Do Students In Halls Need A TV License

If university is your first experience of living away from home it can be daunting. The responsibilities of living alone and managing your own bills and finances can seem scary, but it doesn’t have to be like that.

One of the bills you’ll have to pay is your TV licence and whether you live in halls of residence or not you’ll need one. It’s not something you want to try and dodge, no matter how tight money gets, because you’ll face a £1000 fine.

A TV licence is £145.50 per year – you can pay it in one go by credit or debit card, monthly by direct debit, or using a cash payment card.

Here’s what you need to know about your TV licence:

Watching “live” TV

If you’re going to be watching or recording live TV then you need a TV licence. “Live” TV is content as it is broadcast and you’ll need a licence whether you’re watching it on your TV, laptop, mobile, or tablet device.

If you only watch “catch-up” TV, Netflix, Lovefilm, Youtube, or another film service you don’t need a TV licence. However, only 1% of people really do that so don’t think you’ll get away with not paying if you do watch live TV.

Halls of residence

If you’re living in halls of residence at university then you’re probably already covered by a TV licence to watch live TV in communal areas. However, you probably won’t be covered to watch TV in your room.

It’s worth checking with your university but you’ll probably find you’ll need your own TV licence.

Getting a refund for the summer

If you’re finishing the summer term and you’ve got a full three months left on your TV licence then you’ll be able to apply for a refund for those three months.

As long as you’re not going to be using the licence over the summer then you should get a refund of £36 for the unused quarter. Be aware, this isn’t an automatic refund so you’ll need to apply to it.