TV Licensing
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- / About us and the TV LicenceLink for About us and the TV Licence
- / Our roles and responsibilities
Our roles and responsibilities
TV Licensing has a number of roles and responsibilities. We process payments and respond to customer queries. We inform people when they need to buy a TV Licence and give information on the many ways they can pay. We're also responsible for identifying people who aren't correctly licensed and prosecuting people who evade paying their TV Licence. It's our aim to maximise licence fee revenue by collecting the fee in the most cost efficient way possible.
How we use our database
We maintain a database of licensed and unlicensed addresses in the UK. We use this database to identify and contact people that we believe are using TV receiving equipment without a valid TV Licence.
Checking properties are correctly licensed
Typically we'll send a number of letters to remind occupants of the importance of being properly licensed. Then we’ll try to contact them by phone. If there’s still no response, we may send a visiting officer to see if there's any TV receiving equipment on the premises. Visits can result in evaders being caught. On average over 1,000 evaders are caught daily.
Detection equipment will only be used if other less intrusive and more cost effective routes have been exhausted.
About us and the TV LicenceLink for About us and the TV Licence
Freedom of Information Act (FOI)
Latest press releases
- TV Licensing assures customers that implementing the new over 75s licence fee concession will be Covid-19 safe
- Thu Jul 09 2020
- Following the BBC Board’s confirmation that the BBC will begin the new scheme covering the over 75s licence fee concession from 1 August this year, TV Licensing is assuring customers that implementation of the new scheme will be Covid-19 safe.
- Thousands of black and white TVs still in use as BBC One in colour hits 50
- Wed 13 Nov 2019
- As BBC One celebrates its 50th anniversary of colour television this week, TV Licensing has revealed that more than 6,500 UK households are still watching TV programmes on black and white TV sets.
- Over 20,000 young people interviewed for watching TV without a TV Licence
- Tue Oct 22 2019
- More than 20,000 young people aged 18 to 25 have been interviewed by TV Licensing Visiting Officers for watching live TV or BBC iPlayer without a valid licence in the last year, according to figures released by TV Licensing.