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Original poster

I just cancelled our tv licence

15 replies

trice · 05/01/2011 13:38

Our freeview box is bust so for the past month we have just been watching the 4OD, iplayer and lovefilm on the ps3. I have looked on the website and you don't need a telly licence for that.

So I cancelled the tv licence which will save me £12.50 per month. Although apparently a man will come round and try to catch me watching jeremy kyle.

OP posts:
Tortington · 05/01/2011 13:39

if your telly can accept a signal - you need a licence

if your computer can watch live tv

you need a licence

be very careful

we didn't have a telly for two years - but we paid the licence becuase we watched live tv on the pc.

besides i have heard horror stories about them harassing you and taking you to court

LaurieFairyonthetreeEatsCake · 05/01/2011 13:42

make sure you disconnect the aerial or cable to the television

I don't think any of the channels you mention you watch are live though Confused

They will hassle you a lot

ChippingIn · 05/01/2011 13:43

Trice - if he catches you watching JK you deserve all the punishment they hand out!! Grin

We can't get Freeview reception here & have so far resisted getting any kind of 'cable' TV. Most days it does seem that the TVL is a complete waste of money - but we're keeping it for now - I do like the odd thing like 'The Apprentice' and it was fun watching it when everyone else on here was and chatting on the thread while it was on - so for that alone it was worth it!

pookamoo · 05/01/2011 13:43

You only need a TV licence if you use your computer to watch live streaming television.

If you only watch "iplayer" type things, i.e. after they were on TV, you don't need one.

They will write to you at least twice and then you have to call them and explain again if you are not planning to watch TV.

We got rid of our TV in April last year, when the analogue signal was switched off in our area.

It's important to be honest with them though - they are unlikely to take you to court if you fill in the forms they send, and call them when they ask you to. I think they said they wouldn't contact us again for 2 years, although they did reserve the right to make spot checks.

LoveMyGirls · 05/01/2011 13:43

I had a licence and they still had me arrested! Actually arrested! It was squashed but still, arrested? ffs!

I came home from work one day and there was a police card through my door asking me to call or visit the station having done nothing wrong I went down to the station with dd in tow once I got there they told me what it was about and said if I didn't pay the fine immediately I would be arrested iirc, I couldn't pay it because I had no money at all at the time Sad so I was arrested and mil had to come and help me sort it out, I was only about 20 at the time Sad

Catsmamma · 05/01/2011 13:44

you will be harrassed within an inch of your life if you do not have a license

The cottage at the back of us has a very similar address and was rented, because of the turn over in tenants we were always getting the "We do not think you have a license" letters, which get increasingly Big Brother/We.Know.Where.YOU.Live and threatening if you ignore them.

Dh phoned them several times and was assured the letters would end, but the only thing that has stopped them is a permanent tenant in there...who presumably has a tv license!

Original poster
trice · 05/01/2011 13:44

I don't watch live tv. really I don't. What would I watch? I like the iplayer though. I don't think dd could manage without her hours and hours of octonaughts.

Now radio I couldn't live without.

OP posts:
GooseyLoosey · 05/01/2011 13:46

They will harass you a lot though. My parents don't have a television and are constantly harassed.

In addition, they have exchanged contracts on a property which does not yet have electricity and which they do not own and they are even being pursued for licence evasion in relation to that!

Original poster
trice · 05/01/2011 13:50

I am not giving them £12.50 per month just so they don't send me letters.

We didn't have a licence for about five years before we had kids. We used to have a social life.

I don't mind having the chap come in for a look around. I have nothing to hide.

OP posts:
Original poster
trice · 05/01/2011 13:51

Or woman. I am sure they have some female inspectors.

OP posts:
tallulah · 05/01/2011 14:47

My DD kept getting letters from TV licensing telling her she had to have one. She kept calling to say she didn't have a TV. In the end they visited her and she demonstrated that the ancient TV she had didn't have an aerial and was incapable of doing anything but playing videos, and they left her alone.

Max124 · 20/01/2011 14:21

At the moment, the legal position is that you don't need a licence to watch TV purely on-demand, but you do if you are watching TV live (through any receiving device in the home).
So a live simulcast over the web from the BBC - of, say, the Beijing Olympics - will require a TV licence, but watching an on-demand (non-live) stream or download through the BBC iPlayer will not.
The Help section for the iPlayer confirms the position under "Will I need a TV licence to watch programmes on BBC iPlayer?" It states that:
You do not need a television licence to watch television programmes on the current version of the BBC iPlayer. You will need to be covered by a TV licence if and when the BBC provides a feature that enables you to watch 'live' TV programmes on any later version of the BBC iPlayer which has this option... A 'live' TV programme is a programme which is watched or recorded at the same time (or virtually the same time) as it is being broadcast... [etc]

ivykaty44 · 15/02/2011 15:37

I don't have a digital tv and I had the licencing threatening to come around and harrasse me and my dd's. After a rape case (man posing as someone else forced entry and raped teen in her own home) in a town close by and a murder last sumemr I got very worried and phoned the tv licencing people and a kind gentleman told me

if you write to us and withdraw rights of access - we will leave you alone for around 3 years. We are then not allowed to post or walk up your garden path.

I wrote and they sent a letter back telling me they would catch me in other ways - well i don't watch live tv so they are not going to catch me

They have though left me and my girls alone - thankfully as I was getting worried even though I am not doing anything wrong

cheeznbreed · 11/03/2011 17:53

I bought a new TV last month but only watch DVDs so do not need a license. The letters go in the bin.

Do not ever call the BBC/TVL about it by the way, they make money on the calls and you are in no way obliged to demonstrate that you do not need a license.

Take a bit of time to go through this excellent site, it opens the eyes to the skullduggery, lies and downright shameful behaviour at the heart of the BBC:

www.bbctvlicence.com/

PaperView · 11/03/2011 18:00

I thought you needed a license if you had the means to receive and watch live TV.

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