TV licence query

dizziblonde

The letters you get to an empty property are ridiculous in their amount and tone. We've just bought a house that was empty for 2 years previously and you could barely get the door open for flipping TV licencing "you need to get a licence NOW" reminders in a variety of guises. When we got the keys we had about a fortnight of us moving stuff gradually and doing DIY with no TVs moved into the property (I intentionally refused to even move the TV into the building until we'd got the licence transferred from our own place in order to cover ourselves) - and got three more letters in that time.

No way can that level of postal aerial bombardment be justified in terms of cost - return.

Nottingham89

Good Afternoon,

If this is the incorrect place to post this, can you please move it too the correct forum, thanks.

This morning I had a man from TV License come visit me.

I have lived in my flat for 6 months now and when I moved in I had a TV, Freeview box etc from my parents house but I hard hardly used it, I had it on a few times for the world cup but that was it.

I use my laptop and watch BBC Iplayer after the programs have been live.

I dont need a license as I cant afford it but the man today conducted an “ interview “ and cautioned me saying they have evidence from a detector van and if I dont starting paying I will be taken to court under the communications act 2003.

I have now been forced to buy a license for a TV I don’t use, and yes I know I should not of used it during the summer so is this just a scare tactic from them? I have seen no vans around the block of flats.

When he came around to visit this morning I only spoke to him at the door, as I had my friend around who was in tears due to some problems she is having and I did not want any one to see her, I told him my TV was connected to an Ariel etc but on the sheet it says I refused when I told him.

Am I going to get prosecuted for this? I am on a very tight budget due to being on disability benefits. He also asked for my bank details at my door and I refused to give them to him, he could have been anyone.

Kurtis_Blue

Your need for a TV licence is not worked out by whether you can afford it it is whether you watch live broadcast, you did and needed a TV licence so are guilty, I hardly ever speed, but if I get caught out I'm not going to cry abut it.

If you no longer need one then that is all OK, dont buy one, but if you moved in and was going to watch TV you should have had a licence, if not why did you connect up the freeview box?

derrick

Kurtis_Blue wrote: »

Your need for a TV licence is not worked out by whether you can afford it it is whether you watch live broadcast, you did and needed a TV licence so are guilty, I hardly ever speed, but if I get caught out I'm not going to cry abut it.

If you no longer need one then that is all OK, dont buy one, but if you moved in and was going to watch TV you should have had a licence, if not why did you connect up the freeview box?

Radio progs? no licence needed.

Heinz

Nottingham89 wrote: »

He also asked for my bank details at my door and I refused to give them to him, he could have been anyone.

Why did you consent to the 'interview' then?

Tupperware_Queen

I'm sorry to sound harsh, but if you took a TV into the flat, and you turned it on, you need a licence. What is more, you knew that clearly, as you have posted about using I-player, so you are aware of what does and does not require a licence. I'd say you have got away with it for 6 months, and are lucky to have been given the opportunity to pay and not be prosecuted.

When I first moved away from my parents, I knew I could not afford a TV. This was in the days before internet (no, really, there did used to be a world prior to the web!!). I had a radio, and my CD's and was quite happy without TV. I had weekly phone and written discussions, if not quite stand up rows, with TV licensing, who struggled to believe I could really live without TV. In the end I had a chap come round, look in every room, and then, and only then, were they satisfied I did not have a TV. All that took 8 months. Its thanks to the likes of people like yourself, who insist that they don't need a licence, when in fact they do, on occasion use the TV, that my whole saga took so long.

I'm not saying its fair that someone who watches TV for one hour a month should pay the same as someone who is always in front of the box, but those are the rules, and we have to abide by them.

cajef

Tupperware_Queen wrote: »

I'm sorry to sound harsh, but if you took a TV into the flat, and you turned it on, you need a licence. .

Not true actually, you only need a licence to watch or record live programmes as they are being broadcast, you do not need a licence if you turn a TV on to watch any DVD's or pre-recorded programmes.

In the case of the OP he admits to watching the world cup so no excuse he should have had a licence.

Tupperware_Queen

cajef wrote: »

Not true actually, you only need a licence to watch or record live programmes as they are being broadcast, you do not need a licence if you turn a TV on to watch any DVD's or pre-recorded programmes.

In the case of the OP he admits to watching the world cup so no excuse he should have had a licence.

that was what I meant - he has it plugged into the aerial, so is obviously intending to use it to receive programmes at some point. I hadn't considered that he might only watch DVD's due to those comments, and that, as you say, he admits watching the world cup.

djdave

Nottingham89 wrote: »

I dont need a license as I cant afford it

If it does go to court, please use that in your defence, then come back here and tell us how long it takes the magistrate to stop laughing.

Nottingham89

I was not told it was an interview, I was told I was going to be taken to court if I did not agree to what he said. Yes I hold my hands up but the tv in 6 months has only been on for 6 hours in total.

High security prison here I come