TV licensing threats

Kayak10

Cornucopia wrote: »

Indeed - it is the fundamental fallacy of trying to prove a negative, and of trying to prove a negative today that lasts for an indefinite period of time.

They are never going to be truly persuaded that we won't break the law when they are not looking, and we are never going to be satisfied that their level of intrusion is justified.

It's why the law (AFAICT) was never set up to work in the way the BBC are applying it.

It seems to me the thread I originally put on this forum has gone off on a different tangent altogether
To bring this back MY original thread is the aggressive nature the company employed by the BBC to collect licence fees needs to be reigned in There are many thousands of pensioners and low income people that are not as strong willed as me and must be scared stiff of the TVL tactics

Cornucopia

Yes - and sadder still, that is exactly what the BBC intends.

Hooloovoo

Kayak10 wrote: »

To bring this back MY original thread is the aggressive nature the company employed by the BBC to collect licence fees needs to be reigned in There are many thousands of pensioners and low income people that are not as strong willed as me and must be scared stiff of the TVL tactics

The reason the thread has gone off on a tangent is because there's no discussion to be had around your original point. You wont find anyone who disagrees with you.

Have a look on the "TV moneysaving" board that I gave you the link for earlier. You'll see loads of people all complaining about the tactics used by TVL.

Cornucopia

Not to criticise (sometimes people new to an issue can bring a fresh approach). However, I think the OP doesn't realise that they are not the first person to suffer at the hands of TVL.

To set it into some context. Figures from the BBC state that in a typical year, around 90 million letters are sent by TVL (probably half of which are concerned with enforcement), and they attempt 3.5 million home "visits".

This is not a small problem.

Kayak10

Cornucopia wrote: »

Not to criticise (sometimes people new to an issue can bring a fresh approach). However, I think the OP doesn't realise that they are not the first person to suffer at the hands of TVL.

To set it into some context. Figures from the BBC state that in a typical year, around 90 million letters are sent by TVL (probably half of which are concerned with enforcement), and they attempt 3.5 million home "visits".

This is not a small problem.

I didn't realise how big and bad the problem is I am going to copy a link to this thread to my MP and this post to pipa Then may be something WILL be done

Cornucopia

It's not just a big issue, but a surprisingly complex one, too.

We can probably all agree that innocent people should be entitled not to receive threatening letters, and that they should not be subject to having their homes inspected except when the law requires it.

The BBC, however, is playing with those principles, which may not fully protected in law.

There is "word-play", reflected in the use of weasel-words in letters and website alike. There is also what we might call "rights-play", which is where the BBC and their lawyers must know what citizens' rights are, and yet they do everything they can to undermine them - and it is almost certainly unlawful to do that (even using the BBC's own logic).

Kayak10

I sent the link to this thread to one of my sons and he came back with the following : Lol you've forgotten to mention that TV licensing isn't the BBC's only revenue as far as I'm aware they own the UKTV network (Dave ,gold,watch... The list goes on) if they don't own it they play a major part in how it's run so not only are they making us pay for essentially no commercial advertising at the same time they are commercially advertising on the other channels and making money from that!

So not only do the BBC claim all their money comes from the license they are getting a double whammy from owning or part owning a company that's paid for by advertising What a scam

Kayak10

Cornucopia wrote: »

It's not just a big issue, but a surprisingly complex one, too.

We can probably all agree that innocent people should be entitled not to receive threatening letters, and that they should not be subject to having their homes inspected except when the law requires it.

The BBC, however, is playing with those principles, which may not fully protected in law.

There is "word-play", reflected in the use of weasel-words in letters and website alike. There is also what we might call "rights-play", which is where the BBC and their lawyers must know what citizens' rights are, and yet they do everything they can to undermine them - and it is almost certainly unlawful to do that (even using the BBC's own logic).

One thing you and other folk have forgotten the BBC believe they are above the law :mad:
One other thing I think the BBC need a good dose of a proprietary intergestion tablets cause they have a bad dose of repeats :rotfl:

Cornucopia

I'm pretty sure that the BBC doesn't see itself as above the Law.

I think what's happened is a perfect storm of a bad attitude, opportunistic legal advice, lack of proper Governance (ultimately the responsibility of the Government), poor attention to detail in creation of the legal framework, handover of powers from a Government agency (the Post Office) to a non-Government one without any questions being asked about whether it would still work, and fear/boredom amongst certain elements in the Mainstream Media and politics in not taking the issue on.

adindas

Kayak10 wrote: »

I just wondered how many who read this pay for their TV licence via payment card
The reason for asking is I have a licence that is valid until the end of July 2014 I've been getting threatening letters as I have not started paying for my new licence As this has been going on most of this year I asked my local MP to find out if they can do this as I don't know any supplier or company that can demand you start paying for you next years service half way through your existing year
The upshot of my enquiries Apparently the law is such on tv prepayment that they can demand with aggression ( in my view this includes threats of court action ) to start paying half up front and half during the new year
They are also demanding I start paying for my next year ( July 2015 ) by January 2015
I am now in touch with people at the BBC and been advised TV licensing are going to tone down their letters from June 2014 as I got my latest one at the begging of July this has not happened
If anyone wants to write to the relevant people at the BBC I have their details I don't think I'm allowed to put them on here so just ask Tge main lady's name is (text removed by MSE Forum Team) at the BBC so u should be able to work out the email address
Hopefully if enough people complain we might just get this changed

If you get a letter from TV licensing Agency, just bin it. Do not even need to open it. By doing this you will never be threatened or feel embraced as you do not read it. Sorted .....

The onus is on them to provide credible evidence that you are suspected of watching TV illegally .e.g watching TV while they are aired. Owning TV is not enough to take someone to the court. Many people use TV to watch video, to be used as PC monitor or to play video game.

Never allow them to enter your property, never answer the door if they are coming. Do not get involved in correspondence with them, just a waste of time. If you do not cooperate they are toothless.