How To Legally Stop Paying Your Tv Licence!

paddedjohn

you dont have to prove anything to anyone, its up to them to prove that you are watching live tv without a licence. You can own 10 tv's if you so wish and not need a licence at all.

N9eav

For those of you old enough to remember this BBC TV comedy

I think you will enjoy

Edwardia

When our TV went wrong over 15 yrs ago, we were without it and realised most of the time that it was just visual wallpaper. We sat like zombies in front of it not speaking, eating dinner off a tray on the sofa. We got rid of the TV and instead we started listening to music, reading books, playing cards, going for walks, having long soaks in the bath, going to the cinema etc. The only things we missed were films. Once PCs accepted DVDs we could watch them.

So we didn't have and still don't have any televisions or computers with TV tuners or a TV aerial. I checked with the TV Licensing Unit to find out if I needed one to watch catch up on a laptop without a TV tuner and as long as it's not live I don't need one. That it saves money is a side issue for me. If I had to buy a licence to watch catch up I just wouldn't watch it because I don't watch enough TV to justify it and would rather get Netflix etc instead.

AFAIK the UK is the only country with a TV licence. Personally I think it's an outmoded form of paying for TV and unfair on the millions who never watch BBC channels and have to pay for them. I'd hazard a guess that the reason it exists is because the BBC is a huge organisation which wastes a lot of money unlike Channel4 which is state owned but leaner and largely funded by advertising.

It's really easy for the TV Licensing Unit to prove that you've been watching live TV however you watch it btw but especially easy via the websites.

cajef

fonzy8 wrote: »

IWhat do I need to do to prove that I dont watch the live BBC channels? I pay the license fee.

My (possibly wrong) understanding is that if you have equipment in the house that can receive BBC channels,

You are wrong it does not matter which channels you watch, not just the BBC, if you watch or record any TV channels as they are being broadcast live you need a licenCe.

asharon

You can have any tv you want digital or not.

It needs to be unset up so no channels are tuned in. No ariel is plugged in.

FOr the above then no you would not need a license.

Dollardog

I had been paying my tv licence by DD, but one month, I was particularly short of money and had to stop any of my DD's going out of the account for that month. Before I had time to restart it, I got a letter from TV licensing to say it was paid up to last October, so I didn't bother restarting the DD. I then forgot about it, until I got a call in November to tell me I hadn't got a licence.
I have an old tv that wasn't good at picking up channels on Freeview even beffore the digital switchover because the aerial is not right for digital, or not facing the right way or whatever.
I had got a laptop 18 months before and had gradually stopped watching tv altogether, preferring to series record any programs I wanted on i-player or the other catch up programmes as I am rarely in when the programmes I want to watch are on.
I told the tv licensing person this when they rang and said that although my tv is still plugged into the aerial, since the digital switch over, it doesn't pick any programmes up. Whenever I have tried to watch 'live' programmes on my laptop, it often gets so far through them, then says there's not enough bandwidth, so I don't bother with that either, I just download them to the laptop later. I said that technically, I had equipment in the house, ie the laptop that 'could' receive live tv, even though I didn't watch live and that because of that, I was quite happy to pay the fee. She said that as I didn't watch it, she wasn't happy for me to pay money out for a service I wasn't using.
I asked how I could prove I didn't watch it if anyone called as technically had the equipment there, the tv is still connected to the aerial, even though I haven't watched it for 18 months, because I can't get to the back of it to disconnect it. She said I didn't need to, it would be up to them to prove I did and as I didn't, I had nothing to worry about.
So I don't pay it and only ever watch programmes on a catchup service.

jenniewb

Dollardog wrote: »

I had been paying my tv licence by DD, but one month, I was particularly short of money and had to stop any of my DD's going out of the account for that month. Before I had time to restart it, I got a letter from TV licensing to say it was paid up to last October, so I didn't bother restarting the DD. I then forgot about it, until I got a call in November to tell me I hadn't got a licence.
I have an old tv that wasn't good at picking up channels on Freeview even beffore the digital switchover because the aerial is not right for digital, or not facing the right way or whatever.
I had got a laptop 18 months before and had gradually stopped watching tv altogether, preferring to series record any programs I wanted on i-player or the other catch up programmes as I am rarely in when the programmes I want to watch are on.
I told the tv licensing person this when they rang and said that although my tv is still plugged into the aerial, since the digital switch over, it doesn't pick any programmes up. Whenever I have tried to watch 'live' programmes on my laptop, it often gets so far through them, then says there's not enough bandwidth, so I don't bother with that either, I just download them to the laptop later. I said that technically, I had equipment in the house, ie the laptop that 'could' receive live tv, even though I didn't watch live and that because of that, I was quite happy to pay the fee. She said that as I didn't watch it, she wasn't happy for me to pay money out for a service I wasn't using.
I asked how I could prove I didn't watch it if anyone called as technically had the equipment there, the tv is still connected to the aerial, even though I haven't watched it for 18 months, because I can't get to the back of it to disconnect it. She said I didn't need to, it would be up to them to prove I did and as I didn't, I had nothing to worry about.
So I don't pay it and only ever watch programmes on a catchup service.

