BBC set to use iPlayer to catch licence fee dodgers

Here's how it will happen

For the first time, in order to help find licence fee evaders, online BBC accounts could be linked with home addresses.

This means that any household that watches or records live TV on any channel or uses BBC iPlayer must have a TV licence.

And all this costs £174.50 a year.

The corporation has a duty to collect the licence fee, and sends targeted letters or emails to those it believes are not paying it and should be.

For people who are 75 or older and receive Pension Credit, blind people, those who live in qualifying residential care and are disabled or over 60, there are concessions however.

The same applies to businesses that provide overnight accommodation.

The potential fine for failing to pay the fee is £1,000.

“We always look at ways to improve how we collect the licence fee. This includes using the data available to us to get a better understanding of viewing habits and use of BBC services”, a TV licensing spokesperson told Sky Money.

Around £550m out of the £3.8bn collected by the BBC from sales of more than 23 million TV licences in 2024–25 is thought to have been lost through evasion.