TV Licence visit? What next

Wig

albertross wrote: »

It is in black and white here, couldn't be clearer.

I have to disagree, it could be crystal clear which it isn't at the moment, to show you what I mean I will add my words in red to the quote.....

" You need a TV Licence to use any television receiving equipment such as a TV set, set-top boxes, video or DVD recorders, computers or mobile phones to watch or record TV programmes as they are being shown on TV. however you do not need a TV licence with the aforesaid equipment if you never use it to watch or or record TV programmes as they are being shown on TV.

If you use a set-top box with a hi-fi system or another device that can only be used to produce sounds and can't display TV programmes, and you don't install or use any other TV receiving equipment for the purposes of watching or or recording TV programmes as they are being shown on TV. , you don't need a TV Licence. i.e. you can have a TV or other equipment for any purpose other than watching or or recording TV programmes as they are being shown on TV. without the need for a licence. You do not have to inform us, you do not have to keep us informed, you do not have to talk to our enforcement personel, you do not have to grant them entry to your property.

Fruitcake

albertross wrote: »

You only need a licence if you watch or record live TV broadcasts, and that is it. "

Got it in one.

The problem is that there is a lot of disinformation about. Statements like this from the TV licensing website don't help,

You need to notify us in writing that this is the case and one of our Enforcement Officers may need to visit you to confirm that you do not need a licence.

Please write to us including your name, address and the reason you believe that you don't need a licence at:

This is totally incorrect. It is a lie. The Law (Telecommunications Acts, various) does not require you to do this, so you dont need to notify us. Crapita have added rules and regulations that are not legal requirements, but it is written in a way that people think it is.

I can see why Wig has added negatives to your statement. Perhaps a better way to explain it would be to combine both.

You do not need a licence to own TV receiving equipment.
You only need a licence if you watch or record live TV broadcasts.
You do not need a licence if you do not watch or record live TV broadcasts

This is the law.

You may tell Crapita that you do not need a licence if you wish, but you do not need to acknowledge their existance if you do not want to.

This is the law.

From personal experience, contacting Crapita will make no difference, they won't believe you anyway. If you do decide to let them in to your property, do not sign anything without reading very carefully what is written. People have done this thinking it was a formality to acknowledge a visit, only to find they actually signed a statement admitting that they were watching or recording live TV without a licence.

Signing an admission is the only way you can be prosecuted. As I said in a previous post, TV Detector vans, if they exist, are illegal to use without a warrant signed by a judge. No judge has ever signed such a warrant.

myrnahaz

Don't you also need a tv licence if you use a radio?

Wig

no...............

Wig

espresso wrote: »

So he said "that a TV had been detected" and you said that you "had no TV", who do you think that they will believe? You have already lied and are now talking about you proving I'm innocent.

:rolleyes:

OP was correct to say he had no TV within the meaning of "TV reciever" as defined in Statutory Instrument 2004 No. 692

In any event you convieniently ignored OPs point no.2 where he clearly says he told the crapita guy that he uses a "TV" to play games with.

Wig

To OP,

There has been much bandiing about in this thread about whether you need a TV licence or not, but not many have actually answered your question.

I think you will continue to get more and more letters from TVLA, and if they are the standard ones you should ignore them, if they are slightly more serious then post them here for advice.

As you have seemingly told them your name (you had no need to do that) you might aswell just send off an email to them declaring you use a TV for games, not for watching TV broadcasts. When you get the email reply print it and save it. Then you need not have any worries no matter what crap they follow up with concerning the incident on your doorstep.

TVLA don't know their ars e from their elbow, it is entirely possible that the email you send and recieve will be dealt with totally seperately from the doorstep/officer "interview". i.e. they may follow up on the doorstep issue with threatening letters, not realising you have sent them an email to clarify.

Bamber19

albertross wrote: »

It really is so simple, I don't understand why there is so much confusion.

Because people keep appearing and stating that you need a licence in various situations where you don't actually need one. EIther because these people have been misinformed or because they want to answer every question from some moral point of view.

Wig

albertross wrote: »

The link to the tv licensing website is all over this thread, and all over all the other threads on the same subject, yet people still misunderstand a very simple short paragraph describing when you need one, and argue that you need one in other circumstances, when you don't.

A lot of the confusion comes from the information put out by TVLA, the same website that you appear to be singing the praises of have for example that Question & answer previously quoted on this thread by Stugib

Why instead of blatantly lying in the answer did they not just answer the question?
What if I only use a TV to watch videos/DVDs/as a monitor for my games console? Do I still need a licence?
No.



The blame for all the confusion lies with the TV licensing.

catz1ct

matthewking26 wrote: »

Capita will have a list of homes in Britain and a list of homes with licences, in their view every other home is illegally watching telly. It's beyond their comprehension that anyone would choose to not watch TV. As stated on another website the DVLA don't send letters to every house without a driving licence saying "We know you have no driving licence, you must get one if you have a car and we're sending someone round as we've detected a car on your drive", and you don't have to write to DVLA once a year updating them on the fact that you still don't have a car.

LOL you don't know the DVLA!

Blacksheep1979

I don't know what you're all slating them for - aprox 15 seconds it took me to find

http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/gethelp/faqs.jsp#link1

What if I only use a TV to watch videos/DVDs/as a monitor for my games console? Do I still need a licence?

You need to notify us in writing that this is the case and one of our Enforcement Officers may need to visit you to confirm that you do not need a licence.

Please write to us including your name, address and the reason you believe that you don't need a licence at:

TV Licensing
Bristol
BS98 1TL