TV licence!!!

[cheeseandbeansontoasts]

I cancelled the TV licence a few months ago as we never ever watch TV or use anything that would be deemed as watching TV. The only thing we watch are the odd film on Netflix.

i keep getting letters and emails telling me to contact them before it escalates?!!! I was paying for the licence for years despite not actually ever watching tv!! So decided to stop.

any advice? This is ridiculous being threatened for something I don’t even owe them!

I watch tv but don’t have a licence , I don’t watch live tv or anything bbc . Haven’t had one for years

Do they spend the entire license fee sending these enforcement letters?

Have you SEEN the price of postage?

Same here was paying for years, not watching live TV, then cancelled and we've had letters and also people visit saying they can come in the house to check (no they can't, but they can request a police escort with a warrant)

I don't think anyone has said they don't watch TV have they?

I watch plenty of TV just via streaming services I choose to pay for. It not the like TV licence is the only way to watch TV like it was in the past.

I do resent the constant deluge of letters they send harassing me for something I don't need and would be curious to know how much they spend sending such letters per year.

ClawsandEffect · Yesterday 16:47

I never, literally never, watch the TV.

Apologies I missed that comment but I think that poster wasn't saying it to be smug or more worthy, obviously some people don't watch any TV and that's fine. I think their comment was more to point out that even someone who doesn't watch any TV still gets hounded by letters.

Never declared it. Not had a license in years and get letters that just go in the bin. Barely watch live TV now.

I watch plenty of TV just via streaming services I choose to pay for. It not the like TV licence is the only way to watch TV like it was in the past.

This is it entirely.

Their deliberately duff 'logic' is as stupid as saying that:

1. It is very well known that Tesco sell a lot of food
2. I know that YOU regularly eat food, yet Tesco have confirmed to me that you never pay them any money
3. This is evidence that you're a thief and you've defrauded Tesco, so you deserve to be prosecuted

My daughter moved into student accommodation and immediately got a threatening letter. I went on the website and declared no licence required. They have a telly which hasn't been switched on since they've been there, and all the girls watch netflix and similar on laptops. Two weeks later they get another letter threatening prosecution. I rang up and said I've declared no licence needed so why were they still getting letters, and they said the new letter referred to the previous owners who had a licence. No it didn't, it just said 'the occupier'. I was assured the letters would stop now but I'll believe it when I see it.

You don't need to. It's not a legal requirement. I've not had a licence for over 10 years. Got fed up filling in their form every 2 years so longer bother.
The letters are a disgrace. The threats are something else. 'We might come tomorrow, or another day, it might be at the weekend or evening'
Bring it on your bullying fuckers.
I've dealt with them before and only too happy to again.

Disclaimer - I have a licence and we do watch BBC/Iplayer.

But I think the model has become unsustainable. It worked, as pp said, in the pre-streaming era, but nowadays many people genuinely don't watch BBC content or live TV, and more importantly people are savvy about the process, can go online and get advice about how to deal with licence demands.

I don't have stats to back this up, but my theory would be that the licence paying population is skewed towards middle-aged and older people and once the older people are no longer here, the model will collapse.

We paid our TV licence for years but when we started renting a few years ago we stopped as we never stream, record or watch live TV. Initially I informed the BBC but we received lots of letters, some rather threatening ones. We have since moved and I have just ignored the BBC this time, e.g. I haven't even alerted them to us living here. We continue to receive letters and ones designed to scare us into paying, such as something along the lines of 'We are going to investigate your property and an investigator will attend your property on 'X date'. No one ever comes. Even if they did, I would not let them in and they aren't allowed to come in unless you invite them in. They're like vampires. ☺️

Just ignore the letters, you're legally within your rights not to have a tv license if you stick to the rules.

We've not had one for about 5 years.

They don't send people to your door as often as they used to, but if you ever get a visit (it will be from some shady outsourced firm like Capita) just say "sorry, not today" and close the door.

Their tactics are appalling though. I receive the letters and don't give a shit, but a little old lady would think she was going to prison!

It's sickening that that is so clearly a target for them: people - often elderly and/or vulnerable - who don't need a licence, but who are so frightened by their harassing and menacing letters that they pay up anyway.