I had something similar: I had a freeview box but was only able to pick up Dave and one or two others, E4+1 and Sky3 and QVC, everything else just didn't show and I got a blank screen- not even shadowy or fuzzy, just plain grey with no sound.

I assumed that as I watched Dave and etc (I like the TV on in the background) that I was liable for the licence and paid up.

Came to last year November and they do something to the signal in my area...NO TV AT ALL!! Nothing! I was so annoyed I called up the TV licence people thinking they'd do something to fix it as I was paying.

The man I spoke to apologised and said nothing could be done, he asked if I watch Live TV online which I don't and then said that I wasn't liable for the licence and would I like a refund! He explained to me this meant no LIVE TV on my computer (which I don't watch anyway because my computer just decides to freeze frame-but not the voices, at countless times in a show and it irritates me too much to watch!)

I should add, I'd love to watch TV again. I even had a TV expert tell me why the channels no longer work, apparently as I live in a block of flats and face the wrong way unless I put up my own arial which I can't afford to do perhaps ever, I wont be able to ever pick up a signal and so wont have a license to pay.

TBH I'd rather pay the license and watch TV, sad that I can't afford to.

Dollardog

jenniewb wrote: »

I had something similar: I had a freeview box but was only able to pick up Dave and one or two others, E4+1 and Sky3 and QVC, everything else just didn't show and I got a blank screen- not even shadowy or fuzzy, just plain grey with no sound.

I assumed that as I watched Dave and etc (I like the TV on in the background) that I was liable for the licence and paid up.

Came to last year November and they do something to the signal in my area...NO TV AT ALL!! Nothing! I was so annoyed I called up the TV licence people thinking they'd do something to fix it as I was paying.

The man I spoke to apologised and said nothing could be done, he asked if I watch Live TV online which I don't and then said that I wasn't liable for the licence and would I like a refund! He explained to me this meant no LIVE TV on my computer (which I don't watch anyway because my computer just decides to freeze frame-but not the voices, at countless times in a show and it irritates me too much to watch!)

I should add, I'd love to watch TV again. I even had a TV expert tell me why the channels no longer work, apparently as I live in a block of flats and face the wrong way unless I put up my own arial which I can't afford to do perhaps ever, I wont be able to ever pick up a signal and so wont have a license to pay.

TBH I'd rather pay the license and watch TV, sad that I can't afford to.

My laptop freezes in the middle of watching programs, but I got round that by downloading them from i-player etc. You can put a program on to series record and it will automatically download whenever you have the Internet on and go to the i-player website. I watch programs from itv-player 4OD etc like that. I can't afford to have my tv aerial moved/updated or whatever they have to do to it.

jenniewb

Dollardog wrote: »

My laptop freezes in the middle of watching programs, but I got round that by downloading them from i-player etc. You can put a program on to series record and it will automatically download whenever you have the Internet on and go to the i-player website. I watch programs from itv-player 4OD etc like that. I can't afford to have my tv aerial moved/updated or whatever they have to do to it.

I can grin and bear it for shows I especially want to watch but TBH Tv is a bit rubbish at the moment- either overly doom and gloom depressing or full of "go compare" adverts which make me wish I'd never turned my computer on!

I watch bits and peices when I visit friends or my family or the gym (though it ends up being their choice rather then mine) but I don't watch anything like as much as I used to watch even 5 years ago, I don't feel like I am missing out at all. And the depression that even just the News (or especially the News!) brings, its a well appreciated break to be honest!

BourneUK

I think if most of had the choice we wouldn't pay for it. I have a licence and have always had one but one point I always wonder about is that it's a TV licence and not specific to BBC, my understanding is that you need to pay if you have a TV and not just for the BBC so is the revenue generated shared with all broadcasters, I think not so its a BBC tax and should be rebranded as the BBC licence. I'm not sure any of the arguments stated would stand up in court but I'm no lawyer.
It would be good for the government to abolish all such schemes but probably not a priority as they are too busy claiming their expenses