To be really pissed off at TV licensing??

[BatmansWilly]

I have always been against having to pay for a TV license. I think its stupid that you are forced to pay for a channel you neither want nor use but as it is 'law' I always had one begrudgingly anyway.

But after christmas I deciding I wasn't prepared to pay for something I never used anymore. Money is tight enough as it is so I got rid of the cables so to the TV literally does not receive signals. I then cancelled my TV license.

Days later I got a letter from them saying there was no license at this address and I needed to buy one immediately I phoned and told them I didn't need one as I no longer used the TV. She said "that's fine, I'll pass that on"

A couple of days later another letter arrives. A reminder to buy a TV license ASAP or my details would be passed on to enforcement officers so I phoned again and told them I had no intentions of buying a license as I did not need one. She said "ok, but be aware someone might come around to check". I said "that's fine".

So a couple of days ago, a bloke turns up asking why I had no license. I told him I didn't need one. He checked the TV over and agreed that it was obvious it wasn't used HOWEVER he told me "you may as well just buy a licence anyway though because they'll never leave you alone otherwise" I said that's like saying you may as well buy car tax whether you drive or not! I would not pay for something I didn't use. He agreed with me 'in principle' but said "if you want my honest advice, I'd just reconnect the wires so you can use the telly and buy yourself a licence"

He put it down on his report that I didn't use the TV and didn't legally need a licence.

So this morning I got a letter saying:

"Despite numerous warnings there is still no licence at this address. Therefore I have passed your details on to the enforcement officers who will be visiting you sometime soon. We catch thousands of licence dodgers every day, YOU could be next. To avoid a fine, please call us immediately to buy your licence".

FFS! I feel like a fucking benefit fraudster. I will not be bullied into buying something I do not want. I am absolutely LIVID.

AIBU???

Nope, stick to yer guns.

Bloody hell!

YANBU!

YANBU TV licensing are shit and NEVER leave you alone. Doesn't matter how many times you tell the buggers that you don't have a TV, they will not listen. Seem to work on 'guilty until proved innocent - and even then we'll send you nasty letters'.

They sent me one when I bought a TV for my Mum, claiming there was no record of a licence at my address. There bloody well was as we had our OWN TV licence. Dickheads.

(I'd never be rude to the people who come round though, seem to recall from another MNer it's a bit of a shitty job.)

just bin all letters with the tv licence logo on, dont read them

No, definitely not BU. I do watch tv and so do have a licence but this whole thing does piss me off. I think it's a bloody cheek that they treat you like a criminal when you're innocent and that the emphasis is on you to prove your innocence not them to prove your guilt. ARGH! I would be livid if I were you.

In this day and age there is no place for the licence. Pay for what you use, same as everything else. Good luck with it

They just don't believe anyone can survive without a TV!

I had a friend who got rid of her TV as didn't want DCs watching it. She had the same trouble.

Invite them to inspect your property one more time then tell them you will sue them for harassment if they bother you one more time. It might work.

I think you will find that if you have a TV in the house, then you must have a licence, whether or not you watch it.

Even if it doesn't receive a signal ATM, it would be possible to use it with a portable ariel or something, and hence you are obliged to have a licence.

Given that you are likely to be visited by the licencing inspectors, you need to get rid of the TV altogether, otherwise I think you will be prosecuted

YANBU. My experience was similar to Fio's. I lived in a flat by myself and didn't own a TV. I used to get letters at least twice a month asking why I had no licence. At first I used to tick the box to say I had no TV and send the forms back but soon realised that they paid no attention to them so just ignored the letters.

Our tv licence is in my name. My dp bought a new telly at the end of last year and the tv licencing people sent a letter to dp telling him he had to buy a licence as he had a tv an no licence, even though we do have one, just in my name not his!!

You only need a licence if you actually watch television (whether via a TV or over the internet etc).

Information here.

Sorry, that was to Clumsymum.

It's even more comlicated now with Iplayer because presumably loads of people are watching stuff online without a license. That's unfair too I think.

I know you don't need a license for the radio but I listen to enough bbc radio to make the license fee worth it just for that let alone bbc online and telly.

If you've ever lived in the USA, radio and tv without ads is one of the greatest joys.

We should try to cherish the bbc while we have it imho! Once it's gone we won't get it back.

Although I'm not defending the harrassment. Aren't there any pressure groups that can help them stop harrassing you?

YANBU. I'd make some serious noises about harrassment and bin all further letters. Well, I'd probably save them in a drawer so I could make a big stinky fuss with evidence.

perhaps you could contact Watchdog?

We haven;t had a licence for three years - we have a portable TV that is not connected ot the aerial (we can watch DVDs on it) and watch iPlayer and have loads of radios - I told the licensing people three years ago and they were fine about it and then someone came round to check a couple of months ago - he barely came into my living room, even though we were watching a DVD at the time - said he would take my word for it! Maybe we got lucky - ring them again and they might stop harassing you, they definitely prefer you to contact them than vice versa, though I know it's unfair.

staranise, I think if you watch programmes on Iplayer, you're supposed to have a tv license!

sorry, y ou don't yet unless you're watching something live apparently.

No you don't (unless you are live streaming which we don't do) - I checked with TV licensing. It's a big loophole and they're going to have to close it at some point.

Please engage your brain:
100's of channels on Sky...yes, but they carry ADVERTSISING therefore those channels are paid for buy the people who buy the products advertised on those channels. Therefore their funding model is advertising supported. Sky gives no money to those channels.

Licence fee goes to BBC direct and produces all the TV and radio programmes (and bbc.co.uk). There are no profits to shareholders.

You give money to Sky and it makes a few programmes but most of the money is taken as profit, so with Sky you pay TWICE, by subscribing to the sateillite feed and then by the products that pay advertising fees to the channels.
Therefore Sky is actually worse value.

Best value is freeview (and soon freesat) as you pay for a decoder (set top) box once then get the channels without a subscription.

I hope everyone does't stop paying. I can't live without R4!

Agree about freeview. Tis very good. Wouldn't subscribe to sky if they offered it to me for free.

They keep doing it whatever - we had no TV for years and used to keep getting letters saying they'd take us to court etc. Just ignore them.

That does seem a bit unfair to me. But I think bbc radio justifies my license fee alone, even though you don't need to have one for the radio. I would literally hate to live without bbc radio, it's just one of the best things in the world. I've lived abroad so many times and hated having no proper radio. Just endless nonsense full of ads.