TV Licence article Discussion

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  • sniggings
    sniggings Posts: 5,281 Forumite
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    as above, stop watching live, watch catchup TV until you can afford a licence,then go to the shop a buy a full licence for the year, or go online and choose the instalments option, just make should if you choose the instalements they don't backdate the licence for months you didn't need one,as they sometimes guess when you should have had a licence and backdate it, so you could buy a licence for a year and find out it was only for 8 months, buying from a paypoint gets over that issue.

    oh and don't let them in unless they have a court warrant.

    The letters just stick in the recycle bin.
  • wealdroam
    wealdroam Posts: 19,181 Forumite
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    edited 25 May 2015 at 11:29PM
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    I notice that in the latest version of MSE's Do I need a TV licence? article there is a paragraph:
    Everyone who no longer requires a TV licence - including those who pay in cash at certain stores or Post Offices, who don't need to do the above - needs to fill out a No Licence Needed declaration form. After this, make sure you keep your confirmation email from TV Licensing as proof.

    This text wasn't in earlier versions of this document. Here's a March 2015 snapshot.

    Is there any legal reason why one "needs to fill out a No Licence Needed declaration form"?
    Has something changed recently?

    Or perhaps the word "needs" should be reconsidered.

    Edited to add:
    I now see this has been discussed at length during the last week or so. :o
  • Cornucopia
    Cornucopia Posts: 16,179 Forumite
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    edited 25 May 2015 at 11:47PM
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    In fairness to MSE, it's quite difficult to get to a definitive truth without doing lots of research, and potentially getting legal opinions.

    BBC/TVL simply won't address the issue of differentiating between what they want people to do, and what people are legally obliged to do. Personally, I think it should be an offence for a public authority to do this, because it places citizens at a huge disadvantage.

    The simple fact is that someone who does not need a Licence has NO legal obligations towards TVL, unless they produce a Search Warrant, which (in theory) they should never be able to do, if the household is diligent in never watching conventional TV broadcasts.

    Having said that, people who are paying by instalments, who wish to cancel their Licences, must contact TVL to avoid the account falling into arrears and being assigned to a debt collection company.
  • slow_saver
    slow_saver Posts: 384 Forumite
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    sniggings wrote: »
    You don't need a licence for the radio :doh:

    Radio 1234 5live & 6 are all BBC satations.. If everybody decides they can use the excuse of viewingTV online or catchup & NOT pay the licence then there will be NO BBC left!!! Including radio!
    If only people saw the bigger picture (excuse the pun) & just bought a licence then Auntie BEEB will be safe for years to come. I urge all of you who are anti licence to just stop & imagine there were no BBC... British TV would be a poorer place for sure & there would be 1000's of jobs lost in the process
    I must, I must, get my post average up to 1 a day!! :D
  • enfield_freddy
    enfield_freddy Posts: 6,147 Forumite
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    slow_saver wrote: »
    Radio 1234 5live & 6 are all BBC satations.. If everybody decides they can use the excuse of viewingTV online or catchup & NOT pay the licence then there will be NO BBC left!!! Including radio!
    If only people saw the bigger picture (excuse the pun) & just bought a licence then Auntie BEEB will be safe for years to come. I urge all of you who are anti licence to just stop & imagine there were no BBC... British TV would be a poorer place for sure & there would be 1000's of jobs lost in the process




    well not quite correct , your licence money does not go directly to the BBC , it goes to the government , who then give the BBC some money , so they have the last word.


    the BBC simply have not kept up with the times , and that is why the ITV , sky and virgin have stepped in , however the latter 3 do not go pounding on the government's door to pay for !!!!!phile's , etc etc .
  • cw18
    cw18 Posts: 8,624 Forumite
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    slow_saver wrote: »
    If only people saw the bigger picture (excuse the pun) & just bought a licence then Auntie BEEB will be safe for years to come. I urge all of you who are anti licence to just stop & imagine there were no BBC... British TV would be a poorer place for sure & there would be 1000's of jobs lost in the process
    That is YOUR personal opionion, and one you're entitled (and welcome) to hold without me giving you a hard time for having

    However, MY personal opinion is that I wouldn't miss it in the slightest - and if it did go I should be able to watch the only channels I have any interest in without having to pay to support a company I don't want to (so I'd actually be quite pleased to see it go if they can't find any a way of raising funds without charging people who don't use their services).

