TV licence Threatening letters in new flat.

HonestJohn

MikeJXE said:

If He doesn’t watch LIVE tv he doesn’t need a license simple 

Not true. You need one if you watch anything on iplayer too.

gwynlas

Your son should not be opening letters sent to previous occupants, he can mark them as not known or gone away and put them in post box.

What he chooses to do regarding his own viewing is up to him.

Cornucopia

To be fair, the nature of the TVL letters is such that a headline threat is often made visible on the outside of the envelope (usually by means of a transparent window).  A person wouldn't necessarily need to open them to know what they were.

Also, the majority of those letters are addressed to "The Occupier", so anyone fitting that description could open them.

Aberdon100

Thanks for all the replies. 
I am still a bit unsure the best way forward, should he either ignore the letters or fill out the form declaring he doesn't need a licence?

Cornucopia

Aberdon100 said:

Thanks for all the replies. 
I am still a bit unsure the best way forward, should he either ignore the letters or fill out the form declaring he doesn't need a licence?

It ultimately makes no difference.   

The key way to maintain control over BBC/TVL is to be aware that you do not have to (and should not) speak to them if they should happen to call at your door.   That's the only way someone can be prosecuted, so it's worth focusing on that to understand your extensive rights.

The longer you remain legally licence free at an address, the less interest they will likely have.

kinger101

I made the mistake when managing my father's estate of writing back to them say he died and nobody now lived at the property.  They wrote back asking for the death certificate.  I was going to ask them how a cremated corpse could possibly watch a TV that in any event had been disposed of but opted for scrawling a two word reply on the letter I returned to them instead.  No less offensive than the letter they had sent me.

prowla

gwynlas said:

Your son should not be opening letters sent to previous occupants, he can mark them as not known or gone away and put them in post box.

Why not  ?

mta999

Fill out the 'no licence required' form online.

Brie

prowla said:

gwynlas said:

Your son should not be opening letters sent to previous occupants, he can mark them as not known or gone away and put them in post box.

Why not  ?

The OP said that the letters were address to the "occupant" not necessarily anyone in particular.  I'd suggest that they don't know who the occupant is and therefore it's just one step up from junk mail.

And even if it was addressed to an individual there is no law against someone at that address opening it.

p00hsticks

Aberdon100 said:

Thanks for all the replies. 
I am still a bit unsure the best way forward, should he either ignore the letters or fill out the form declaring he doesn't need a licence?

If he's happy to just continue getting and binning the threatening letters, and knows what to do if he gets someone at the door (i.e. not let them in or converse with them) then he can just ignore them.

Filling out the form should  stop the letters and prevent any visit (in my experience you'll be asked via letter or email every few years to confirm that you still no longer need a licence). This is assuming that e genuinely doesn't need a licence (i.e.is not watching live TV or accessing BBC iplayer).