In effect, not much different from a 'protection' racket run by unsavoury characters - except that the latter aren't government endorsed.

One thing that I don't think received anywhere near enough exposure - probably because it affected elderly people, and society is habituated to simply ignoring their needs and circumstances anyway - is what happened after the previous government scrapped free TV licences for people aged over 75.

My DGM - in her mid-90s - had not had a TV for over a decade, as she had multiple severe mental health problems and one of these presented in paranoia, whereby she thought that the TV was watching her and the presenters talking to her personally. Not only was she not interested in watching TV; the very idea of it terrified her.

After my DGF died, they continued to send her free TV licences, which were obviously useless for her and just got shoved in a drawer or thrown away and treated like any other unwanted mail.

However, once over-75s had to start paying for a TV licence again, it was naturally assumed by TVL that they were all still watching TV and thus were told they were criminals and threatened if they hadn't instantly gone and paid up.

Never mind the older folk who didn't watch TV, those who weren't aware about suddenly needing to pay again, which would have confused many (after all, once you qualify for your state pension and other old-age related benefits and schemes, you get it for the rest of your life; it doesn't just run out and stop), and those who had moved into care homes or died.

Even if they had bothered to make it very clear that you may well not need a TV licence - to a generation who had largely long seen it as an essential bill and not a consumer choice - it isn't always as straightforward as "just let us know and we'll pretend to remove you from our database, except we will assume that you're lying and continue to harass you regardless".

Many elderly people are not online, those with hearing or cognition issues will struggle to use a phone, and even if they're willing and able to spend £2 or whatever on a stamp, if they're housebound and/or frail (or it's icy outside), even getting to a postbox can be far from simple.

This might seem hyperbolic, but the TVL processes make me think of the scammers who send out millions of emails claiming to have concrete evidence of people watching porn and masturbating to it, which they then threaten to send to all of your contacts if you don't pay them.

All the scammers have is an email address; and all that TVL often have is a property address - but they still both reckon it's worth their while in sending out the demands for money, as they'll likely get some measure of financial return for their efforts.

The scammers use shame as their bargaining tool, whilst TVL use threats of coming into your house and prosecution as theirs.

Granted with TVL, they might vaguely mention (in very tiny letters) that you may not need to pay them - and if you do pay them, whether out of genuinely needing to pay or out of fear of their bullying, they will then leave you alone; but those are the only real material differences I can actually think of between the two.

Just ignore them. Get on with your life.

The have a database of unlicensed addresses and send letters to those homes in the hope of selling a licence.

They can't do anything.

If an "inspector" calls to your house, just say "one moment please" then close to door in their face.

But they rely on people who don't know this and who are fearful enough to succumb to their deliberately menacing bullying tactics.

Are you elderly or vulnerable yourself? Maybe not; but very many of their targets will not be in such a privileged position.

Got a letter telling the legal occupier they were starting an investigation. Crack on I say!

I haven’t declared that I don’t need one because I don’t want them to know my name (which they don’t have)

Exactly this, and it doesn't stop them anyway, so why bother.

I just declared online that I no longer want my TV Licence, having paid for and not watched a single live or BBC show in the past ten years! Online had page after page of warnings, then right at the end said I had to phone them, which I just did,guy was pleasant enough but pointed out that an officer would be coming round to my home to interview all occupants to make sure we don't watch live TV or BBC! Can they do this? I found the whole process to be so intimidating, not to mention the 3 month wait for a refund ( they quick enough to jump if you miss a payment)

We've also just cancelled our TV licence. DP phoned up because it was in his name and it was an easy enough phone call. The refund came through in days.

We have had one 'action needed buy a TV licence' letter since then, but because we don't need a licence (our TV isn't connected to anything except the wifi so can only watch streaming services and we've cleared the iplayer login) it went in the bin, because we know we don't need one.

It helps if you understand when you do and don't need a licence because you can then see the letters as just bizarrely ridiculous, rather than intimidating - you know they're just posturing and don't have a leg to stand on.

No they can't!!!! Not unless you let them in willingly. They have no legal right to enter your home without a warrant and they aren't going to go to the expense of obtaining a warrant without believing they have strong evidence they're going to find you've been watching live TV.

Don't worry about what he said and enjoy the money you're going to save!

Legally licence free for nearly 20 years