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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To have told the to licence man to piss off?

274 replies

DontGoRhiannonStay · 20/01/2017 12:50

I have phoned them so many times and told them we don't need a licence. I have a no licence needed declaration.
So when this guy stood on my doorstep and tried to read me some
Sort of "rights" was IBU to tell him to piss off before shutting the door on him? (It felt amazing)

OP posts:
neuroticmumof3 · 20/01/2017 22:41

So I am supposed to have a tv licence cos i have virgin and tivo records (non bbc) things for me? I think they can fuck off. If enough people refuse to cough up they will have to change the way they raise revenue. We get taxed on bloody everything.

roseshippy · 20/01/2017 22:55

you can watch things on demand but you can't record them

mum2Bomg · 20/01/2017 23:07

IonaB - you don't have to have a license if you don't watch or record to as it's being broadcast.

Step 1 - declare NLN - no licence needed - there is a questions section on the website which I set up with a colleague.

Step 2 - declare WOIRA- the withdrawal of the implied right of access for them to enter your home.

If you do this, you're stating you don't need a licence and you're stating that they are 'uninvited' to visit. Use the vans, use he helicopter that's in the adverts but good luck.

Once you've declared WOIRA they are not legally allowed to even knock on your door. If they do, tell them you have withdrawn access and watch as they shit themselves in retreat.

There's no helicopter🤔. And if I told you have many vans they had, you'd crack up...

mum2Bomg · 20/01/2017 23:10

I also went on visits with the TV Licensing 'man' and its fucking scary to knock on some doors in Tower Hamlets and have someone answer with dog shit all over the floor, an out of control dog, the person answering the door is smoking a spliff and there are 10+ drunk people in the kitchen...on a Tuesday morning...give them a break?

wasonthelist · 20/01/2017 23:11

So I am supposed to have a tv licence cos i have virgin and tivo records (non bbc) things for me?

Yes you are.

mum2Bomg · 20/01/2017 23:11

You'd be surprised how often they are assaulted/mugged/beaten...

confuddledDOTcom · 20/01/2017 23:12

If it's not true (not a lie) it's because that's what I was told a few days after moving in when they knocked on my door and I hadn't sorted it out yet and they read it. I hope it's not true because I've spent the last few years stressed about it because that's what I was told. They only read it after seeing I had a working TV.

I don't have a licence now as I don't watch TV. Really and truly don't. I don't remember outside of visiting people the last time I watched TV. I don't even have an internet connection so can't watch on demand channels either.

mum2Bomg · 20/01/2017 23:12

You need to disable your tech so you cannot receive The BBC channels - it can be done. Then you don't need a licence. If you can get them, you need to pay. ''Tis the law...

mum2Bomg · 20/01/2017 23:14

Anyone who is truly fanatic about this can look at the website 'What do they know?' The BBC monitor this website...

wasonthelist · 20/01/2017 23:18

if your rights have been read he thinks he has found you out in something and that is a proper formal thing that's on your record as if you'd been arrested by the police.

As mentioned before - that's not true and if the person from Crapita said that, it's just another example of them telling lies about their powers. It is certainly nothing like having been arrested by Police.

JohnnyMcGrathSaysFuckOff · 20/01/2017 23:19

We don't have a tv licence as we do not own a tv and do not watch any form of live tv. We only watch youtube videos ocasionally and I listen to R4 on the way to work.

I would not let an inspector in unless he could give me some form of id no which I could then verify with TV Licensing themselves over the phone. We had a burglary here the other year where a man claimed to be a licence inspector and then once he was in intimidated the elderly householder. It is totally different to letting in a tradesman you have an appt with.

wasonthelist · 20/01/2017 23:20

I don't even have an internet connection so can't watch on demand channels either. I might be missing something here and it's not really vital but how are you posting on here without internet? If you have a phone with internet you can (could) watch catchup on it - some channels even have phone apps (not saying you do BTW).

JohnnyMcGrathSaysFuckOff · 20/01/2017 23:21

Mum2b

Seriously???? The fact that I own an ipad which could be used to watch iplayer means I need a licence? I doubt it. I am not using it to do so therefore I do not need to pay.

wasonthelist · 20/01/2017 23:22

You need to disable your tech so you cannot receive The BBC channels - it can be done. Then you don't need a licence. If you can get them, you need to pay. ''Tis the law...

