TV License - query about renewal date

ricoeliso

agrinnall wrote: »

Well yes, as Clapton says, that's how we would like it to work, but like other government charges, such as VED, it doesn't. Had you delayed your purchase of the licence for a few days then you would have been able to get 12 full months, but you chose to buy before you needed to

Yer i realise now i should have done, but at the time i just wanted to get it sorted ASAP so i wasn't breaking the law. Essentially i've been penalised for trying to follow the law. very frustrating.
I really wanted to just check and see if i could use this as an argument if someone came knocking (or if it would stand up in a court of law).
Appreciate everyone's thoughts/comments thus far.

scheming_gypsy

I'm guessing that as you didn't have a TV installed you wouldn't have been breaking the law. Although it's unlikely they'll be sending a van round so soon, when i've been out of work i'll cancel the direct debit and they send a few letters before they send anything mentioning fines..

StuC75

Is the monetary loss you had for the 28 days 'lost' worth so much of your time to question and consider its merits. If you dont agree in the tv license then dont pay for it, dont have the tv capable of & actually partake in watching live broadcasts and you wouldnt then need the tv license.

ricoeliso

StuC75 wrote: »

Is the monetary loss you had for the 28 days 'lost' worth so much of your time to question and consider its merits. If you dont agree in the tv license then dont pay for it, dont have the tv capable of & actually partake in watching live broadcasts and you wouldnt then need the tv license.

No, i just wanted to find out my legal position as i originally stated.

Cornucopia

The TV licence works in the same way as Road Tax - they do not account for days, just months. Therefore you stand to lose up to 30 days of your licence when you first get one.

The only protection is to be wise to it, and defer needing a licence until the 1st of the next month. (Perhaps 1 day of leaving the telly unplugged).

As has been said, you have rights with BBC/TVL. Having said that, you would then be evading the licence, so I'm not sure how MSE would feel about that being discussed here.

If you have a laptop or videogame console or smart TV, then being legitimately licence free is easy, these days. All of the main channels have their video on demand sites, and Lovefilm/Netflix are available for about half the cost of the Licence Fee. All you have to do is not watch or record TV broadcasts - it's as simple as that.

Once you've gone that way, it is legitimate to exercise your rights: you don't have to let the "inspectors" in, nor do you have to talk to them. Most people are prosecuted on the basis of their own confession, so keeping silent is a good option.

ricoeliso

I just wanted to update on the situation for those that assisted with feedback. Decided to email the license people directly and explain the situation. They requested that i send through proof that i did not have TV installed until Geb, and upon receipt they finally saw sense and replied with the following:

"I can see from the information sent to us that the TV equipment wasn't used until February due to this I've amended the expiry say this now expires at the end of January."

CLAPTON

ricoeliso wrote: »

I just wanted to update on the situation for those that assisted with feedback. Decided to email the license people directly and explain the situation. They requested that i send through proof that i did not have TV installed until Geb, and upon receipt they finally saw sense and replied with the following:

"I can see from the information sent to us that the TV equipment wasn't used until February due to this I've amended the expiry say this now expires at the end of January."

well done.................

zaax

If you don't watch Live TV you don't need a Licence, which means if you remove the aerial from the back of your TV and cut the plug off and tie the cord away and only use your computer to watch Netflicks; iPlayer (not the live versions) or the like, no TV Licence is needed.

Cornucopia

ricoeliso wrote: »

I just wanted to update on the situation for those that assisted with feedback. Decided to email the license people directly and explain the situation. They requested that i send through proof that i did not have TV installed until Geb, and upon receipt they finally saw sense and replied with the following:

"I can see from the information sent to us that the TV equipment wasn't used until February due to this I've amended the expiry say this now expires at the end of January."

Just out of interest, what kind of info did you send/did they find acceptable?

ricoeliso

Cornucopia wrote: »

Just out of interest, what kind of info did you send/did they find acceptable?

I sent them a copy of welcome letter from Virgin Media which was dated february 2012.