    I'm actually staying in a licenced property this week, and have been turning on the TV at lunch time & in the evening - but having been through the channel guide each time I turn on I'm still finding nothing of interest on the BBC channels, and am solely sticking to ITV3 (and ITV3+1) and 5US - the same channels I watched for several years before cancelling my licence.
    Cheryl
  • Cornucopia
    Cornucopia Posts: 16,179 Forumite
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    slow_saver wrote: »
    If only people saw the bigger picture (excuse the pun) & just bought a licence then Auntie BEEB will be safe for years to come. I urge all of you who are anti licence to just stop & imagine there were no BBC... British TV would be a poorer place for sure & there would be 1000's of jobs lost in the process

    The BBC has had the best part of 10 years to treat my lawful decision not to have a TV Licence with due respect and impartiality. Instead it has chosen (entirely vindictively IMHO) not to do that.

    I'm not about to offer it any sympathy whatsoever in its hour of need unless and until I receive a very humble apology for its behaviour, and the sacking of the key staff who decided that its behaviour was appropriate.

    Radio 1234 5live & 6 are all BBC satations.. If everybody decides they can use the excuse of viewingTV online or catchup & NOT pay the licence then there will be NO BBC left!!! Including radio!
    Given the difficulty of having subscription radio, I'm open to the idea of funding BBC channels that don't already have a commercial equivalent through general taxation (the amounts are not huge).

    Therefore I would fund R4, incorporating some of the less commercial elements of R3, and maybe invite Channel 4 group to take on 6 Music as a publicly-owned commercial venture.
  • cw18
    cw18 Posts: 8,624 Forumite
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    slow_saver wrote: »
    Radio 1234 5live & 6 are all BBC satations.. If everybody decides they can use the excuse of viewingTV online or catchup & NOT pay the licence then there will be NO BBC left!!! Including radio!
    Cornucopia wrote: »
    I'm open to the idea of funding BBC channels that don't already have a commercial equivalent through general taxation (the amounts are not huge).
    As someone who doesn't like any of the BBC radio channels either, I'd totally object to having to pay for that just so I can listen to commercial channels (in the same way I object to paying BBC so I can watch other TV stations). At least with the TV I could take action by ditching the licence and setting my house up to not be capable of receiving live channels to my TV sets, but I don't see how I can prove I only use my portable radio/CD and hi-fi to only listen to CDs if they gave us the same choice (pay or listen to none).
    Cheryl
  • Cornucopia
    Cornucopia Posts: 16,179 Forumite
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    cw18 wrote: »
    I'd totally object to having to pay for that...

    I can understand that.

    The only arguments are (a) they would need some kind of emergency radio system for Zombie apocalypses anyway, and (b) the amount of money involved once you only have R4 is relatively small (about 0.05% of Income Tax receipts).
  • Moneyshow15
    Moneyshow15 Posts: 26 Forumite
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    As sniggings has said, a TV Licence start date is fixed and immovable, it's only ever changed for me when moving house. So when coming back from holiday for X weeks or months tough luck you're paying for everything you never watched when away, to the end of your year period (although to be fair the BBC's catchup is now 30 days like everyone else so you miss a bit less).

    I don't mind the licence but what got my goat was the rubbish they print about "more money for programmes if you go paperless". I'll keep the only tangible proof of being licensed so I don't have to print it myself. I doubt the money saved by not posting out physical TV licences would even give you a month's worth of Eastenders.

    Radio channels are not the issue if they ditched that licence. You should be asking why there is background music in a high number of TV shows which is contemporary, sometimes brand-new pop music meaning extra costs to repeat them rather than commissioning the music to replay any number of times (eg in documentaries). It's not like any of Simon Cowell's acts require extra promotion from the BBC when it's brought in its own singing competition.

    Even though the BBC is negotiating with the new Government I can't see any change in format or price until 2020, so I would hope they spend these next five years getting ready eg a BBC-A channel where the best of 1 and 2 is on, brand new, but with ads and not in HD, and encrypt the whole lot for people that want to subscribe or watch everything in HD.
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