View Full Version : TV Licensing people
Addict
01-03-2006, 04:48 PM
Called at my flat there. Buzzed at the main door and I asked 'hello?'. They said 'delivery for flat 12' when I answered. In hindsight that was a bit underhand as they weren't delivering anything. At the time I suspected nothing though and let them in, as it may have been a delivery for my flatmate who wasn't there.
They came up and rang bell. I answered and then they hit me with the whole 'We're the TV licensing people....blah blah blah'. Was kind of caught out as a TV was going in the sitting room near by so it would have been bluff to say I didn't have a TV. Are they allowed to check? Well I admitted I had a TV anyway, and we filled out forms. I told them I'll not be in the flat much longer (leaving in couple of months) so I didn't want to have to get a license for such a short period. They said something about applying for one and then cancelling when I leave or something but I didn't really understand. They left me a number that they said I should call within 2 weeks.
Anyone know how to deal with these people or what I should do? I don't want to start paying when I'll be leaving in a couple of months, and I thought it was rather underhand how they got into my flat.
Tweety
01-03-2006, 05:03 PM
How long had you said you had been there?
Addict
01-03-2006, 05:04 PM
4 months, but I'd never received one letter from them in that time.
Since you've already filled in the forms it's all a bit irrelevant now. Just get the license and when you move out claim back the remaining ten months or whatever.
Tweety
01-03-2006, 05:13 PM
You know you can be fined don't you?
4 months is a long time to not bother getting one. I hope for your sake you don't get fined. They will however make you pay from the date you moved in.
You best get it sorted then cancel when you move.
Addict
01-03-2006, 05:17 PM
But how do they know when the TV was there from?
It was actually here when I moved in but for all they know, it might have been in a cupboard or something.
Tweety
01-03-2006, 05:20 PM
You admited to having lived there for 4 months so they will probably asume you have had it since then. You might be lucky, but i wanted to warn you. The tv man should have too.
We were warned that when we moved into our first place and we had only been there a week. We were lucky.
But how do they know when the TV was there from?
It was actually here when I moved in but for all they know, it might have been in a cupboard or something.
Jesus just get the fucking license. You're watching the tv. Any months you don't get you can claim back, or just set up a direct debit and cancel it.
klintock
01-03-2006, 05:47 PM
http://www.tvlicensing.biz
Spliffie
01-03-2006, 06:33 PM
Anyone know how to deal with these people or what I should do? I don't want to start paying when I'll be leaving in a couple of months, and I thought it was rather underhand how they got into my flat.
Make a complaint against them.
klintock
01-03-2006, 06:45 PM
Make a complaint against them.
:no:
lucifer devil
01-03-2006, 06:47 PM
no he's lucky he wasn't issued with a fine.
get a license, you'll be able to claim some money back.
if you're not going to get a license, don't watch telly.
Tweety
01-03-2006, 07:02 PM
no he's lucky he wasn't issued with a fine.
get a license, you'll be able to claim some money back.
if you're not going to get a license, don't watch telly.
Its not the man who comes to the door that fines you so he still might.
Addict
01-03-2006, 07:14 PM
But I got no warning letters and the tv just came with the flat. Surely it would be unfair to fine. I'll phone the number tomorrow and see what they say. I only need it for a couple more months so it's prob just worth buying.
katralla
01-03-2006, 07:47 PM
"The BBC is now quietly lobbying for the licence fee to be extended to computers connected to broadband networks"
OMG WHY????? what has me typing to a few randoms on the net got to do with the BBC. Shit! I can protest against a TV license by not watching the dumb box, but the internet - where I actively seek what I want to experience, wouldn't give up my broadband. I also wouldn't pay their fee, another 'poor' single mother criminalised by the BBC. grrrr
lucifer devil
01-03-2006, 09:34 PM
But I got no warning letters and the tv just came with the flat. Surely it would be unfair to fine. I'll phone the number tomorrow and see what they say. I only need it for a couple more months so it's prob just worth buying.
i see your point but you were caught watching it! and a couple of months is still a couple of months.
unlucky. ;)
lucifer devil
01-03-2006, 09:34 PM
Its not the man who comes to the door that fines you so he still might.
oh right didn't know that!
might still get him then.
snapping_crocodile
02-03-2006, 04:24 PM
But I got no warning letters and the tv just came with the flat. Surely it would be unfair to fine. I'll phone the number tomorrow and see what they say. I only need it for a couple more months so it's prob just worth buying.
