To ask if you've cancelled your tv license...

[rollingdowntheslide]

Did anyone come round and demand to come in?

I've heard things before about burly tv license folk demanding to come in and see if you have a TV.

Which we do, but we don't watch much tv and barely use the bbc I player at the moment. Can't remember the last bbc program Qe watched. We'd obviously stop watching the bbc all together when we have no license.

It's due soon and I'm reluctant to pay out £150 odd quid on something we barely use and could easily cut out.

You can watch it without a license anyway... just not 'legally'.

Enquiry officers are engaged by Capita Business Services Ltd (“Capita”), a company contracted by the BBC to administer the television licensing system under the BBC trade mark “TV Licensing”.
Enquiry officers do not have any legal powers to enter your home without a search warrant granted by a magistrate (or sheriff in Scotland). They (like other members of the public) rely on an implied right in common law to call at a property as far as the door, while going about their lawful business and making their presence known. Enquiry officers must explain to the occupier of the premises why they are visiting, be polite, courteous and fair, and abide by rules of conduct.

You have no obligation to grant entry to an enquiry officer if you don’t wish to do so. If refused entry by the occupier, the enquiry officer will leave the property.

As above, they have no right thing force entry. However they don't tell you this, and can be very aggressive. Their behaviour puts me off ever getting a license, as a matter of principle, as I refuse to be bullied.

Pk37 it doesn't matter what you watch it on as long as you aremt watching iplayer or live TV it's those two rules and that's it. You can watch ITV player etc as much as you want as long as its catch up TV and not live. You dknt get a signal from lugging the TV into the wall it's only for electricity. What about when your tablet or laptop is on charge and you want to watch something ? .

What annoys is me is that they expect you to have a TV licence even if you're watching live TV from abroad that had nothing to do with them.

Don’t forget that you pay your license 6 months in advance and you have to apply for a refund, it isn’t automatic.

We cancelled ours last May on the proviso that when we miss tv we get it back again. We haven’t got it back again. We have Netflix, ITV hub, All 4, the channel 5 one and Amazon Prime.

A family member of mine has no TV license (she only watches Netflix) and she's had letters AND had a man come round to check. She didn't let him in as her partner wasn't there.

I got rid of mine a few years ago now and I was only watching quest red and a couple of children's channels anyway.

I would rather watch things that I choose to watch, TV is boring. I watch property shows on channel 4 and a couple of things on Itv. I try not to touch channel 5 since they keep on with all the poverty porn rubbish.

I missed Luther but people have uploaded it to many platforms and I can't think of any other BBC shows that I'd miss. The BBC website is not as good as it once was and I don't listen to their radio either. I find the snippets of BBC news that I catch at my mum's to be very biased, it not like it was before.

I'm not missing anything and I gain £150 a year.

I was an enquiry officer for years. They do not have a right to enter your home without your permission, and you only get a fine if you stand at your door and help them fill in the form that is used to take you to court. And, no, they do not know if or how you are using your tv. They rely on you giving them this information at the door as they fill in their form. Hence why you are cautioned...anything you do say can be used in evidence. They have to legally caution you because what you tell them will be used as evidence in a court of law AGINST you. Sorry, wanted to add that bit after reading a debate about the caution on a previous thread.

What CAN you watch without a licence? Is Netflix and YouTube okay?

anything that is not life TV (apart from BBC iPlayer), i.e. Netflix, Amazon prime, YouTube, catch up TV from non BBC channels (e.g. itv, channel 4 catch ups etc)

The licence pays to receive a signal for all free view channels and iPlayer. All other catch up tv you don't need a licence. And someone pointed out you need a licence for tv subscriptions from abroad - this is correct. It is not actually the channels, but the signal the licence is for, therefore as foreign subscription come through a UK signal you need a licence. Sky tv is a simple example.

Cantrememberwhoiam I appreciate that might be the case up to a point, but I actually meant (obviously I failed to clarify the first time!) that you need it even if you watch the equivalent of iPlayer or stream content online.

I do understand you'd need a licence, I used to pay extra abroad to watch BBC crime or similar.

No, you don't need a licence if you are streaming content online or watching equivalent catch up to iPlayer.

biglybadgers - why did they need to check if you have a massive tv?

we have a massive Tv and no license. We use amazon prime, netflix and nowtv

@Cantrememberwhoiam thanks for your comments. That's interesting to know.

If I'm not watching any live tv or watching any bbc catch up then they won't be able to give me a fine, surely? I certainly wouldn't use it if I'm not paying for it.

What do I say if they do knock?! Can you tell I'm tempted to just continue paying it for fear of any confrontation

You open the door, they identify themselves and then you close the door on them.

You don't have to speak to them, listen to them or let them in.
They have no powers to enter your property without going through the courts to get a search warrant, and if they've no evidence how are they going to do that?

If you're politer then i am, open the door, they indentify themselves, you answer the questions, say you don't watch live tv or any catch up tv and no i won't grant permission for a stranger to wlak around my house and good bye

Dont answering they do knock or if ok do answer as no thanks ,the have no rights at all just ignore them

Answer if they do knock*

If you do*

Day no thanks*

Interesting thread. We don’t watch live tv, but I do watch iPlayer, so basically I’m paying £12.50 a month for the BBC!! It doesn’t seem good value. I may just stick with Netflix and Prime and skip iPlayer and save the money instead!! Thanks OP

Cantrememberwhoiam even if you stream live content or am I misunderstanding what you're saying?

It's a TV licence not a BBC subscription

The licence money is for the BBC
You have to have one for any device that can receive BBC whether you you choose to watch it or not.

Actually, just found this...

www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/tv-licence/

The licence money is for the BBC
You have to have one for any device that can receive BBC whether you you choose to watch it or not.

Yes, the licence money funds the BBC. However you need a license for any device capable of watching live TV. Including ITV, Channel 4, Dave, and Babestation.

IN ADDITION, you need a licence if you do not have equipment capable of receiving live TV, BUT you use BBC iPlayer. You do not need the licence for other streaming services.