No it isn't. You need a licence to watch or record live TV (as it is broadcast) but you don't need to disable anything.

SteppingOnToes · 21/01/2017 00:01

I've not had a TV in 18 years and have never had anyone even check, other than the initial declaration after a house move...

roseshippy · 21/01/2017 00:08

This is the sort of the thing the TV licence Nazis do:

www.thurrockgazette.co.uk/news/9867463.Man_wins_TV_licence_battle/

"Michael Shakespeare, from Grays, made sure all his equipment at home could not receive a live TV signal and watched catch up TV through the internet, which you do not need a TV licence for.

Mr Shakespeare wrote to the authority to inform it what he had done, inviting it to send someone round to check it out.

An inspector was sent round to check the equipment and Mr Shakespeare filmed it.

He heard nothing more until five months later, when a summons for court arrived in the post for non-payment of his TV licence.

TV Licensing obtained a copy of Mr Shakespeare’s video, which was uploaded on to YouTube, and said it showed a frozen image on a TV screen of The One Show, proving Mr Shakespeare was receiving live TV.

But Mr Shakespeare said the image was not present in his original video.

In a landmark case at Basildon Crown Court, the judge found Mr Shakespeare had no case to answer, as TV Licensing could not prove the validity of the video. Their own inspector also said in court he had not seen the frozen image when he visited."

And that's why you tell them to FUCK OFF when they come to your door. You do not politely invite them in to inspect your house so they can stitch you up like a kipper. Be as rude as possible so the message is very clear that you are not going to engage with their shit.

They also illegally prosecute people without using legally qualified staff.

confuddledDOTcom · 21/01/2017 01:00

I'm at a friend's house, he does have internet. It's why I have gone from being a heavy user of Mumsnet to only being here sporadically over the last couple of years. Some of us manage to live without TV, computers, broadband or a landline. It's quite clever really how we've not managed to do this for centuries I don't know. I do have a mobile so have some internet on there but of course it's no broadband or replacement for the TV but I can do what I need to.

confuddledDOTcom · 21/01/2017 01:06

I was honest with the guy who came in, I told him I had only moved in that week and hadn't gotten around to it, he asked if he could come in and check which I allowed him (I didn't know better then). He then stood at the door and said something like as you have been found to have a TV with no licence I need to read this to you (it was printed on the form that he had in front of him). He explained that it means the same as the police. He did only do it when he had seen I had a TV not before he came in.

Ehlana · 21/01/2017 01:35

Bunch of manipulative assholes. The detector vans are a myth too, created to apply pressure to allow them into your home. Tell them to get stuffed.

RazWaz · 21/01/2017 02:28

TV Licence people drive my bloody crazy, I've been in a 9 year battle with them. I don't watch TV cause I'm deaf, yet they constantly send me letters and visit me. I did an online statement and they said they would only stop visiting for 1 year in case I moved - even after I showed them I had a 7 year rental contract at the property.

They visit at all hours and often wake me up, and send me letters constantly asking me to phone them - I'm deaf ffs I don't even own a phone.

They know I don't watch TV, they know I am deaf, yet they still harass me on a weekly basis and I'm sick of it. I don't want to let someone in as I physically own 3 TV sets but they are all hooked up to games consoles and they'll probably spin it round to make it look like I'm breaking the law when I'm not.

I don't have to prove I don't own a car or I don't work to avoid paying road tax or income tax, so why should I have to constantly prove I don't watch TV. Especially when I have a disability that means I can't.

VeryBitchyRestingFace · 21/01/2017 07:36

so why should I have to constantly prove I don't watch TV. Especially when I have a disability that means I can't.

Being deaf doesn't usually mean that people can't watch TV though (unless there are additional factors). TV licencing board will probably assume that deaf viewers use subtitling.

Not that they should be assuming anything, since there is no legal obligation to own or watch live TV.

NicknameUsed · 21/01/2017 08:02

Why are some people so smug about not watching any form of on screen entertainment?

I enjoy watching TV. I pay for my licence and feel that I get value for money.

I agree that the system has to change and would pay by subscription if necessary.

MistyyDayys · 21/01/2017 08:11

I enjoy watching tv, I never said I didn't. I just much prefer watching it on catch up knowing that I don't have to pay for it.

PrivatePike · 21/01/2017 08:11

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Message withdrawn at poster's request.

PrivatePike · 21/01/2017 08:13

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