Aileen Boor had selected an outfit to wear in court after being bombarded with enforcement letters – despite claims the BBC has an ‘unofficial amnesty’ against prosecuting over-75s
Pensioners as old as 100 are being sent letters threatening them with prosecution for failing to pay their TV licence fee – despite claims the BBC is operating an “unofficial amnesty” for thousands of elderly non-payers.
The BBC ended universal free licences for over-75s in 2020, but it is understood it has yet to prosecute anyone in that age bracket found not to be paying the charge.
However, despite a lack of prosecutions, campaign groups say elderly people are being sent letters every few weeks threatening them with enforcement visits, fines and prosecution.
The i Paper has discovered Aileen Boor, from Stockport, was pursued with letters threatening action, up to her death at the age of 100. Her daughter said Mrs Boor had “picked out her outfit” she planned to wear in court.
Despite each letter warning of further action in the course of four years, Mrs Boor did not face any enforcement proceedings.
With the licence fee increasing by £5 to £174.50 in April, alongside other bill increases, experts and charities have warned more older people could find themselves unable to pay and left feeling threatened and harassed by repeated demands for payment.
Silver Voices, a non-profit campaign group for the over-60s, estimates that around 200,000 over-75s are not paying the licence fee.
Dennis Reed, director of Silver Voices, said: “Some of our members have received 50 letters over four years from TV Licensing threatening visits, prosecutions and £1,000 fines. But the letters aren’t followed up and action isn’t taken.
“The BBC is operating an unofficial amnesty on prosecuting the over-75s. They should just admit it publicly because it’s wasting a ridiculous amount of money on administration by sending all these letters.”
Reed added he believes the BBC wants to avoid the bad publicity that would follow dragging elderly pensioners through the courts for non-payment.
‘My mum had picked her outfit for court’
Aileen Boor was sent letters from TV Licensing over four years, warning she faced prosecution for non-payment, up to her 100th birthday.
But Mrs Boor, from Stockport, who refused to pay on principle, was surprisingly disappointed that the threats were not followed through.
Her daughter Wendy Steele said: “She was in her nineties when she put her foot down about having to pay for her TV licence, and said that she did not go to war as a teenager to help out the BBC, particularly as she often said that their programmes were rubbish.
“Mum was absolutely adamant she wasn’t going to pay anymore and one day told me that she had picked her outfit for when she could have her day in court.
“The longer the time went by, the more she got the letters, always addressed to The Occupier. She always used to say, ‘Bring it on.’”
Mrs Boor passed away last year, shortly after her 100th birthday -– without paying her licence.
The BBC did not comment on claims it is operating a secret amnesty but said prosecutions were a “last resort”, adding each case had to pass a “public interest” test before being taken to court.
Of more than 28,500 TV licence prosecutions in the year ending June 2024, only 237 were of people aged 70 or over, according to the latest available Ministry of Justice figures.
In October 2023, then Media Minister Sir John Whittingdale told Parliament that no over-75s had been prosecuted since the universal concession ended.
No specific figures for enforcement action against over-75s are officially published, but The i Paper understands there have still been no prosecutions to date.
Whittingdale said the “unofficial amnesty” raised questions over the future of the licence fee. He said: “It is the contradiction that the BBC want over 75s to pay but do not want to be seen to be pursuing them. It is clearly another flaw in the licence fee model.”
Free licences would cost £580m
The BBC scrapped free licences for over-75s in 2020 after the then Tory government made the BBC shoulder the cost of the policy. The BBC said the rising elderly population meant the concession would eat up one-fifth of its budget.
The corporation already spends more than £140m on 800,000 free licences for over-75s who claim Pension Credit, plus an additional 190,000 for those in residential care homes.
There are also thought to be around 425,000 over-75s who are eligible for pension credit – and by extension a free licence – but are yet to claim it, according to Age UK.
Allowing all over-75s free licences once more would cost the BBC – which is already forced to cut programmes and jobs – an additional £580m.
Licensing authorities have been accused of taking a heavy-handed approach to recovering fees with the BBC recently forced to apologise for letters sent “in error” threatening to knock on pensioners’ doors on Christmas Day.
The BBC responded via a TV Licensing spokesperson, who said: “Our primary aim is to support customers, particularly those with vulnerabilities, and to help them get and stay licensed.
“When there is evidence that someone has avoided paying for a TV Licence when they need one, we have a duty to enforce the law and this applies to everyone. In all cases, prosecution is a last resort.”
Prosecutions can only be pursued after an enforcement visit has taken place; evidence has been found that TV is being watched without a licence and the householder has been interviewed and a record of an interview taken.
Many older pensioners are reluctant to open the door to officers and Silver Voices advises elderly non-payers “you are under no obligation to admit the official into your house without a warrant”.
A potential prosecution must also pass “public interest tests”, with the BBC likely to consider there is little public interest in taking an elderly person to court.
The number of people not paying for a TV licence across all age groups is increasing, with 500,000 licences cancelled last year.
Ministers are discussing decriminalising non-payment of the licence fee amid concern at the cost of prosecutions to taxpayers.
A change to the way that non-payment is enforced will be part of the negotiations between the government and the BBC in the forthcoming charter renewal discussions, which began in January.
The BBC disclosed last year that it spent £169m on a five-year contract with Whistl and Royal Mail to deliver letters to those suspected of not paying their TV licence.
BBC insiders believe the TV licence could eventually be replaced by a “digital household charge”, automatically added on to monthly utility bills.
Whitehall officials are considering extending the licence fee to people who subscribe exclusively to platforms like Netflix and Disney+ in order to give the BBC additional revenue.
Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, said of the April licence fee rise: “Although the increase is relatively modest it will still be a blow for older people on low and modest incomes who do not qualify for a free licence, especially as it is coming on top of all the other rising bills they are facing this month.”
