Ending Subscription, Need Freesat

[Asking4Nbour]

Hi

I'm asking for advice on behalf of my elderly neighbour. Her daughter recently realised her mother has been paying £50 a month (this is for quite a number of years now) for a Sky subscription when she only really watches BBC and ITV. She has cancelled the subscription, which ends next Monday, and I believe she has a Sky HD+ box - it's definitely not Sky Q. My neighbour doesn't have a TV aerial but my understanding is that once the subscription ends, she will be able to carry on using her box to get the free-to-air channels ie Freesat. Is this correct? I'm confused because my neighbour's daughter said when she rang Sky this morning to check if they'd be able to receive the free channels, she was told without an aerial they won't as when the subscription to Sky ends next Monday the satellite dish will be dead. This really doesn't sound right to me at all. I've not been a Sky customer for years so don't know how things have changed, so would really appreciate some advice on their behalf. Many thanks!

[Mark39]

Yes, if she has a Sky+HD box, she should be able to continue to receive, but not record the free to air channels when her subscription ends.

[Annie+UK]

You can watch the live Free-to-air and Free-to-view channels perfectly fine when your subs end, you cannot record, access on demand etc..

[Asking4Nbour]

Thank you for your replies, I thought this was the case. Is a card still needed for this, I remember years ago when we changed from paying a monthly subscription to Freesat, we had to buy a Sky Freesat card for a one off £20 I think it was?

[Annie+UK]

The card already in the box will give access to the free channels 🙂

[Asking4Nbour]

Thank you very much for your quick replies, it's much appreciated 😊 I can pass this on as they were worrying they were going to be stuck without TV after what they were told this morning. 

[Annie+UK]

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@Asking4Nbour wrote:

Thank you very much for your quick replies, it's much appreciated 😊 I can pass this on as they were worrying they were going to be stuck without TV after what they were told this morning. 

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You can watch nearly all the free channels without a veiwing card

[Asking4Nbour]

I can only think the person she spoke to at Sky told her this incorrect information to try and get her to renew the subscription. The free channels are all my neighbour needs and she never used things like record and on demand. Her late husband was the one who watched all the different channels and she just never cancelled the subscription after he died.