my wife just got a tv licence court summons

veryworriednow

Hi all, i have not posted on here before so im not sure im posting in the right place but here goes(i have posted this already but i was told it would be better posted in this section).

in november 2009 my wife had a knock at the door and it was a tv licence guy. she let him in and she filled in some paper work with him and signed it and she was read her rights. we dont dispute the fact that we had a tv without a licence, although as far as my wife was concerned we had one but had missed alot of payments.

in the early part of 2009, i made my wife go down the doctors as she had self harmed, constantly crying and always in a mood. the doctor diagnosed clinical depression and she was placed on medication to try and sort this out and she is still heavily reliant on this medication even today. i then tryed to take over the finances as she was unable to deal with them. i did not even think about tv licence at the time.

when the guy from tv licence left, he said "if you sort out a payment plan so you have a tv licence, then you dont need to worry about this. as long as you get a tv licence, you can forget i called". so we sorted it out in my name and i have been paying monthly since. i missed the first payment by mistake but payed double the next month and so i know im up to date.

now this morning! recieved a court summons through the door for my wife. date of information on the summons is 22/03/2010, the auto printed date on the bottom of the letter which is built into the ref No. is 25 march 2010. now we only got this today and the hearing date is 18 may 2010(10 days time).

our finances are also not good as my wife had to give up work because the job she was in was looking after people that could not look after themselves and she also struggled very much when there was a death in the care home. she is trying to set up a business with a friend now to try and sort things out, but its slow progress and we dont expect to see a return for a few months if not longer. i am working but everything i earn goes on rent, car finance, repaying overdraft and paying for our 2 children. we do get tax credit but only about £60 per week. my wage is about £350 per week. rent is £500 pm, car is £300 pm, overdraft to lloyds is repayed at £200pm and i have even defualted on that this month(i could afford it a few months ago before my wife left work), council tax is £80pm, car insurance is £60pm and there are a few other bills like gas and electric paid each month(elec is £96pm at the moment).

we are thinking of pleading guilty and going to the magistrates court and explaining the circumstances to them. is this wise or do we just plead guilty by post. my wife is in pieces and im genuinely worried about her now as this was the last thing she needed right now.

we really need any advice we can get at the moment

Thanks all

Rob

spike7451

Rob,
I got one of these last year as my circumstances was I was unemployed at the time.I had an up to date licence at the time as I had gotten it backdated to when the last one expired but before I could do this,while I was away on exercise with the TA,the inspector called at my home.
Before you go into the court you can pay the cost by cheque or PO to the licencing inspector (I only had to pay £32 costs) & all you will have to pay is what you owe in 'back tax'(because that's all the tv licence is in reality!) plus costs but,if you say you're up to date & can prove it,all you'll have to pay will be the costs & they will only defer payment for one month at the judges discresion.
Dont worry about it,the letter they send you is a scare tactic,nothing more.And check the facts on the sheet that the inspector got you to sign as often they contain 'errors'. (the inspectors are actually employed by a outside agency & do not have official powers)
You might like to have a shufty here:
http://tvlicenceresistance.info/forum/index.php
It's a bit of an eye opener!

DoshDolt

Hi Rob,

First of all welcome to our little community.

I am no expert, but many people on this site are. So, hopefully you will get the answers that you are looking for.

The advice that I give anyone who is willing to listen is - bite the bullet and go to CAB.

I was guided through my maze of debt by the wonderful staff at the CAB. (They have saved my house, my marriage and my sanity!!!:j)

Better advice will follow, but at least CAB will advise on ALL of your problems and they help you free of charge.

Best of luck.

DD

RAS

veryworriednow wrote: »

she let him in and she filled in some paper work with him and signed it and she was read her rights. we dont dispute the fact that we had a tv without a licence, although as far as my wife was concerned we had one but had missed alot of payments.

when the guy from tv licence left, he said "if you sort out a payment plan so you have a tv licence, then you dont need to worry about this. as long as you get a tv licence, you can forget i called".

so we sorted it out in my name and i have been paying monthly since. i missed the first payment by mistake but payed double the next month and so i know im up to date.

Rob

Rob

I have highlighted a few words, which explain your problem.

Your wife did not have a valid licence.

So you bought one in your name.

two problems with this.

1. As far as the licence people are concerned, to date your wife has never acted on the advice given by the licence man and got a licence in her name.

2. If you were behind with payments in November, the chances are the TV licence you took out cover from November and there may still be a month or two prior to November which you have never paid for.


If you had sort it out in youer wife's name she would not be facing a court summons.

DVardysShadow

RAS wrote: »

Rob

I have highlighted a few words, which explain your problem.

Your wife did not have a valid licence.

So you bought one in your name.

two problems with this.

1. As far as the licence people are concerned, to date your wife has never acted on the advice given by the licence man and got a licence in her name.

2. If you were behind with payments in November, the chances are the TV licence you took out cover from November and there may still be a month or two prior to November which you have never paid for.


If you had sort it out in youer wife's name she would not be facing a court summons.

Thanks for the insight - I agree this is what probably happened.

A mess to resolve, but the licence is for TV reception at an address, so logically if wife would have been let off if she bought a backdated licence and husband got one for the address backdated to the previous licence, then they should still let her off.