On April 1st, TV licence fees went up by £1.50, to £147 a year – and you’ll almost definitely need one since a licensing law change last year closed the “iPlayer loophole”. With more and more of the best TV only available through subscription channels and services, prompting us to fork out even more, how can you get your essential daily telly fix and save money on your services?
Make sure you actually need a TV licence
When a change in the law closed the “iPlayer loophole” last year, it raised a lot of questions about who actually needs a TV licence. Previously the rules had been a little murky when it came to on demand content like BBC iPlayer, but now, the only way you can get around needing a TV licence is by never watching any TV at its time of broadcast, and never watching any BBC content at all. That means you’re safe to watch Netflix, ITV player, All4 and other catch-up services without a licence, but as soon as you want to live-stream something, watch or record actual TV, or watch anything on iPlayer, you need to pay for a TV licence.
Check out the competition
An easy way to instantly cut costs on your TV and internet services is to compare the price of your package to others on the market. Make sure you’re not paying over the odds and switch providers if you are. You may even be able to bundle your services together into one better value package. If you do manage to find a cheaper deal, remember to call your current provider before you sign up to see if they can match or better it – chances are they’ll be able to do something to help! If they can’t match the price of the better deal, then switch. It really is that simple!
Optimise your channel package
Having hundreds of TV channels to pick from is a wonderful thing, but ask yourself this: how often do you skim through those hundreds of channels and can still find nothing to watch? Chances are, you’ll only watch a fraction of the channels you have access to and could save some money by cutting down on the ones you don’t watch. Sports packages are one of the main offenders when it comes to channel overload, and unless you’re a real fanatic there can be much cheaper options. For example, Now TV offer monthly, weekly, and even daily channel access packages which represent great value for money to the occasional viewer. The same goes for movies – do you really need expensive movie channels as part of your TV package when you can satisfy all your movie needs, and then some, with a service like Netflix or Amazon Prime? If you’re a passionate viewer then perhaps you find the value for money in having so many channels, but you could save a packet by cutting down.
Consider your needs
Many of us pay for much more than we actually need when it comes to all sorts, from our mobile phone bills to internet packages. Having unlimited everything is definitely the most cost effective way to avoid any over-use charges, but if you never come close, is playing it safe costing you dearly? If you speak to your various providers, they should be able to tell you what your average monthly usage is –for your mobile phone, your internet, and your landline phone, too – and you can ask them about cheaper packages that will comfortably cover your average usage without the “unlimited premium”. You may even be able to cut back on the speeds granted by your internet package to save a bit – the average internet user only needs a 5Mbps connection, while the average package comes with 13Mbps, so it’s worth looking into.
So what are you waiting for? Get in touch with your providers today and see how much you could save!
