than 19,000 local PayPoint outlets. Go to www.paypoint.co.uk/locator to find your nearest outlet.
TV Licensing savings card (which has replaced TV Licence savings stamps):
TV Licensing has replaced TV licence savings stamps with a more secure TV Licensing savings card, which all stamp users can now use at more than 19,000 PayPoint outlets across the UK. You can no longer buy TV Licence savings stamps at the Post Office®, nor use stamps to pay for a licence at the Post Office®. However, stamps still retain their value and can be transferred onto a new savings card or used to pay towards the cost of a licence by contacting TV Licensing. Requests for refunds can also be made by contacting TV Licensing directly, taking up to 30 days to process.
By Post: Simply send a cheque made payable to TV Licensing to the following address: Customer Services, TV Licensing, Bristol, BS98 1TL. Please write your name, address and reference number on the back.
If you move, to remain correctly licensed, your licence must be transferred to your new address. Please let us know by calling 0844 800 6790 or visit www.tvlicensing.co.uk/moving
