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Why you need a TV Licence

A drawing of a TV and a house

To watch or record TV programmes you must have a TV Licence

  • You only need 1 TV Licence for your home no matter how many TVs you have.
  • The licence is for the place, not the TV.
A drawing of a laptop and mobile phone
A drawing of a DVD player / recorder

You can watch TV programmes in lots of different ways

  • On a TV set
  • On a computer or laptop
  • On a mobile phone

You might also have

  • A digital box (sometimes these are called digi boxes)
  • A DVD or video recorder

If you have any of this equipment in your home to watch or record TV programmes you need a TV Licence.

A drawing of someone with cash in their hand

A TV Licence costs

  • £145.50 for colour TV
  • £49.00 for black and white TV
A drawing of a phone and a post box

If you do not watch or record TV programmes you should tell us

We may send a TV Licensing officer to your home to check that what you have told us is true.

A drawing of someone counting out their money

You must be covered by a valid TV Licence if you use TV receiving equipment to watch or record television programmes as they’re being shown on TV. If you do not get a TV Licence when you should have one you are breaking the law. This means you could go to court and be fined up to £1,000.

Mencap helped to make sure these pages are easy to read. The illustrations are by Matt Buckingham.