Cancelling my TV licence?

SWMBO

I've decided to cancel my TV licence. We don't watch enough TV for it to be worth it, so we're going to cancel & use the money saved for DVDs instead. I can't find anything intelligible on the TV licensing website about how to cancel, or how to work out how much I'm owed back. Do I just cancel the direct debit, or contact them through the website, or write to them, or what?

(N.B. Obviously I will not be watching or recording live broadcasts once I've cancelled - just to be completely clear.)

Kavanne

cancel the DD and call them or write to say you don't have a TV anymore.

Halloway

...and be prepared for the TV Licensing Authority not to believe you.

jasonwatkins

SWMBO wrote: »

(N.B. Obviously I will not be watching or recording live broadcasts once I've cancelled - just to be completely clear.)

Doesn't matter. If you have a television that can receive live broadcasts you need a licence. Saying "I won't watch live television" is completely irrelevant.

If you can physically remove the television tuner from your television, effectively rendering it no more than a monitor, and you're willing to prove that to TVL, then you will be allowed to cancel your license.

DrScotsman

Sorry, mind if I borrow your thread SWMBO?

I've not been watching live TV for ages, so I want to cancel/not renew my TV licence. Now I know they catch most people by fooling them into thinking they have a right to come into their home without any kind of warrant, not falling for that. The main problem with this is that I'm in rented accommodation and I'm pretty sure there's an aerial sticking out the top of my flat :rolleyes: and IF they somehow legally gained access to my house (which the sight of the aerial might let them obtain a warrant for?), they'd find that the cable stemming from the aerial is pretty much within reach of the TV. Would that be enough to get me in trouble? Should I beg the landlord to remove the aerial?

(By "them" I'm referring to anyone of real authority, not the TVL people if they don't have that)

And jasonwatkins, straight from the horses mouth - among many other sources - it says that "You must be covered by a valid TV Licence if you watch or record television programmes as they're being shown on TV", not if you own equipment to do these things.

ioscorpio

This website is very useful

http://www.tvlicensing.biz/phpBB3/index.php

diable

DrScotsman wrote: »

Sorry, mind if I borrow your thread SWMBO?

I've not been watching live TV for ages, so I want to cancel/not renew my TV licence. Now I know they catch most people by fooling them into thinking they have a right to come into their home without any kind of warrant, not falling for that. The main problem with this is that I'm in rented accommodation and I'm pretty sure there's an aerial sticking out the top of my flat :rolleyes: and IF they somehow legally gained access to my house (which the sight of the aerial might let them obtain a warrant for?), they'd find that the cable stemming from the aerial is pretty much within reach of the TV. Would that be enough to get me in trouble? Should I beg the landlord to remove the aerial?

(By "them" I'm referring to anyone of real authority, not the TVL people if they don't have that)

And jasonwatkins, straight from the horses mouth - among many other sources - it says that "You must be covered by a valid TV Licence if you watch or record television programmes as they're being shown on TV", not if you own equipment to do these things.

I suppose the landlord could remove the arial as long as you paid for it to be removed and once you moved out paid for it to be put back.

jasonwatkins

DrScotsman wrote: »

And jasonwatkins

go back to that link and read on some more ..

If you use a digital box with a hi-fi system, or another device that can only be used to produce sounds and can't display TV programmes, and you don't install or use any other TV receiving equipment, you don't need a TV Licence.

You pay the TV licence for the right to own equipment that can receive a television signal.

it is completely irrelevant if you actually watch it or not.

why do you think you have to give your name and address when you buy a freeview box ?

DrScotsman

jasonwatkins wrote: »

go back to that link and read on some more ..



You pay the TV licence for the right to own equipment that can receive a television signal.

it is completely irrelevant if you actually watch it or not.

I've read several pages in the last couple hours that beg to differ.

http://www.bbctvlicence.com/Questions%20and%20answers.htm
Straight from the BBC (forced under the Freedom of Information act, nice to see them squirm ). Question number 2. "Not needed because a receiver is simply owned".
Also number 3; the fact that a licence isn't needed for a TV used just for DVDs.

TVL. Not needed if you only use it for DVDs, etc. Surely TVL - who only lie in ways to make you pay for a licence, not to make you NOT pay for one - can be trusted on this one? (I know the URL is metafaq but you can get to here from their website, try it)


Might edit this post as I find more examples

jasonwatkins

there's a very simple solution to the problem.

call TVL and invite them to your house. tell them you "only watch dvd's".

see what they say ..

DrScotsman

jasonwatkins wrote: »

there's a very simple solution to the problem.

call TVL and invite them to your house. tell them you "only watch dvd's".

see what they say ..

Are you suggesting that information obtained from the BBC (=TVL) under the freedom of information act, and information from TVL themselves has a lesser chance of being correct than one of their enforcement officers? I'd think that the former have a much higher chance of being informed from a legal perspective than an enforcement officer, who are known to make many mistakes.