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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU TV Licence

322 replies

LouBlue1507 · 03/01/2017 10:02

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!

OP posts:
LightastheBreeze · 03/01/2017 11:24

The TV licence people are doing an investigation on my late DM, I told them she was dead and the house was empty, but they are still sending threatening letters there, and are going to take her to court and fine her thousands of pounds, I rang up and told them I didn't want my TV licence money used like this but I guess they will still waste time and money investigating, they told me it was all done automatically.

It don't sound like you need a licence OP and the sooner BBC becomes subscription the better so they don't have to do these money wasting exercises.

wasonthelist · 03/01/2017 11:24

You don't need to disconect any aerial - just don't watch live tv or iplayer.

Starlight2345 · 03/01/2017 11:25

I was visited by TV licence when I first moved in house..First week..House was empty prior to that..No TV signal here. I had booked sky for beginning of month...When they knocked they could see DVD playing on TV from door. They accepted what I said and Licence ordered for Sky fitting.

I do pay my Licence but it is rare I ever watch anything on BBC , never watch I player.. I am not sure while people can't understand not everyone watches BBC...My DS however does watch Cbbc a lot.

Kadena127 · 03/01/2017 11:26

You don't have to let them in, although if they bring the police/court order as a pp suggested, then you do. Although I doubt they would bother with the effort!

RitchyBestingFace · 03/01/2017 11:28

Please tell us how you know this, otherwise it's just opinion.

BBC and all broadcasters have decades of audience data and analysis - all of which is in the public domain and heavily analysed. According to their last report 97% of the population watch the BBC every week. So somebody who would not watch / listen to ANY BBC channel, radio or news source over the course of a year would be vanishingly rare. I'm not saying they don't exist but there do seem to be a lot of them hanging on this thread.

Fuck off.. I have no need for a TV licence legally or morally. I do not watch BBC what so ever.
Sorry OP.

MiladyThesaurus · 03/01/2017 11:28

I do hate this me me attitude that someone else has to pay because I don't want to use something

This makes no sense. You do realise you're actually saying that you don't like people who don't use something not paying for something that you do want to use. Clearly they should all cough up regardless to keep the costs didn't for you.

It's not the people without licenses that have the 'me, me, me attitude' in that scenario.

LivingOnTheDancefloor · 03/01/2017 11:31

MiladyThesaurus
Exactly my point. You phrased it much better.

SaskiaRembrandtWasFramed · 03/01/2017 11:31

But 3% of the population is still millions of people.

MiladyThesaurus · 03/01/2017 11:32

3% of a population of c. 60 million people is not 'vanishingly rare'.

Obviously people who don't need a tv license are likely to be overrepresented on a thread about this sort of thing. Just as the numbers if people with 3 and 4 year olds on schools admissions threads are likely to be far higher than their percentage in the general population. People post on threads that are interesting and relevant to them.

PhilODox · 03/01/2017 11:32

rare and unlikely
What rot!
I haven't watched television since before my pfb was born, and she's 11!
Young people (by which I mean 16-24 yos) don't watch television- viewer numbers in those demographics are plummeting. How is it rare or unlikely?

wasonthelist · 03/01/2017 11:33

According to their last report 97% of the population watch the BBC every week Impossible to know - what is the sample size? You then go on to add radio and news content - a licence is only required for TV.

TheNaze73 · 03/01/2017 11:35

The whole system is a disgrace. I reluctantly have a to license but, very rarely watch the BBC with its biased news & crap programming. Why can't they advertise??

Good luck op & fight the good fight

LightastheBreeze · 03/01/2017 11:35

More people will be on this thread who don't need a licence than do, I am only on it because of the business with my late DM needing a TV licence. It probably wouldn't be of interest if you watched TV and needed a licence. 3% is a lot of people, though it may also include the dead ones.

CancellyMcChequeface · 03/01/2017 11:38

I think that the BBC has a few great programmes, but nothing I like enough to pay £145 a year for. Netflix is about half that and has far more shows and films that I'm actually interested in watching. I don't think the BBC is good value for money, given my tastes in TV - for someone who likes more BBC shows than I do it might be, but not for me. It's the equivalent of charging everyone £145 a year for access to all the sports channels available - great value for someone who likes sport and watches a lot of it, but a complete waste of money for someone who only watches a few sports programmes a year, if any.