Unfortunately it makes no difference if it just came with the flat.Whether it is yours or not you still need a licence to watch it. By the time you move out, you would have been there about 6 months, with no licence. Unfortunately you were caught red handed, it was a devious way to get in, but they do perform spot checks on properties they think are evading a licence. You could still be summoned to court and fined. My housemate at uni was (although he had a licence...long storry, admin cock up etc), and he could of faced a £1000 fine! :yes:
I think the whole TV Liecence issue for students ia a joke.
If you have 1 TV in a shared kitchen you only need one liecence if it's in your tiny student bedroom you all need one each, if I keep my TV at my prents home and my sister does as well one licence covers us all - if we watch the same TV elsewhere we need 3.
It's a really dumb system
Man Of Kent
02-03-2006, 05:31 PM
Technically you can be babysitting, watching the TV and if the owners of the house don't have a licence then you have committed an offence. Sadly happened to a friend of mine.
Addict, you have no defence at all. Except the one klintock would like you to try, about "existence" of the court/queen/country etc
Spliffie
02-03-2006, 07:36 PM
:no:
Are you sure you shouldn't be lambasting the TV License organisation for employing "violence" as a means of extortion?
klintock
02-03-2006, 08:05 PM
Are you sure you shouldn't be lambasting the TV License organisation for employing "violence" as a means of extortion?
Sure, just not to their faces. People who routinely use violence under the guise of a greater good tend to focus on that greater good, rather understandably.
Addict, you have no defence at all. Except the one klintock would like you to try, about "existence" of the court/queen/country etc
:no:
That would be a very, very stupid thing to do indeed. That's not how you have to behave if you want to avoid or minimise contact with these parasites.
Kermit
02-03-2006, 08:18 PM
Reason to hate the BBC, and all it stands for, #839,177,999 eh?
You don't have a defence, it's a strict liability offence. Because the BBC is run by, staffed by, and protected by extortionist cunts of the highest magnitude.
What they did is actually illegal, entering property under false pretences, but good luck getting any of the thieving cunts to admit to that. When it comes to the BBC and their hit squad, PACE means nothing to them.
You might not get fined. Only a court can fine you. If they take you to court I'd certainly scream like a piggy all the way about PACE, and how it was totally ignored. For all the good it will do.
The BBC are parasites of the highest magnitude, who in any self-respecting country would be swinging from a piece of short rope over a trap-door.
Oh, and I have to correct Mist. You can only claim back wholly unused QUARTERS, not months. Use a license for six months and one day, and the thieves liberate you of 1/4 of the fee.
Addict
04-03-2006, 09:28 AM
Update.
I called them yesterday and got the fucking thing. I explained that I wouldn't be in the flat anymore than 3 months and they explained I could pay quarterly (via Direct Debit) then just cancel it when I move out/when the payment come out. The guy on the phone said that I won't be fined because I took action even though I was caught lovely.
SuzyCreamcheese
04-03-2006, 03:02 PM
we had tv licence man come round last week. he came in, saw we had a telly. we told him it wasnt connected and was only used for DVDs. Showed him that the ariel wasnt even connected and asked him if he wanted to switch it on to prove it, and he said no, thats fine and wrote that we didnt use a TV and then left.
nothing scary. But then we dont use the TV so werent trying to hide anything.
Big Gay
05-03-2006, 06:52 PM
we had tv licence man come round last week. he came in, saw we had a telly. we told him it wasnt connected and was only used for DVDs. Showed him that the ariel wasnt even connected and asked him if he wanted to switch it on to prove it, and he said no, thats fine and wrote that we didnt use a TV and then left.
nothing scary. But then we dont use the TV so werent trying to hide anything.
