Age UK Warns of Surge in TV Licensing Fraudsters

A leading UK old people's charity has warned that the BBC's recent decision to tighten the eligibility criteria for over-75 TV licences will lead to a surge in fraud.

Research by Age UK suggests there could be a 13% rise in fraudsters posing as TV Licensing, which could result in elderly people being cheated out of £320,000.

Since the over-75 TV licence was introduced in the year 2000, the concession has been available to every household with at least one occupant aged 75 years or older.

As a condition of the BBC's most recent Royal Charter renewal, the national broadcaster agreed to fund the over-75 TV licence in its entirety. In an effort to reduce the £750m annual cost of providing over-75 TV licences, it has toughened the rules for getting one.

With effect from June 2020 the "free" TV licence will only be available to those over-75 households with an occupant in receipt of pension credit.

Around 3 million current recipients of the over-75 TV licence will lose their eligibility, saving the BBC around £470 million a year.

Caroline Abrahams, Age UK's charity director, said: "Fraudsters are always searching for new opportunities to part us from our cash and it seems that the decision to make millions of older people buy a TV licence from next summer could be a bonanza for them.

"As though the prospect of losing their free TV licence wasn’t bad enough for our over-75s, this expected upsurge in fraudulent communications adds insult to injury and will be a further kick in the teeth for anyone unfortunate enough to be caught out.

Tom Watson MP, the Shadow Culture Secretary, said: "It is a disgrace that there are some TV licence scammers trying to defraud some of the most vulnerable people in our society. They should be ashamed of themselves.

"This Tory Government should urgently rethink its decision to scrap millions of free TV licences. We already knew it would leave older people worse off and more isolated. Now we know it could leave them vulnerable to these despicable fraudsters too."

A Government spokesman said: "We're very disappointed with the BBC's decision – we were clear we expected it to continue this concession.

"Taxpayers want to see the BBC using its substantial licence fee income in an appropriate way to ensure it delivers for UK audiences, which includes showing restraint on salaries for senior staff."

The BBC said: "We take these issues very seriously and we are doing everything we can to help protect our customers against fraudsters by ensuring they can distinguish between what is a genuine TV Licensing communication and what is a scam.

"Our advice is that if people are unsure about a communication they've received, they should contact us directly and we can help. We never contact customers out of the blue to ask for bank details, personal information, or to tell them that they may be entitled to a refund."

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