TV Licensing harassment letters

caela_2

whatmichaelsays wrote: »

Can you quantify a loss of £1,000 to justify your claim for compensation?

Heya,

Well I set the amount at £1,000 because I said it was the amount TV Licensing deemed fair and payable as a maximum fine. To be honest, I've written like 14 letters to them and made numerous phone calls, not to mention the stress suffered which has only been exasperated by my mental health problems. It depends on what price people would put on stress and inconvenience really-it's hard to estimate. TV Licensing should not be acting in this way though and it's really time they pay. It's not like they are enforcing a law which in any way benefits the public- it's just lining their own pockets which certainly does not justify harassing every member of the general public lol.

Not sure really! x

moonrakerz

It is well worth complaining to your MP about the tactics used by TVL.

There were many complaints a couple of years ago about the aggressive and threatening nature of their TV ads. They have changed completely now - into "nice friendly" ads saying that you can pay daily, weekly, etc, etc - no more Stasi like comment about the "Data Base"

GillsMan7

caela wrote: »

If anyone is interested, I have been annoying TVLA for a while now since they sent an empty threat of court action for me not having (or needing) a TV License. Makes for some arduous but hopefully interesting reading. I am trying to get £1,000 compensation out of them for harassment, I don't know if I have a case but according to the Protection from Harassment Act I might well. Does anyone know where you would have to take something like this to actually claim compensation for harassment? Would it be small claims court?

Anyway, the link is: http://thedailynag.wordpress.com/2011/10/06/spoonfuloflies/

Let me know what you think!

P.s. just found this looks quite interesting, seems TVLA have really been riding the general public way past the point of harassment: http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/assets/files/pdf/review_report_research/tvl/tvl_cab.pdf. I've also see something about appealing with the BBC Trust, but have a feeling this might not be very successful. http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/contact/complaints_appeals/appeal_trust.shtml Any thoughts?

Hmmmm. While I'm no fan of TVL and their sometimes dubious tactics, I do feel you've been unreasonable here. Any "harrassment" seems to me to be as a result of you continuing to write to them. They promised to stop writing to you for two years, which I think is reasonable, and you've asked for a permanant solution. That's just not reasonable; they can't block an address forever.

In addition, they acknowledged your withdrawal of the common law right of access to your property, but then you said you weren't happy with them using other methods of detection. I'm dubious about whether there are even other methods of detection to be perfectly honest, but it's certainly a bit unreasonable to try to revoke that. If they want to stick their mythical van outside your house to use a bit of magic to detect TV signals, that's really down to them, and it wouldn't be unreasonable of them to do this if, indeed, it's even possible.

The fact is, we have to pay for a TV license by law if we watch material live as or as broadcast, and it's reasonable for steps to be taken to ensure compliance. Agreeing not to approach your property and not to write to you for two years is reasonable in my opinion.

On the other hand, pretending you had a court case coming up was underhand, and I can see why you pursued that point.

caela_2

GillsMan7 wrote: »

Hmmmm. While I'm no fan of TVL and their sometimes dubious tactics, I do feel you've been unreasonable here. Any "harrassment" seems to me to be as a result of you continuing to write to them. They promised to stop writing to you for two years, which I think is reasonable, and you've asked for a permanant solution. That's just not reasonable; they can't block an address forever.

Hiya,

You're right, the fact they threatened me with court really was the last straw; it's outrageous. We're talking about watching TV here, which I don't even do, it's not like they're trying to unravel a murder mystery. It's simply not important enough for them to have the right to invade people's personal space like that and harass them non-stop.

I'm really against TV as one big brainwashing medium so I'm insulted that TVLA think they can go ahead and harass me for something I actually vehemently avoid. The fact is, whilst they claim they'll stop writing to me for almost 2 years, I don't want to hear from them again. I owe them nothing, I don't want that pending threat hanging over my head. You may be right that they have in some way agreed to stop harassing me, but if you look closer it appears that telling them I don't need a TV license and entering into that first stage of communication with them has actually escalated their efforts. Their immediate reaction was to threaten that someone, fearfully and falsely labelled as an 'enforcement officer' would be barging their way into my property, hence I restricted their right of access. It was only after that stage that they accepted no-one would be coming round and only after I lodged my complaint that they even agreed to stop writing to me. Then, they were obviously left with little other option (apparently believing me when I say I don't need a TV license is not an option) but to begin covert surveillance of my property. I do genuinely suffer from mental health problems, paranoia being a main aspect of that and simply saying they would employ other (as yet undisclosed) methods of detection did spark off my anxiety. Even if they don't come round to spy on me, since I would be unlikely to spot them if they did, I would live with the uncomfortable feeling that I was being watched, even if they didn't bother to do so. The fact is they can't agree to leave someone alone and accept that having a TV license isn't the be all and end all and since they make enough money as it is perhaps they should leave everyone alone rather than harassing vulnerable people in the hope of raking in a few more quid.

It appears the only way to be genuinely free of their attention is to buy a full, colour TV license on an annual basis, regardless of whether or not you need one. That, to me, is their sole effort and quite clearly constitutes harassment. To be honest though, back to your point, the whole threat of court action is what really got me on my high horse (I was prepared to just throw away their junk mail before that, but this was the last straw). Did you notice how in none of their letters which I have posted were they able to address the fact that they threatened me with court action? They side step the question every time, making out this letter was simply an 'enquiry' designed to educate me about how to buy a TV license should I need one. Maybe they should stop watching TV and learn to read lol then they can see what the letter really says or what I'm asking in my emails haha :rotfl:

x

Dreamnine

I informed them by 'phone a long time ago that I don't watch broadcast TV, nor possess a TV.

This never stopped the letters.

I save them up, and around once a year I post them all back to them without paying postage.

missile

hollyh wrote: »

...
After making a phone call he apologised for his mistake and left.
...

An appology, gee whizz he must be a new employee.

I had two on my door step. When I produced the license they gave me a dirty look scrawled on their clip board, then turned and walked off without another word.

steelergunner87

Hi everyone

I wonder if anyone could give me some advice. Me and my OH moved into our flat 2 days ago (Saturday), and upon arriving, were greeted with a letter from TV Licencing regarding sending someone to visit the premises as there is no licence and they've had no response to previous letters (which, I note, were not there). Upon arriving back at my mums Saturday night, I applied online for a licence via DD as we will be watching TV regularly, so does that mean we're fully covered now? Also, do I need to do anything in regards to this letter received from TV Licencing that applies to the previous tenants?

Any help would be appreciated, this is our first place together and we've moved to a new city so want to try and avoid any unnecessary stress and upset.

Thanks!
x

sarahg1969

No, just ignore them. And if they do decide to call round, you don't have to let them in, or show them the licence.

Glitzkiss

This is my anniversary month of no tv licence and I've just realised I haven't had a letter from them yet. It's been over a year since the last one so I'm feeling distinctly unloved :cool:;)

Joe_L

don't have a TV and if I did I'd not be willing to a pay a penny towards the BritishBrainwashingCorporation. Any letters go directly into the bin and I don't engage with any callers that I don't have business with. No need for a drama.