Should I ignore or reply to a TV license letter?

Clicker9180

I don't watch live TV, just Netflix and Youtube etc.

Recently got a letter from the TV license addressed to "the occupier". Should I (a) ignore it, (b) fill in a 'don't need TV license' form, or (c) fill in the form but with a fake name and contact details?

What is most likely resulting in me being left alone?

la531983

Ignore it and move on with your life.

oldernonethewiser

Ignore and put in the recycling.

I get letters every month addressed to "The Occupier"

FreeBear

oldernonethewiser said:

Ignore and put in the recycling.

I get letters every month addressed to "The Occupier"

I don't even bother to open the darned things.

LightFlare

Clicker9180 said:

I don't watch live TV, just Netflix and Youtube etc.

Recently got a letter from the TV license addressed to "the occupier". Should I (a) ignore it, (b) fill in a 'don't need TV license' form, or (c) fill in the form but with a fake name and contact details?

What is most likely resulting in me being left alone?

does the etc include any live broadcast streaming services ?

EssexExile

I have received similar letters at a property I'm doing up, I ignored a few then I thought I'll be polite and tell them what's happening. I went on the website to explain why I don't need a license and it asked if I already have a license, I said yes because I do have one for the house I live in. It then told me I had to cancel that before it would allow me to explain why I don't need one for the other house. So now I just throw the letters in the recycling.

Cornucopia

Any of these routine letters can just be ignored.   The letters don't mean anything, and responding to them isn't any form of legal obligation.   Responding doesn't change the underlying situation that the premises don't have a TV Licence, and their own statistics suggest that's likely to be okay.

I would say: roll on 2027, but given that the BBC has presided over the current can of worms for the past 30 years, there's a reasonable chance anything new will be worse.

Marvel1

I declared no tv licence with a refund back in August, email received to confirm and never heard anything since.

The same when I last claimed a refund around November 2023, never heard from them.  I had no tv licence between November 2023 to July 2024.

rollingmoon

Put it, and any others that follow, straight in the recycling.

Cornucopia

We're in this weird arms race over the TVL letters - they play with the words, the tone and their weird scammy devices (like the calendar and the fake rubber stamp), and we throw them away or send them back.   I guess like criminal scammers, the value is in the small percentage of people who read the letters and take them moderately seriously.

But they shouldn't be taken seriously - we already know that a lot of the things they say are false (false devices, factually incorrect or a very one-sided take on matters of law that should be made clear to people).   When they talk about "You have not responded", there is no requirement to respond.   When they talk about "investigations", we know there are no investigations in the normal English meaning of the word.   

Mutton_Geoff

Just watch a couple of these, you'll get the idea ..

https://m.youtube.com/@ChilliJonCarne