TV Licensing in Houseshares

falcieri

brewerdave wrote: »

I suspect many students now use their parent's (or friends) log ins for things like Sky Go to watch live TV on laptops whilst away from home -can't see any of them paying for a licence at any time!!

Probably not but then most student houseshare landlords pick up licences as part of the student rent deal so the house at least will be covered and less obvious to inspectors passing through. Plus theoretically if your laptop holds evidence that you have logged into a service then they could find out you lied.

brewerdave

falcieri wrote: »

Probably not but then most student houseshare landlords pick up licences as part of the student rent deal so the house at least will be covered and less obvious to inspectors passing through. Plus theoretically if your laptop holds evidence that you have logged into a service then they could find out you lied.

..there is absolutely NO WAY that TVL are going to get Court Orders to look at the internet history of someone's private laptop!:rotfl::rotfl:

Mojisola

falcieri wrote: »

If the licensing people are on your doorstep telling you you don't have a licence and ask you to prove that you don't receive tv channels can you just refuse to give them that information then? I found this on their website which suggests they can:

'Please note that it's TV Licensing's policy to visit some addresses to check that the occupants don't need a TV Licence. This is because when we visit and make contact, we find almost one in five people that tell us they don't need a TV Licence actually do need one. If we find that you're watching TV illegally you could risk prosecution and a fine of up to £1,000.*'

http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/about/foi-administering-the-licence-fee-AB20
Scroll down to Enquiry Officers section -
Enquiry officers do not have any legal powers to enter your home without a search warrant granted by a magistrate (or sheriff in Scotland).
You have no obligation to grant entry to an enquiry officer if you don’t wish to do so.

falcieri

The MSE section on the TV license states:

'TV Licensing treats everyone who does not have a licence, for perfectly legal reasons or otherwise, as a criminal.'

and

'TV Licensing seem to turn the basic premise of English (and Scottish!) Law on its head, by saying that you are guilty until you prove your innocence.'

So even though they cannot force you to prove you are not watching it, if you refuse to they can presume it's because you are guilty. So how does that work then? Is it simply a continual spiral of angry letters. Refusing them entry is your prerogative but they are going to react badly I suspect.

brewerdave

The worst thing about this new leglislation is that the scroats from Crapita will no doubt concoct some huge new lies about their "powers" to force entry and obtain confessions

Rosemary7391

It's fairly simple in my experience. I call them up, politely say I don't watch or record live TV, they say okay and that's that. I wish their letters were more polite but that's about it! The new bit just means I'll have to add '...or iPlayer'. No big deal in most cases.

falcieri

brewerdave wrote: »

The worst thing about this new leglislation is that the scroats from Crapita will no doubt concoct some huge new lies about their "powers" to force entry and obtain confessions

I've read they will lie to get warrants, but not many magistrates will bother to sign them in the first place. There are some very underhand tactics going on and with the new ruling I expect there will be a wave of new problems in the short term especially since a lot of people won't be aware of the new ruling.

falcieri

Rosemary7391 wrote: »

It's fairly simple in my experience. I call them up, politely say I don't watch or record live TV, they say okay and that's that. I wish their letters were more polite but that's about it! The new bit just means I'll have to add '...or iPlayer'. No big deal in most cases.

Do you think they will accept that you don't watch or use any form of TV at all? I'd expect them to think that in this day and age everyone uses some form or other and they'll just keep on coming back.

Rosemary7391

falcieri wrote: »

Do you think they will accept that you don't watch or use any form of TV at all? I'd expect them to think that in this day and age everyone uses some form or other and they'll just keep on coming back.

They have done so far. This is the first time I've been living somewhere more than a year - they check every year, so I called and asked them if it could be longer and they said 2 years. It's a little annoying but nothing more. Remember that most folk who quietly get on with it won't be shouting about it online - things you're reading won't be a representative sample, there will be more people writing who've had problems.

Swipe

falcieri wrote: »

I've read they will lie to get warrants, but not many magistrates will bother to sign them in the first place. There are some very underhand tactics going on and with the new ruling I expect there will be a wave of new problems in the short term especially since a lot of people won't be aware of the new ruling.

Stop scaremongering. There were only 115 search warrants in the whole of the UK in a recent 13 month period. They already think everyone who doesn't have a licence is a liar, so absolutely no downside to just saying 'not today thanks' and closing the door on them.