TV licence ending dont want to renew

JimmyTheWig

Cornucopia wrote: »

Whatever your views, you should NEVER sign any official document without knowing what its purpose is.

It goes without saying that I would read it before signing it!

Cornucopia

JimmyTheWig wrote: »

It goes without saying that I would read it before signing it!

What if the TVL staff member had lied to you or misled you about its purpose?

Oh, and we also have cases where TVL have modified the form responses after signature.

sacha28

Ok so I am now very confused!! I was having a conversation about this topic last night and both my oh and myself believe that you HAVE to have a tvl even if you don't own a tv?

I am currently paying a fine for not having a tvl, when the guy came to my house I told him I didn't have a tv in the house as both of my 20 year old freebies had blown up within a week of each other and I couldn't afford to buy a new one. He said it didn't matter, I was required, by law to have a tvl. Was he bullsh!tting me?!

spacey2012

Amazing, that people think they can just turn up at court and explain they did not know what they signed.
You will be asked once if this is your signature, if you refuse to answer, you go to the cells for 4 hours and brought back for one last chance to answer.
If you admit it is your signature, you will be told to shut up, stand still and sentenced.
If you deny it is your signature, they will compare it to the signing in court signature and then sentence you.
They can get through 20 an hour in a good day.
There is no arguing once you have signed the form the TV licence goon hands you.
You sign anything they have given you and you are in trouble.

Cornucopia

sacha28 wrote: »

Ok so I am now very confused!! I was having a conversation about this topic last night and both my oh and myself believe that you HAVE to have a tvl even if you don't own a tv?

Not "have to". You need a licence to receive TV channels - and that doesn't necessarily need a TV any more.

I am currently paying a fine for not having a tvl, when the guy came to my house I told him I didn't have a tv in the house as both of my 20 year old freebies had blown up within a week of each other and I couldn't afford to buy a new one. He said it didn't matter, I was required, by law to have a tvl. Was he bullsh!tting me?!

Possibly. Were you using a laptop or phone to watch TV channels?

sacha28

I signed because I was told I had to. I never went to court. In fact I didn't hear anything else until a letter dropped on my mat telling me I had been fined, I wan't even asked to go to court. I had never not paid for a tvl before as I had a tv but when they broke I didn't see the point in having a tvl if I didn't have a tv, I was told that was not the case. My naivety I guess.

spacey2012

sacha28 wrote: »

I signed because I was told I had to.

Well at least you learnt what can go wrong of you do things random strangers who come to your door "say you have to".

Cornucopia

spacey2012 wrote: »

Amazing, that people think they can just turn up at court and explain they did not know what they signed.
You will be asked once if this is your signature, if you refuse to answer, you go to the cells for 4 hours and brought back for one last chance to answer.
If you admit it is your signature, you will be told to shut up, stand still and sentenced.
If you deny it is your signature, they will compare it to the signing in court signature and then sentence you.
They can get through 20 an hour in a good day.
There is no arguing once you have signed the form the TV licence goon hands you.
You sign anything they have given you and you are in trouble.

This is, of course, nonsense. Have you actually been to a Court - in the UK, I mean - this sounds like something from Soviet-era USSR.

Section 78 of PACE contains a number of reasons why confession evidence can be struck out. No one will be "sent to the cells" for making a calm, reasoned argument about this.

The issue is that the prosecution process begins at all, if the householder is innocent. And yes, a signature makes it harder, but not impossible, to get the case dropped before or at Court. I've seen this happen a number of times.

sacha28

cornucopia I didn't have a laptop as I had sold it and I don't have a phone with internet access (I still don't have a laptop or phone with internet access!). I had also cancelled my sky subscription so there wasn't even the possibility I could be using something else.

Cornucopia

sacha28 wrote: »

I signed because I was told I had to. I never went to court. In fact I didn't hear anything else until a letter dropped on my mat telling me I had been fined, I wan't even asked to go to court. I had never not paid for a tvl before as I had a tv but when they broke I didn't see the point in having a tvl if I didn't have a tv, I was told that was not the case. My naivety I guess.

You were tried in your absence due to an error on the part of TVL, the Court or the Post Office.

You could have made a Statutory Declaration within 21 days, saying that you never received the summons. That would have led to the case being re-opened and re-tried.