You were lucky. You were operating equipment capable of receiving broadcast television, and as such you are required to have a license.
you could probably get away with filling the ariel socket with araldite
Kermit
06-03-2006, 06:01 PM
You were lucky. You were operating equipment capable of receiving broadcast television, and as such you are required to have a license.
Except that is completely and totally wrong.
It is not illegal to own a television set without a licence. It is illegal to receive a signal without a licence. The TV licensing thieves like to muddy the water, but its quite clear.
If you don't watch TV pictures, then you don't need a licence. And they need to prove you received a signal. If all you do is watch DVDs and videos you don't need a licence.
Big Gay
06-03-2006, 11:10 PM
Except that is completely and totally wrong.
Yes it is, I was outdated.
What if I only use a TV to watch videos/DVDs/as a monitor for my games console? Do I still need a licence?
You need to notify us in writing that this is the case and one our Enforcement Officers may need to visit you to confirm that you do not need a licence.
Kermit
07-03-2006, 06:34 PM
You also don't have any obligation to tell them in writing about anything. You don't have to let an Officer in your home to "confirm" anything. You don't have to do anything.
Up to them to prove you were receiving a TV signal. I'd let the cunts take me to court.
Still, it's not like the BBC to lie now, is it? Oh, wait...
dr_carter
07-03-2006, 08:34 PM
I love how they're repeatedly sending me threatening letters telling me i'm liable for a £1000 fine and that an officer has been scheduled to visit my accomodation at uni to check whether or not I have a TV licence. They've sent me three such letters telling me I should expect a visit soon.
I don't think i'm particularly bothered...
Lolzabeth
07-03-2006, 08:58 PM
Except that is completely and totally wrong.
It is not illegal to own a television set without a licence. It is illegal to receive a signal without a licence. The TV licensing thieves like to muddy the water, but its quite clear.
If you don't watch TV pictures, then you don't need a licence. And they need to prove you received a signal. If all you do is watch DVDs and videos you don't need a licence.
I got told I had to get one in my student flat even though the signal was so bad you couldn't actually get a picture.
It was a TV/Video combi and that was all it was used for apart from the Playstation.
The TV licence people came round and told me I had to get one anyway.
Big Gay
07-03-2006, 09:08 PM
You also don't have any obligation to tell them in writing about anything.
Well, it depends. If yo do so, it stops them from bothering you for longer than if you ignore them, so to reduce the amount of hassle you need to write to them.
But yes, the license men are lying little shites. One told me their detector van found a television in my house the previous week. I told him there wasn't a TV receiver in the house, but he may have seen a computer when he was looking through my window. He said he needed to come in, I reminded him that the limit of his authority was to require that I show him any TV receiving apparatus (which may be outdated - as it really only helps against people running a colour TV on a B/W license), and as I had none there was none to show.
We have also written to our MP about the threatening tone of the letters.
Kermit
08-03-2006, 05:38 PM
Well, it depends. If yo do so, it stops them from bothering you for longer than if you ignore them, so to reduce the amount of hassle you need to write to them.
Yeah, but there isn't any legal obligation to. Which they imply.
I got told I had to get one in my student flat even though the signal was so bad you couldn't actually get a picture.
It was a TV/Video combi and that was all it was used for apart from the Playstation.
The TV licence people came round and told me I had to get one anyway.
You were lied to honey.
That's what the BBC and the TV extortionists do. Lie.
They lie to get you to fork out the money. The lie because they're on commission for the number of people they catch. They lie because they are cunts.
klintock
08-03-2006, 06:33 PM
Yeah, but there isn't any legal obligation to. Which they imply.
I phoned them. Once. Never heard from them again.
They lie to get you to fork out the money. The lie because they're on commission for the number of people they catch. They lie because they are cunts.
Isn't it funny how people who apply the law very rarely follow it unless you show them you know what's going on?
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