To consider this harassment?

[2Hot2Handle]

I don’t have a TV licence and haven’t for a few years. I decided not to renew it, one year, when I realised that no one in our household watched anything live on terrestrial, or any networks or apps. Instead I went onto the TV Licensing website and declared that I didn’t need a licence, so they have been properly informed.

Our viewing is exclusively on subscription services (Netflix, Amazon, Disney Plus only). We don’t watch anything live. Our TV aerial is not connected and we gave back our Sky equipment to Sky, when I ended our contract, although a dish is still on the side of our house, which doesn’t connect to anything.

It seems pointless to pay £159, for a service we don’t use.

Recently, I’ve been receiving letters from TV Licensing, telling me that they are sending an Enforcement Officer to my house, because I’ve been ignoring their letters. Even though I am not doing anything wrong, it still makes me feel stressed. I’m concerned that they will fabricate a reason, or evidence, to be able to fine me. At the same time, I am reluctant to pay for a licence that I don’t need, because they are threatening me. The wording of their letter feels like harassment and that I’m being forced to pay purely to get them to leave me alone and stop sending me threat. My questions are;

• Has anyone else declined to have a TV licence and how have/do you handle it, when chased by TV Licensing?
• Is there anything I can do to protect myself?
• Should I be concerned about a visit?
• What are enforcement officers allowed to do if they do show up?

I cancelled my TV licence in 2019 and did the declaration. Late 2020 I had an enforcement officer round demanding to coming in which given covid seemed a bit unreasonable but I let them in. I've been getting the threatening letters again the last 6 months or so.

Honestly I have enough life admin to worry about without having to tell the TV licencing every 12 - 18 months or so that I don't need a licence.

I don't get the dvla hassling me because I used to have a provisional licence. It's ridiculous. So now I bin their letters and ignore them. If they want to waste money sending people out that's on them.

I'm not a monarchist, a football supporter or a sports fan. I literally haven't watched live TV since getting rid of my TV licence. I'm not sure why its hard to believe.

The letters are system generated, they send the same ones on a loop.

Ive never paid a TV license in 10 years and have had every single letter they can spit out of their system.

NEVER, had anyone at the door. Just ignore the letters.

Sorry but I think you are being a tad over-dramatic here OP!

You don't have to let ''enforcement officers'' in. They have no powers without a warrant.

I would never do that anyway because for all I know someone could get a fake ID and pass themselves as one to gain access to my home under false pretences. It's a security risk.

As long as you have registered the fact that you do not need a TV licence, which you can do online these days, they have no reason to harass you.

I think the whole is ludicrous anyway. To criminalise the fact that someone might be watching a TV channel and to pay ''enforcement officers'' to knock on people's doors so is beyond a joke.

Only in the UK...

We haven’t had a TV since whenever the digital switchover happened - we don’t have a roof aerial, and we tried a booster for the Freeview box and it just never worked so we gave up.

We still get the monthly letters, but have never had anybody on the doorstep. Well it’s possible we have, but it hasn’t been when we’ve been in. Just ignore and bin the letters. They also have no right of entry (unless they turn up with the police and a warrant), so don’t let them in if they do turn up - why would you let some random in to poke around in your house trying to find an excuse to fine you?

You do need a TV licence if you are using Iplayer (which we don’t have). Don’t need it for YouTube or Prime so that is all we use.

They send me the nasty threatening letters. They never turn up. If they do they won't be coming in. It's my home and I'm not a criminal. They know I have no licence,so it's obvious I don't have a TV. Unless the rules have changed and were guilty before being proved innocent. I resent the implication.

iPlayer you need a license even just for catch up

Other apps you don't need a license unless you're watching "live"

Yes. You used to be able to watch the iPlayer so long as it wasn’t live, but they’ve changed it now so that you have to have a license now to watch anything on the iPlayer:
www.tvlicensing.co.uk/check-if-you-need-one/topics/bbc-iplayer-and-the-tv-licence

Before DH moved in, I had no TV license for years (he pays for it now as he wants terrestrial telly). If you renew the I have no TV licence decleration every couple of years you’ll never hear or see from them again.
I don’t get why people ignore them “on principle” as you’re just contributing to unnecessary paper useage when they constantly send out letters.

I was happy to fill the self declaration in once. But then I got a visit less than 12 months later. And then I got the letters again 18 months after that.

I am not contributing to the unnecessary paper by not filling it in as they apparently seem to ignore it randomly anyway. They are creating unnecessary paper by the way they work. that's not on me.

I haven’t had one for 3 years either , same as you all our services are Netflix Disney plus and Amazon prime . They still send them letters . If you have an officer at the door the Andy thing you should do is let him in . It’s nit that you have something to hide it’s simply because they have no authority and they have been known to bend the truth , example , not long ago they tried to incriminate someone me side they had LG free channels which are live Tv , they one with the tv as soon as you turn it on and the person neve saw them but still they where taken to court.

Tbh I have always paid our tv license without a second thought, but it was only on reading this thread and particularly post, that I realised we don't watch any of this.

so no coverage of the queens death or the funeral, no Olympics coverage, no football matches

Nope! We watch a few sports things in the pub (Six Nations etc). Don’t believe anyone was watching the Olympics live last time, it was all overnight wasn’t it? I just watched the highlights on YouTube. And definitely didn’t watch the Queens funeral.