TV Licence/Court Summons

System

ThumbRemote wrote: »

The OP is clearly not guilty of the offence they have written: "I use a television set without a licence". This is in the present tense; the OP presently does not use a TV set without a licence; therefore is not guilty.

Personally I would cross out the offence in the box and write in "Using a television set without a licence between <date> and <date>" to correct their mistake.

This is incredibly pedantic even for you!

halibut2209

The law is equally as pedantic

System

halibut2209 wrote: »

The law is equally as pedantic

No surprise you're getting involved!

On the plus side at least you agree with me that she was being ridiculously pedantic....

ThumbRemote

goater78 wrote: »

This is incredibly pedantic even for you!

They have suggested on the court papers that the OP is continuing to use a TV without a licence. It's not pedantic, it's a blatant error.

The statement "goater78 soils themselves" is (probably) not true, even though as a 1 year old it would have been. Present/past tense is everything.

System

ThumbRemote wrote: »

They have suggested on the court papers that the OP is continuing to use a TV without a licence. It's not pedantic, it's a blatant error.

The statement "goater78 soils themselves" is (probably) not true, even though as a 1 year old it would have been. Present/past tense is everything.

Well yes your statement would be true 33 years ago. However if I had broken the law very recently like the OP had done I would not be arguing over an extremely petty detail on the wording.

I would tick the expected box.

Considering that they want dispensation it is the OP's best interest to be as little annoying as possible!

If you can't do the time, don't commit the crime....

On_The_Ball

But the OP hasn't commited that crime. They're being punished for - and holding their hands up for - missing a month. Why should they admit to not paying it for many subsequent months, and in fact still not paying it?

As I was reading the thread I was surprised that people weren't getting the different tenses involved. The OP isn't trying to get out of anything, just not get themselves convicted of a crime they haven't commited. It's pertinent, not pedantic.

OP - I'd cross it out too. No sarcasm or anything silly, just a correction. Good luck with it.

wealdroam

ShaneMW wrote: »

I did not expect to be berated and mocked for merely asking for advice.

And were you?
I can't see where.

tomwakefield

goater78 wrote: »

Well yes your statement would be true 33 years ago. However if I had broken the law very recently like the OP had done I would not be arguing over an extremely petty detail on the wording.

I would tick the expected box.

Considering that they want dispensation it is the OP's best interest to be as little annoying as possible!

If you can't do the time, don't commit the crime....

I can actually see where ThumbRemote is coming from on this. Specifying the dates and clarifying that payments have been made consistently both beforehand and subsequently may support the argument that it was a financial error rather than a deliberate attempt to avoid payment. This may or may not affect the outcome, but it certainly won't hurt.

A few more questions:

Before the summons, were you aware your Direct Debit had failed and therefore payment had not been made?

If you weren't aware, had the bank or TV licencing attempted to make you aware (for instance, sending you a letter that you had ignored due to your depressed state)?

Were you given an option to make up the arrears before the summons?

This is what TV Licensing say they will do if a direct debit payment cannot be collected. If they haven't followed it, particularly not giving you an option to pay by another means, the court would probably tend to err on your side, in my view.

ThumbRemote

As an aside, I'm amazed that after nearly 12 hours of this thread, the resident 'don't pay the TV licence' nutter brigade haven't arrived yet.

ValHaller

ShaneMW wrote: »

As I stated, I am suffering severe depression. At the time of this happening, I had not been 'diagnosed' with this and was struggling to deal with what I was experiencing. This involved me cutting off all outside communication including not opening letters, checking my bank account etc. At the time there was insufficient funds in my account and the direct debit was returned to me. I understand this is not an excuse however I was in a very difficult place at the time.

I know you are or have been ill. But the question was not about your illness, it was about the sequence of events which led to your licence payment being missed for one month. perhaps if you could answer that, we could see if there is some help we could give you?