Derry pensioner angry at being billed for a TV licence in his 80s

The man’s father is among thousands who have received letters telling them that if they don’t get Pension Credit they will soon have to start paying for a licence. Up until now people over 75 had been entitled to free TV.

The angry reader said: “It is absolutely ridiculous that someone in their 80s who has worked their entire life is being sent such a bill. There is no choice in this. It has to be paid.”

Back in 2015 the London Government announced the BBC would have to start covering the cost of free TV licences for over-75s from 2020/21.

And last summer the BBC said it was ending the free entitlement as it forecast it would cost £745m, or a fifth of the broadcaster’s budget. The Conservative Party, in its last manifesto, said the licences should be funded by the BBC.

The man who contacted the ‘Journal’ said: “Those millionaire Tories sitting in London who pushed this agenda through haven’t got a clue about the impact this is going to have on millions of ordinary people. It’s also very worrying for anyone in their late seventies, eighties or nineties who may never have set up a direct debit or even have a bank or building society account. It’s just scandalous.”

Sinn Féin Councillor Patricia Logue said: “I was contacted over the weekend by a constituent whose elderly parent was extremely worried after they received one of these letters telling them that from June 1, they will have to pay a TV licence.

“The scrapping of free TV licences for some over 75s is another example of the Tories penalising large sections of our society. Pensioners are paying for the price for Tory austerity.

“This move could put the price of a TV licence beyond some pensioners which would increase isolation, poverty and have a negative impact on their mental health.”