TV licence - has anyone successfully taken a TV licence holiday?

[KIatschundTratsch]

tv-licensing.blogspot.com/2014/06/taking-tv-licence-fee-holiday.html

My TV licence is coming to an end and I do not want to renew it until 1st November. For the next two months I won't be watching live TV and my television set will be stored in the loft.
Is this possible (as in for me to state on my renewal I anticipate needing my licence from 1st Nov - I do not think they will let me advance purchase from that date until nearer the time) or am I just going to head into eight weeks of hassle because they refuse to believe I am disconnecting for a while?

Thanks in advance

Nah just don’t renew. You just need to register as not watching tv.

You might get hassled for a bit. I just ignore it, I’ve never had a tv liciense

I am not trying to avoid it entirely - I bought a new set last year and paid for an annual licence in one go. I have been watching Iplayer and I will be watching live from November, just not the next eight weeks. That means saving about 26 pounds I think...not a lot, but worth having if I am not watching.

In my experience, I just didn't renew it, I got a letter asking why/reminding me so I rang up and they explained about not watching any live tv or iplayer and just told me to get in touch if things changed and I wanted a licence. Every two years I get a letter asking me to confirm that I still no longer need a licence.

I am also obviously not going to be watching iplayer either for the next two months - that should be easy enough to prove with PC history/IP address/not signing in. I just don't want or need threatening letters and bombardment of e-mails although I could let the inspector in to see I am disconnected happily. I just think many would be if the answer to Do you own a telly? is Well, yes, but it is unplugged and in the attic, come and look!
I want to go about things the right way without having to cut off my ariel, plug etc

You are allowed to own a tv, I have one and use it to watch dvds, netflix, YouTube and channel four and it catch up, you just can't watch anything "live" or anything on iplayer.

ITV catch up

No I am aware of that but I have two ariels which work - and therefore the potential to receive live TV - is it enough proof I am not watching if my set is no longer in situ/installed?

As far as I'm aware, my ariel still works - the tv just isn't plugged into it. No one has ever checked, they just accept that you don't watch live tv.

Do Tvs have aerials anymore? They switched analogue off for a long time ago so you needed a digital input instead of an aerial, I used a sky box before I upgraded to a smart TV where everything is streamed but since I no longer watch live TV I'm not even sure how it works anymore.

I no longer needed a license so cancelled over a year ago. There was no hassle at all and I was asked to renew after a year. They are not going to turn up asking for your internet history and there is no need to put your TV in the loft.

PPs are essentially correct, but from experience, the most badgering is done in the period immediately after you cease paying for a licence, and the tone of the letters is annoying, even when they've been told there is no TV in the property in question, and nobody to watch it either. If that sort of thing will cause you any anxiety, it might be worth just paying for the bloody thing. However I will say that DS1 has never owned a TV in his flat, and though there's still the occasional flurry of letters, in six years nobody has ever tried to gain entry to check this out, never mind check his internet history.

The BBC have done a right number on you haven't they?

Go in the kitchen, go on, got a knife in there? That means your capable of murdering someone... Yet the police haven't come and arrested you.. weird.

So why is the BBC capable of doing you for a crime you haven't yet or are unlikely to commit? In reality, they're not, but they rely on that fear.

You need a TV license to watch or record live broadcast TV and for Iplayer that's it.
If you watch Netflix on a TV, dvds on a TV, even watching that old VHS tape of hardcore dwarf porn with the fake Terry wogan on a TV isn't a breach and you don't a license for it.

If you're not going to watch it for a while, don't renew it and renew it when you're ready.

Also... Their investigators and enforcement personnel are not employed by the BBC, they are Capita empyees and have no right to enter your property or look through your windows. The only time they can enter is with a signed and official warrant. That's it. The rest of the tine they have as much power as a window salesman, because all try are are sales people. If they knock, demand to see ID, say nothing, shut the door.

I did the reverse - I never pay it and contacted them to commence payment when the World Cup was on. As soon as the matches were finished, I cancelled it again and got a partial refund on my one month payment. Have never been hassled once by them.

Ariels and the ability to watch live/capacity to receive etc is irrelevant - as long as you actually don't watch anything live or the iplayer then you do not need to pay.

I cancelled mine years ago. As a pp said, they are just salesmen and have no rights to come into your home.

There's no need to put your TVs in the loft.

People still pay for this?

@haveagoodyear

People still pay for this?

The BbC have frightened peoples, lied to them, made it unclear and use threatening and misleading letters to make people pay. Some people just think it's easier to pay for what they don't need to just to keep the Capita Salespeople from their doors.

Look at this: misleading and tricking people into paying.

That's interesting noble - I only bought the telly and the licence last September to watch one specific thing. It didn't occur to me to ask for a refund after it was over - I guess, because I now owned a TV.
I can count on one hand how many times it has been on since. But yes, I am a law-abiding citizen so happy to pay what I use and you get what you pay for - it's nothing against the BBC but 13 pounds/month is a lot if I only want one thing.

I didn't have a licence for about eight years. We both decided we wanted to be without TV for a time.
Did get quite a lot of letters along the lines of "Are you sure you're not watching live TV? Are you? Are you really sure? We'll come and check!" which we usually ignored.
In the meantime video streaming started. We got Netflix then Amazon Prime. DH decided he'd like to watch F1 live (when it was still on the beeb) and with young children CeBeebies was very useful! So we got a licence again.
Nobody came to check.