Bullying TV licence inspector

[LapdanceShoeshine]

DD2 moved into a new address with her BF on 1st December. They had no live TV until shortly before Christmas & didn’t even think about getting a licence (it’s an old TV from when her BF lived alone elsewhere)

Today a woman knocked on the door just as DD2 was about to go out & asked “are you Mrs X?” (previous resident). DD2 said no. Woman asked if they have a TV, more or less pushed her way in to see (small terraced house, front door opens straight into living room), started demanding information like DD2’s NI number, & wanted DD2 to hand over her bank details immediately. (Despite the haranguing DD2 managed to resist this & instead signed up for TV licence on her phone in front of the woman.)

Surely this isn’t how they’re supposed to behave? Having come to see a specific person, who moved out in October, she should just have requested to see some ID & then left with a warning to get a new TV licence asap?

Any advice? I’ve suggested she make a formal complaint. The woman even read her a caution!

Or you could straight out call the police? They cannot do that hat without a court order. That will be more effective than making a complaint.

Did your daughter actually sign anything op? Many people are conned into signing a small form that acknowledges the caution. It's actually a confession and then used to prosecute. Have a look at tv licence resistance group as its likely they will prosecute.

I haven't had a tv licence for years and I receive monthly threats about inspections and other rubbish. I just put it in the bin and ignore. Many people are so intimidated by the constant harassment that they buy one even if they don't need it.

The simple solution is that you should be able to opt out of receiving bbc channels. Many people are paying for something they don't use or want.

"The person who caught me breaking the law was polite and courteous" said nobody ever

When I did my stint in probation that was something I heard lots.

I also heard a lot of people who broke the law refer to police officers as firm but fair.

it Is not acceptable for anybody to imply powers they do not have, it is also not acceptable to be rude hostile and agressive when carrying out employment.
Quite aside from it making your own job rather more risky it also reflects really badly on your employer

Are we honestly saying not having a TV license for less than a month is a worse offense than trespassing and essentially breaking into someone's home? Christ alive.

^^ this

*What, because it’s ok if you only speed accidentally for a couple of weeks? The woman shouldn’t have pushed her way inside, but every second house she goes to probably tries to slam the door in her face, so I don’t especially blame her for getting inside the door.

Getting off the doormat was out of order. But she kindly didn’t fine your daughter for her v serious error (how long til she would have thought to cough up if the tv licensing people hadn’t knocked??) so maybe let it go?*
*
^^* wtf? V serious error? Very kindly? Don't blame her for forcing entry? 🤣 is that you licensing officer?

Why should we be forced to buy a tv licence?

You can't just choose to break the law because you don't like it.

You're creating a drama where there really doesn't need to be one.

You can't just choose to break the law because you don't like it.*

You can't just blindly try to enforce a 'law' that no longer deals appropriately with the complexity of modern television/ entertainment.

Terrifying how many people are happy to blindly follow without questioning the appropriateness.

You can't just choose to break the law because you don't like it.*

You can't just blindly try to enforce a 'law' that no longer deals appropriately with the complexity of modern television/ entertainment.

Terrifying how many people are happy to blindly follow without questioning the appropriateness.

You can't just choose to break the law because you don't like it.

If you don’t have a tv connected up and receive live tv then you don’t legally have to buy a licence

Yep but you should be able to opt out of bbc . Bbc should be as per subscription like everything else. I'd like to watch live tv but not the bbc.

Are we honestly saying not having a TV license for less than a month is a worse offense than trespassing and essentially breaking into someone's home? Christ alive

Trespass isn't a criminal offence, and there is no suggestion that this woman broke in.

The BBC states that "The Communications Act of 2003 makes it a legal requirement to pay television license fees". AN ACT IS NOT A LAW, however, and therefore can only be acted upon if a citizen agrees to be subjected to its original intention. There is no law, which is why they rely on threatening letters to collect their money.

Well actually yes, any law can be "blindly" enforced because it's the law; your views on how appropriate it happens to be are completely irrelevant, paniconthestreets?!

You can't just blindly try to enforce a 'law' that no longer deals appropriately with the complexity of modern television/ entertainment.
Terrifying how many people are happy to blindly follow without questioning the appropriateness
I hate statements like this. They always smack of 'i'm so enlightened because i challenge authority unlike you sheep. You lot are so blind that you can't see the truth, but i can'.

It's like people sending their child to school wearing trainers when the uniform says 'no trainers' and then get annoyed because 'eeeh well i don't think it makes a difference to their brain does it? Nah didn't think so. My kid will wear the £70 trainers i bought because i'm not having school expect my child to blindly follow rules'
and then more often than not said chikd develops a right attitude problem and is incapable of raising issues appropriately because mam and dad have said you don't follow rules you don't like.

I follow the law because it is the law.
If I have an issue with the law I can email my mp, join a pressure group, join a political party, get involved in lobbying, go on a protest, sign a petition.
What i don't do is say 'i don't like this law so it doesn't apply to me'.

I really want a new pair.of running shoes but I'm a bit broke. Nike makes so much money that I can go steal a pair from them. After all, I'm not going to blindly follow rules and they won't miss a pair.

Legal requirement, law, whatever...

If a person forces themselves into your home that's unacceptable whether it's technically legal or not.

Only on fucking mumsnet.

If you don’t have a tv connected up and receive live tv then you don’t legally have to buy a licence

But the OP's daughter was receiving live TV at the time of the visit. I would also like to point out that you may have to pay for a TV licence even if you don't have a TV, but watch or record live TV broadcasts, or use BBC iPlayer online.

DeepanKrispanEven
Plus I thought (but might be totally wrong) that enforcement people can make entry through open doors etc.

Anyway, it's simple. Got a TV? Watch live TV? Watch BBC iplayer? Get a TV licence. If you're big enough to live alone tjen you're big enough to sort your TV licence out

Absolutely pathetic.

The woman behaved horribly because she feels she can because of the 'law'.

I hope you complain about her OP. Both to her employer and the glorious BBC to whom we must be all be indebted

Maisy your trainer analogy is amusing but nonsense. Doesn't relate or apply.

Frequency, the fact that you can find programmes you like on commercial and subscription-based channels does not address the argument that channels like the BBC help to keep quality programming on TV. Of course those channels are going to make programmes that appeal to a lot of people, and are capable of going to good writers, directors and actors to make them. But the point is that they are never going to go out on a limb and do anything risky or niche, because they're scared to death of losing advertisers. They will only do something different when a channel like the BBC has demonstrated that actually there is a substantial audience for it. And the reality is that they will fill up the space with an awful lot of cheap dross: witness the staggering amount of reality shows, game shows, repeats etc on free TV and the fact that you can regularly trawl through 50 channels without finding anything remotely watchable. If you don't accept that, try living in Australia for a bit.

And that's before you even get started on the sheer tedium of advert breaks. I've regularly gone off to do something during an advert break, got distracted, come back convinced I've missed important parts of the programme only to find the same advert break is still churning on.

The licence costs 40p per day - 10p per person in family of four. For that you get four TV channels, several radio stations, local radio, iPlayer, BBC News etc etc. You get less than that for higher fees for subscription channels; and, given that advertising costs are added to the price of what you buy, you certainly pay more than that for commercial channels with no choice about whether to do so. Is the licence fee really so terrible?