For personal use you don't, for public use you apparently have to.
Tv License
- Thread starter Splewis
- Start date
For personal use you don't, for public use you apparently have to.
if I have a car, I have to pay road tax unless I list it as off-road only...
if I have a TV, I should have to pay TV tax unless I don't use the service provided that my tax is paying for...
I'm not disagreeing this isn't the case but surely it should be?
if I have a TV, I should have to pay TV tax unless I don't use the service provided that my tax is paying for...
I'm not disagreeing this isn't the case but surely it should be?
A friend of mine gave up his tv as he said that there was nothing worth watching on the telly. The tv license people wrote to him on a number of occasions and made him feel like it is against the law not to have a tv. In one of the letter they even suggested that he buys a license just in case he wanted to get a telly in the near future. They did go round his house and check, he let the man in and he checked the front room. My friend asked did he want to see the rest of the house and the inspector told him no as the people who do not let them in are the ones with something to hid. My friend told him he had a monitor he used for work and the internet and the inspector said he didn’t need a license for that.
Soldato
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- 2 Dec 2006
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Not read the above but they must prove you use it to fine you.
That means they must sit outside your house and wait for them to detect your picking up arial signals. If you arnt using it they wont find any and have no evidence should they take it to court. They should lose.
That means they must sit outside your house and wait for them to detect your picking up arial signals. If you arnt using it they wont find any and have no evidence should they take it to court. They should lose.
they will still come round
I have a TV in my living room that I purely use as a monitor for DVD's/PC games. I ignored the letters for several months untill they eventually called me and demanded to know who lived at that address.
They have now stated they will send somone round.
They have now stated they will send somone round.
its not a big deal they will come in look and say ok we will stop the letters ect
Ive been doing that, then the other day a man actually called at my door
Told him politely that i do not require one thankyou after he tried to sell me one there and then, but meh - will he come back with the fuzz to check do you think?Ive been doing that, then the other day a man actually called at my door
not sure he can he has to prove you are watching tv they will prolly just watch your house to see if they can pick up a signal.
To search your house they require a warrant from a magistrate, to get that they need reasonable evidence that you're breaking the law.Ive been doing that, then the other day a man actually called at my door
The great gray 'they' most certainly can tell if you're using an LCD TV, particularly easily if it's attached to an external antenna. Whether or not the TV Licensing Agency (who are a private company) have the cash, time and manpower to blow on such tactics when letters scaring students / old folks work just as well is another matter...
But they don't stop the letters; three months later you'll get more letters in. Been there, done that, as have a good few others apparently.
If they pitch up at your door without a warrant and an actual police officer, you don't have to let them in. The last two who pitched up at my door looking like heavies in suits with clipboards got told quasi-politely to 'get to France' and were suitably annoyed by my refusal to let them in. Chumps.
Soldato
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- 3 Oct 2006
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- 8,537
you only need a license if your TV is used to view programs as they are shown. this means that if you watch BBC iplayer to watch shows as they broadcast then you need a license, the same as if you watch TV as it was being broadcast. if you're not doing either of the above then you have no need for a license.
they're also more than welcome to send their enforcers round, but without a warrant it's illegal for them to set foot on your premises without your permission so just deny them entry if they ever bother to turn up. there isn't anything they can do.
they're also more than welcome to send their enforcers round, but without a warrant it's illegal for them to set foot on your premises without your permission so just deny them entry if they ever bother to turn up. there isn't anything they can do.
afaik road tax doesn't actually gets spent on the roads, it just goes in the pot. So not sure of the point your trying to make.
Soldato
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- 30 May 2007
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- Glasgow, Scotland
My ex and i constantly got letters from them saying we needed to pay it, threats of random checks etc!
The flats arial didnt work, using an arial in the flat the reception was shocking, never watched it anyway... just LOTS of dvds lol. She wrote to them many times to explain, but the letters kept coming! (Nobody did show tho)
The flats arial didnt work, using an arial in the flat the reception was shocking, never watched it anyway... just LOTS of dvds lol. She wrote to them many times to explain, but the letters kept coming! (Nobody did show tho)
So long as you aren't viewing any TV programmes on a live broadcast then just throw the letters in the bin. You don't need a TV license if it's for DVD/PC/Consoles and such, and unless they can prove you're using it to view TV (Having it connected to an ariel for example), then they can't do a thing.
Also I've never known anybody go to court for not having a TV license anyway.
Also I've never known anybody go to court for not having a TV license anyway.
Soldato
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- 14 Dec 2005
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- Bath
Ive been doing that, then the other day a man actually called at my door
To fine you (upto £1k) they need to see you watching live BBC television, and to get into your house to see you watching it they'd need a warrant from a magistrate.