tv licence fine

HappyMJ

sazi1990 wrote: »

Ive just be fined for tv license, I was stupid and even tho he "only" cautioned you it WILL go to court and you will get fined, I was fined 1000, 250 court fees, and 125 in victim charges or something.

I'm a single mum of a 2 year old and 6 month, it isnt an excuse to why i didnt pay the tv license, i know it was my fault and i had to deal with the punishment.

It wont go to court instantly i was cautioned in feb this year and it went to court about 4 weeks ago.

The ourt will come up with a suitable repayment plan according to your incomings and outgoings.

Victim surcharge is fixed at £15 on all fines issued by the court. The court costs are fixed at £60 for this simple matter. If you got a fine of £1,000 you must be a repeat offender no one gets that big a fine on a first offence and with benefit income. Did you go to the court or fill in a means enquiry to determine the level of the fine? Normally a fine for someone on benefits will be £100 or less.

This article says the maximum fines handed out were £350 for people who had been ignoring TV licensing for more than 6 months. http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/250-TV-licence-dodgers-fined-court-sitting/story-12995733-detail/story.html

There is no way my fine for doing something much much worse is smaller than a TV licence fine.

Repayment plans can be set up. Currently I am paying £10 a month with my limited income.

NeverAgain_2

HappyMJ wrote: »

Victim surcharge is fixed at £15 on all fines issued by the court. The court costs are fixed at £60 for this simple matter. If you got a fine of £1,000 you must be a repeat offender no one gets that big a fine on a first offence and with benefit income. Did you go to the court or fill in a means enquiry to determine the level of the fine? Normally a fine for someone on benefits will be £100 or less.

This article says the maximum fines handed out were £350 for people who had been ignoring TV licensing for more than 6 months. http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/250-TV-licence-dodgers-fined-court-sitting/story-12995733-detail/story.html

There is no way my fine for doing something much much worse is smaller than a TV licence fine.

Repayment plans can be set up. Currently I am paying £10 a month with my limited income.

Happy,

Fines are means-tested to a degree.

The poster who said she was fined £1,000 does not say she is on benefits.

Hiddenidenity

HappyMJ wrote: »

Victim surcharge is fixed at £15 on all fines issued by the court. The court costs are fixed at £60 for this simple matter. If you got a fine of £1,000 you must be a repeat offender no one gets that big a fine on a first offence and with benefit income. Did you go to the court or fill in a means enquiry to determine the level of the fine? Normally a fine for someone on benefits will be £100 or less.

This article says the maximum fines handed out were £350 for people who had been ignoring TV licensing for more than 6 months. http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/250-TV-licence-dodgers-fined-court-sitting/story-12995733-detail/story.html

There is no way my fine for doing something much much worse is smaller than a TV licence fine.

Repayment plans can be set up. Currently I am paying £10 a month with my limited income.

I am not a repeat offender at all, I have had MUCH less fines for things i class as "worse" offences. I wasnt on benefits at the time of the court case but i am now and i now have to pay 30 a fornight until the remaining 81 is paid. Cort costts vary from different courts. I know as 2 of my previous fines were different court costs at different county courts. Why would i lie?

HappyMJ

NeverAgain wrote: »

Happy,

Fines are means-tested to a degree.

The poster who said she was fined £1,000 does not say she is on benefits.

She is on benefits. Check posters history. Also, previous posting by the OP says she has fine debts of £300.

Check the court lists in your area. Someone in my area was fined £35, £60 court costs and £15 victim surcharge as they were on benefits.

HappyMJ

sazi1990 wrote: »

I am not a repeat offender at all, I have had MUCH less fines for things i class as "worse" offences. I wasnt on benefits at the time of the court case but i am now and i now have to pay 30 a fornight until the remailing 81 is paid. Cort costts vary from different courts. I know as 2 of my previous fines were different court costs at different county courts. Why would i lie?

Did you go to the court and tell them you couldn't pay the fine? You are now on benefits you can negotiate the fine repayments down to a minimal level. £3.50 per week is the usual amount.

Hiddenidenity

No i pleaded guilty through post as the court was over 50 mins away it was being heard at. I havent contacted them now no? why would i? im paying the 30 a fornight and it will be clear in a few weeks like i said theres only 81 remaining now and its paid.

NeverAgain_2

HappyMJ wrote: »

She is on benefits. Check posters history. Also, previous posting by the OP says she has fine debts of £300.

Check the court lists in your area. Someone in my area was fined £35, £60 court costs and £15 victim surcharge as they were on benefits.

Not on benefits at the time of the case, according to her.

But who cares?

Moral of the story is pay your TV licence or spend each evening watching the goldfish.

musicmaker29

I know its late and a bit 'after the event' for this advice to be of any relevance whatsoever but....

TV Licensing people have no power to enter your property - you do not have to answer their questions - you do not have to reply to their letters. They are glorified salesmen - thats it.

The offence that you are guilty of is 'watching TV as it is broadcast'. Obviously if you have a Sky subsrciption thats a bit hard to defend, but I think its worth me putting this on here to give anyone reading a heads up - these TV Licensing people are NOT officials, they have no right to enter your house.

You can have a TV, DVD player, Xbox, PC, VCR etc and you will have comitted no offence. The offence is watching the TV as it is broadcast (or recording TV as it is broadcast) - what evidence has this 'agency' that anyone is doing this unless they are told by that individual or witness you actually watching broadcast TV?

I think its a bit late for yourself and you will probably just have to pay unfortunately, best of luck dealing with them! Although to be fair, you have actually been watching TV, so its only fair really.

musicmaker29

littleboop wrote: »

I think you still get fined if you have internet or an internet connected tv/xbox cos you can watch live streaming on it - which still counts as tele even if its not coming down your ariel. Best thing is just to get a licence.

This isn't correct - if you don't watch any TV then there is no reason to pay £150ish.

I have an Xbox, Wii and PC connected to the internet, though I have no sky/aerial connected to my TV. I have no TV license as I don't watch TV so don't need one.

I think the OP's choice is either 1. Keep watching TV and pay for it or 2. Cancel sky, stop watching TV and don't pay for it (obviously paying any fine as necessary - too late to stop that).

NeverAgain_2

According to TV Licensing: "You need to be covered by a valid TV Licence if you watch or record TV as it's being broadcast. This includes the use of devices such as a computer, laptop, mobile phone or DVD/video recorder."

I take this to mean you don't need a licence if you only watch 'catch up' services, such as BBC iPlayer.

http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/check-if-you-need-one