AIBU TV Licence

[LouBlue1507]

I don't have a TV licence and don't intend to pay for one.

I don't have access to live TV and only watch Netflix, Itv player, 4od and channel 5. Not BBC iplayer.

I have declared this to the TV licence people and now property is under investigation.

AIBU to refuse them entry if they turn up? I've read horror stories of them being bullies, intimidating and even lying!

Just to throw a spanner in the works, didn't the TV licence used to cover BBC radio as well? So if you listen to any BBC radio your TV licence is paying for it as well? Also, how do you watch Channel 5 without a signal /aerial? I don't know- genuine questions!
I think it would be very hard to argue that someone only watches ITV and commercial channels and never watches BBC. If that was the case, millions of people could choose not to pay.

headelf there is no radio licence! I have tried to pay one in the past, as I have no television- they laughed at me and said it stopped decades ago.
If you don't have a receiver and don't have iPlayer, you don't require a licence, and you don't need to worry.

When I was a student (10 years ago) I'd forgotten to switch the address over on my TV license.

The TV license man visited (I let him in because I didn't think not to) and was he really friendly and fair. My license was for the wrong address and expired 10 days before but he just helped me renew it and switch the address over a cup of tea.

A couple of weeks later we had a letter to say that no further action was required. I guess what I'm trying to get across is that they aren't evil, and by letting the guy in my problem was solved straight away instead of being drawn out over months.

Or, what was said!

lovely up until recently it was allowed to watch on demand without a license. I don't believe anyone is saying they watch something that requires a license but don't pay for one.

OP, I haven't had a license for 4 years, we receive the threatening letters from times to times bu it stops when I go on their website to officially declare we don't need the license. Starts again every other year.
We have a TV which is not connected to any "TV signal", we only use it to play video games or watch Amazon on demand, Youtube, etc.
This is legal I believe.

Channel 4 gets license money too.

Tell you what wasonthelist, if they said I needed to pay £145.50 to receive a year's Radio 3 and Radio 4 I'd pay it without the slightest grumble.

It's not possible for me to have live TV with no signall

Yes, it is, you can watch both iPlayer and ITV Player live via the computer.

Some licence money goes to the other channels too.

OP what you are doing is legal but not moral.

Google for this exact issue, you'll see lots of good advice!

So long as you don't watch BBC iPlayer or any LIVE TV on any device, you don't need a licence.

The general advice is to ignore all threatening letters (they make me so angry, compete harassment!) as they send them on a loop after a while. Don't respond at all, not even to say you don't watch/own a tv as they'll try to take it further then.

"We've opened an investigation"
"We're investigating your property"
"We're taking you to court"
"We've opened an investigation"

We must have had about 5 investigations opened on us now.

And whatever you do, DO NOT let them in your home. Ask them politely to leave the property and shut the door. Say nothing else.

We don't watch live TV or any BBC, and they continue to harass us with the stupid letters.

I think in our last flat when we first cancelled the TV my DH got so fed up he phoned and complained and they said they would take us off the register for however many years... but as soon as we moved, back to the endless loop of letters!

You're never, ever, tempted to watch something on iPlayer?

No offence, but I don't believe you. If it came to it and you ended up in court, you could lie, and you'd get away with it. And you probably wouldn't go to court, just get an endless stream of threatening letters, phone calls and visits.

My TV license is fantastic value for money, and it does more than just pay for the TV. My town has broadband; the provision of this was partly funded by the TV license.

Not to mention an alternative news outlet to all the corporate interests out there, and services people depend on that aren't commercially viable.

And all without adverts! If you've ever watched TV in another country, you really appreciate the BBC.

Good for you Nauticant. I wouldn't pay that for BBC radio, I only listen to R4 and R5 but would stop if it cost £145 per year.

Just to clarify:

You must have a TV Licence if you:
watch or record programmes on a TV, computer or other device as they’re broadcast
download or watch BBC programmes on iPlayer – live, catch up or on demand

which means watching or recording live TV (not just BBC) or using iPlayer for BBC TV programmes. So the licence isn't required for watching catch up TV on non-iPlayer services or for listening to BBC radio programmes on the iPlayer.

Good job the op only needs to be worried about the legality of the situation then. Let God/allah/lucifer/aliens/whoever judge her on her morals but that's something she doesn't need to worry about.

OP what you are doing is legal but not moral.
why?? genuine question. A license is required for live TV or BBC player, OP doesn't watch either, why should she morally pay for something she isn't using?

We moved into this house 5 years ago and we declared online that this address didn't require a license. We've not heard a thing from them since. No letters, no visits, nothing.

I thought one of the main reasons for bringing in the new rules was to get round the people watching or streaming content on their computers/laptops/phones?

I thought they applied whether you have a TV or not? If you have any device capable of viewing content and you use that, you need a licence. Whether its live or on catch up? Have I understood this correctly?

Also thought it didn't matter whether you have the BBC app or just type BBC iplayer into google each time and access it that way? And also thought it doesn't matter whether you don't watch any of BBCs content and only Channel 4, ITV etc?

It sounds like there's still a lot of mis-understanding/mis-interpreting the new rules. I thought I had finally worked it all out, but now I'm not sure!

No offence, but I don't believe you.

That is offensive, and ridiculous. Just because you do something doesn't mean everyone does.

I get these letters every so often and it really irritates me that I have to actively communicate with them to say that no, I don't watch live tv or iplayer.

It's as if I was getting threatening letters from Tesco or something - "Millions of people shop at Tesco, and as it is inconceivable that you don't as well, we have concluded that you must be stealing from us. Therefore we are investigating the contents of your kitchen, and will continue to harass you until about this."

I've had a TV and no TV license - TV was only used for DVDs and there was no aerial (this was when we lived in a temporary rented flat). We also had no broadband so couldn't access iplayer. TV licensing was fine with that.

However I am pretty at someone who watches the amount of TV you do (Netflix, ITV player, etc) and yet somehow NEVER watches the biggest broadcaster with the most amount of content available and with no tedious ads. I personally call bullshit. If you can afford a netflix subscription and a PS4 you can afford to pay £12 a month and stop leaching off everyone else.

No offence, but I don't believe you.
More and more people don't watch live TV anymore. Just because you do it doesn't mean everybody else does.

These threads come up every so often and there is a firm contingent of people that claim those of us who don't watch, consume, make note of, or have interest in BBC programming are (a) lying liars who lie (b) morally corrupt or (c) odd to the point of abnormality.

Whether its live or on catch up? Have I understood this correctly?
No. You only need a licence to watch (or record) TV (on any device) at the time it is broadcast (i.e. live tv). The ONLY catchup service that requires a TV licence is BBC iPlayer. Nothing else, not Netflix, not ITV hub, not the other on demand services.

Ritchy how is the OP "leaching off everyone else" by not paying for something she isn't using? In a way, it is you who is expecting the OP to subsidize you by paying for something you are using but not her.