Nobody should have to pay for something they don't use. I have no objection to the BBC charging for their content, but it should be an opt-in model, like Sky, Netflix or anything else. The assumption that everyone both owns a TV and watches the BBC is outdated. The license made sense when there were only four channels, but not any more.

PerspicaciaTick · 03/01/2017 11:39

So long as you always answer honestly when/if the screen pops up asking you to confirm you have a TV license before watching any BBC content online.

MunchMunch · 03/01/2017 11:40

If the police are there it's only to keep the peace, they are not there to back up tvl and arrest you or anything. You can still refuse entry to tvl unless they have a warrant. You can still refuse to give any info/names to tvl even when someone is arrested they are told "you have the right to remain silent" so some tvl person isn't getting my info out of principle because of their bullying and harassing ways.

wasonthelist · 03/01/2017 11:41

I didn't even know it asked as I don't use iPlayer.

NewNNfor2017 · 03/01/2017 11:41

We no longer watch BBC shows on iPlayer.

I buy two series a year from the BBC Store, for which we do not need a license. It's a lot cheaper than paying for a years license and I get to own the whole series forever.

MangoBiscuit · 03/01/2017 11:41

Oooh, I'm vanishingly rare!

OP, we went through this. First because our house was 2 flat and we knocked them through to one. We had the same guy visit us three times to check if we had TV equipment in the, now non-existent, other property.

A year ago we cancelled our license. We never bothered refitting the aerial after the new roof was fitted, so we get no signal, have no iPlayer apps downloaded, and don't watch through browsers. We only ever used it for CBeebies anyway. We had one visit, we let him in, and he just checked for signal. I offered to show him that the iPlayer app wasn't downloaded, but he wasn't interested. That was the last we heard.

mothertruck3r · 03/01/2017 11:42

You don't have to let them in. Don't say anything to them etc. If they try and force their way in, record everything on a video camera or phone etc.

LightastheBreeze · 03/01/2017 11:42

I would be much happier if all TV was subscription, I already pay for Sky and the movies but choose not to pay for sport, Netflix but not Prime so BBC could just become another subscription like that for those that want it, it would be much better.

celtiethree · 03/01/2017 11:43

I have a tv licence but can honestly say that I rarely watch the bbc. For those that say that they are the best and biggest that's your opinion. The few programs I do watch I could easily do without. The BBC do have a huge problem looming my DC v rarely watch live tv and they don't watch BBC, when they leave home can't see them needing a tv licence. In the future there will be a funding gap unless the rules are changed about needing a licence for live TV only/I player.

MiladyThesaurus · 03/01/2017 11:44

So long as you always answer honestly when/if the screen pops up asking you to confirm you have a TV license before watching any BBC content online.

You know this isn't even a consideration for me. I'm never in a situation where anything pops up asking me about a tv license because (and I know MNers find this impossible to believe) I don't actually use iplayer or search for BBC programming online. There's no need to urge me to tell the truth.

I genuinely do not miss BBC television at all. It's been more than a year since I watched anything on the BBC (and actually it had been a long time even before we ditched live tv and the license too). Just because you really like something, doesn't mean that everyone does or that we're all secretly wishing we could be watching the BBC.

MiladyThesaurus · 03/01/2017 11:47

In the future there will be a funding gap unless the rules are changed about needing a licence for live TV only/I player.

I think the only answer is to make the BBC a subscription service because trying to force people to pay a BBC license when they only watch YouTube will not go down well at all.

T

OrangeFluff · 03/01/2017 11:48

I'm like the OP and only use the TV for Netflix, Youtube and the Xbox. No licence for 7 years now. It is becoming more and more common now as streaming takes over the traditional live broadcast.

All you non-believers need to expand your minds a little bit Grin

Oh, and Netflix have the best stuff from the BBC anyway, and I pay for that fair and square!