TV Licence Court Summons Help Please

Voyager2002

mejjo203 wrote: »

I have a virgin box yes, The majority of the time the tv is off, I hardly even use the box to watch catch up. I wasn't aware i need one just for having a virgin box. Hmm i've read somewhere i don't, but now i'm questioning it after you say i will if i have my tv connected to something that can receive channels.

Strictly speaking, you do not need a license so long as you don't watch live TV, whether or not your TV is connected to a Virgin box or similar. However, courts in the past have accepted a TV connected to an aerial as evidence that the person did indeed watch live TV, hence the advice. In your situation you will need to be able to explain why you pay Virgin subscriptions and keep your TV connected even though you don't watch live TV: I think you have already done so on this thread.

mejjo203

The court will probably side with them because i have a virgin box, I highly doubt they will take my word for it.

I have the box because i just took the package with Virgin and got contracted in.

It seems its going to cost me money either way, It feels like a right scam, and it seems its legally done.. I know i shouldn't have to pay a penny but will have to..

JJ_Egan

Do you watch the news ?? or any sport .

iammumtoone

I dont know anything about this so may be completely wrong. Does your aerial go into the virgin box? I can kind of see the tv licence point of view here if a tv is attached to an aerial it would be very easy to watch live tv (just a button press on the remote) not saying you do do this. However if the virgin box only has a internet connection and your actual aerial is not plugged into anything then if would be much more difficult to access live tv, you would have to keeping plugging and unplugging the aerial.

I don't 'watch' live tv but have it on in the background - just as a background noise whilst I do other things so I need a licence. However when I sit down to actually watch tv I only ever watch catch up so really don't need a licence if I switch to using a radio as background noise. It is something I keep considering but like you am scared of the possible threat of a court case if I went down that route.

I wish you luck you really don't need a licence in your circumstances and hope you chose to fight it as it is only by people paying up at the last minute they get away with it. However having said that I have to be honest I am not sure if I could go through the stress of a court case.

giraffe69

I think that you will have some difficulty in persuading the court if you have a virgin box and are paying a subscription for it. I notice this did not even get mentioned until post 9.

jackieblack

mejjo203 wrote: »

The court will probably side with them because i have a virgin box, I highly doubt they will take my word for it.

I have the box because i just took the package with Virgin and got contracted in.

It seems its going to cost me money either way, It feels like a right scam, and it seems its legally done.. I know i shouldn't have to pay a penny but will have to..

If you're using your Virgin box to record live tv to watch later then you do need a tv licence.

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

mejjo203

Nope don't watch news or sports.

I assume the aeriel goes into the back of the box if thats how the engineer set it up.

I've pretty much accepted im at a losing battle, i don't think i can get the TV Licence prosecution department to withdraw it any other way than paying a ton of money i don't have for something i don't need.

I couldn't deal with the stress of court not with my health.. I am honestly in dis-belief how they will get away with this, After having the letter from them saying they won't prosecute this time.. I really find that funny that they said they wouldn't because they had no reason to, i never broke the law.

Letter was pointless anyway as they have prosecuted.

Marktheshark

If you signed the TVL 178 "form"

You get two options at court, Guilty or not guilty .
If you plead guilty you get a smaller fine and less costs.
If not guilty.
You will be asked one question, is this your signature.
If you say no, they will bring the signing sheet from the front court desk and compare.
If you say yes, you will be told you are guilty and given a much larger fine.

If you want to argue about it, you must fund an appeal at the high court.
People will argue until the cows come home, but I can save you a lot of time and money and that is the crux of the site, money saving.

If you signed the TVL 178, which it sounds you did, plead guilty and save yourself a lot of money.
In future learn not to sign confessions whilst under caution.

Many will want to fight a war using you as an army, cut your losses.
The debate as to if you needed a licence ended when whilst under caution you signed a sworn statement of truth in the presence of a credible witnesses. without reading the small print.

As other have pointed out, the time to argue you don't need a licence is when you slam the door in the face of the "inspector" or what ever else they are calling themselves this week.

mejjo203

If i plead guilty as you suggest, am i likely to be fined more than £145?

The other option i have is to pay £145 for a full licence and they will withdraw the court action.

iammumtoone

mejjo203 wrote: »

If i plead guilty as you suggest, am i likely to be fined more than £145?

The other option i have is to pay £145 for a full licence and they will withdraw the court action.

Can you afford the £145?

Like mark says people will want you to fight for 'the cause' when this may not be the best option for YOU. Like I said I understand how stressful the threat of a court case would be, personally I could not go through it and would pay as to me the cost of paying (however unfair I thought it was) would still be the best option compared to what I would go though having to attend court.

If you cannot afford the £145 then there may be other options people can you help you with? Did you ask if you could pay by installments? Maybe a trip to the CAB would be worthwhile?