TV Licence

wilsonwireless

Ok, here's a kind of legal question.. I don't know if this is in the right section, but any help on this subject would be nice.

I have a TV which is worth about £70. It's a normal CRT TV, nothing special, but does the job. Now.. what I want to know is:

1. Why do I have to pay for a TV Licence if I don't watch any BBC channels?

2. If I didn't buy a TV Licence this time round and an inspector comes to inspect my premises, what is the worst thing that could happen at 1st point if I offer that he just took my TV?

3. My younger female cousin is just about to finish University (3 year course) She never once paid for a TV Licence whilst at University. She says if ever anything happened, she would just act dumb.

4. Soon the TV network is going to go 100% digital. obviously this is going to take time, but the "switch over" has already begun. What I want to know is why are we all forced to buy a TV licence if it's just for the BBC channels? I mean on digital freeview if I want to watch a scrabbled channel, I can't because it's scrabbled. If I do want to watch it, I have to pay to watch it. Why can't the BBC do this? Why are we forced to pay for a licence? it's not right and to me it's a huge huge scam. Whoever thought of the TV Licence should be jailed because it's an on-going moneymaking scam.

faerie_girl

Trust me it is not nice to have an inspector coming round. Especially if you are niave and dont know your rights. When it is a very warm day so you have all your windows open and the tv on quite loud. Its not really possible to act dumb. When are threatened with a 2.5K fine when when that is half a years wage for you. Even if it was a genuine mistake then they still are nasty with you.

Its totally not worth the worry and upset of being caught out.

But if you are only watching terestrial (and excluding the bbc) its not worth you paying the licence anyway. Why not just get rid of your tv or just use it for dvd etc.

I could persuade my partner we dont need the tv it would be gone... and a hell of a lot of money saved. (Then he buy the a couple of series of Star Trek whenever he wants as that is the main reason we have the tv)

wilsonwireless

faerie_girl wrote: »

But if you are only watching terestrial (and excluding the bbc) its not worth you paying the licence anyway. Why not just get rid of your tv or just use it for dvd etc.

Thats my point. How can someone be forced to pay for something they don't use in respect of TV channels.. No other country that I am aware of, forces its citizens to pay for TV channels that they may or may not watch. The law is forcing me to pay for the BBC channels... nice.

Debt_Free_Chick

It doesn't matter what channels you watch. And the need for a license isn't restricted just to a TV.

The law is .... if you have any equipment capable of receiving a TV signal and you watch TV, then you need a license. That's the end of it.

The ONLY exception to this is if you have equipment that can't display a TV signal, then you don't need a license. An example would be a set-top box connected only to a hi-fi system - you cannot watch TV, even though you have a set-top box, so you don't need a license.

It's a complete myth that the license exists to enable you to watch BBC - it doesn't. The license is "permission" to watch the TV (or to record programmes from the TV and watch them at another time).

My younger female cousin is just about to finish University (3 year course) She never once paid for a TV Licence whilst at University. She says if ever anything happened, she would just act dumb.

Good luck to her. When she gets caught, she'll face prosecution, an appearance in Court and a fine of about £1,000. Don't you think they've heard all the excuses by now?

Inactive

wilsonwireless wrote: »

Thats my point. How can someone be forced to pay for something they don't use in respect of TV channels.. No other country that I am aware of, forces its citizens to pay for TV channels that they may or may not watch. The law is forcing me to pay for the BBC channels... nice.

Just pay like the rest of us, it isn't a fortune.;)

mpython

wilsonwireless wrote: »

Thats my point. How can someone be forced to pay for something they don't use in respect of TV channels.. No other country that I am aware of, forces its citizens to pay for TV channels that they may or may not watch. The law is forcing me to pay for the BBC channels... nice.

Hi Wilsonwireless, welcome to MSE, its a great forum & can save you loads of money. Have a look around other forums and use the the search function (top right of threads) to look for info & previous answers.

Try not to get too wound up by the responses, your query crops up a number of times a year and the answers are well worn.

If you want to change the law regarding TV licenceing you need to engage your MP. As has been said, lots of people pay for things they don't use. Many People pay council tax but may not have children at school, I pay NI but have never claimed JSA. The list goes on.

billycasper_2

hello wilson, have a look here if you fancy fighting them in court.

http://uk-tvlicensing-resistance.co.nr/

princesslizzie

Unfortunately this is something you really can't get away with. I was visited at university in my first year by inspectors (I'd bought a licence the day before!) and when I moved into my new place they sent letters and said we were unlicensed.

Are you saying you have never watched the news or weather or flicked onto the BBC?

billycasper_2

the tv licensing police cannot enter your house without a warrant, regardless of what they tell you on the doorstep.
They will if they catch you, harrass and bother you with letters and calls until you pay.
they will threaten to prosecute.
but
they can be beaten
even in court
thats why most of the time . the harrasment and threat of a black mark against your credit is the thing they rely on and will net them the money everytime.
http://uk-tvlicensing-resistance.co.nr/
The bottom line is.. if you fancy the fight you can win
if you dont want the hassle
pay the licence fee.

PasturesNew

I know somebody who had to buy TWO licences for their OWN use.

1] Owned a small house, lived alone, was only ever there weekends. TV license.
2] Worked 80 miles away, so rented a bedsit for the week, to cut down the cost of travelling/time. Again, lived alone. ANOTHER TV license.

No way round it either.

She was only ever in one property at any one time. Nobody else was ever at either property apart from her. She only had a portable TV too.

TWO licences.

noh

wilsonwireless wrote: »

Thats my point. How can someone be forced to pay for something they don't use in respect of TV channels.. No other country that I am aware of, forces its citizens to pay for TV channels that they may or may not watch. The law is forcing me to pay for the BBC channels... nice.

Take a look at this Wiki page for a list of countries that require a TV or Radio license.
There's more than you think. "two-thirds of the countries in Europe and half of the countries in Asia and Africa use television licences to fund public television."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television_licence

Nigel