dcsimg
 

Detection and penalties

Not covered by a TV Licence? You are breaking the law if you:

  • watch TV channels, like BBC, ITV, Channel 4, U&Dave and international channels
  • watch TV on pay TV services, like Sky, Virgin Media and EE TV
  • watch live TV on streaming services, like YouTube, Netflix, and Amazon Prime Video
  • use BBC iPlayer*

This includes recording and downloading. On any device.

*A licence is not needed to watch S4C programmes on demand.


You could be prosecuted if we find that you have been watching, recording or downloading programmes illegally. The maximum penalty is a £1,000* fine plus any legal costs and/or compensation you may be ordered to pay.

*The maximum fine is £2,000 in Guernsey.

A standard TV Licence costs £174.50 and a black and white licence costs £58.50.

Pay for your TV Licence

How we can detect if you’re covered by a TV Licence

National database

We have a database of approximately 31 million licensed and unlicensed addresses. This tells us if your address has a TV Licence.

Visiting officers

All our visiting officers have access to this database. This means they can check if you have a licence or not.

If you tell us that you do not need a TV Licence, our officers may still visit you to confirm this.

Detector vans

We also have a fleet of detector vans that can detect the use of TV receiving equipment at specifically targeted addresses within minutes.

Find out more about visits, prosecutions and fines.

Find out more about what happens if you don't pay for a TV Licence (or have a free one).


If you still have questions take a look at TV Licensing FAQs where you can find all the answers in one place.
 
 

General information about TV Licensing is available in other languages:

© 2025 TV Licensing