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Living without a TV license?
I've pondered living without it before, I've been thinking about it even more recently as streaming services get up to scratch & now the tax sorry 'fee' is going up again I'm 75% swayed.
This would save me £145/yr for the license & £19/month for Sky = £373 per year, not bad! Another big factor is that I think the family as a whole would watch less TV which is probably more of a reason to do this over the savings. I can always sign up again if I don't get on with it.
Regarding the legalities, as far as I'm aware as long as I:
A) De-tune my freeview (built into my TV)
B) Do not watch any LIVE broadcasts.
C) Invite the nice inspector man around for a cup of tea & a nosey around.
I should be fine for 3yrs without hassle (then I have to prove I don't ned it again)
As far as watching non-live TV goes I've thought of:
Blu-rays/DVDs/Lovefilm subscription (granted it costs but I choose what to watch & when!)
Iplayer
ITV Player
5 player (or whatever it's called)
Possibly Sky Player (using my folks' Sky subscription to login)
I'd buy something like a dual core Acer Revo or similar small but powerful-enough PC, hook it up using HDMI & away I go!
So, does anyone have any info on the legal side, anyone done this?
Rob
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Re: Living without a TV license?
I have been told in the past that having a television capable of receiving an aerial signal is the issue - if it isn't completely and utterly disabled then you have to pay the license fee. That could be utter rubbish, but it's what I've been told.
The most obvious solution to that (if it's true) would be to use a computer monitor, since it isn't capable of receiving TV signals. Depends on the legal situation, obviously.
As for the inspector, yeah they'll no doubt turn up at some point. I'm sure if you're amicable with them, I would imagine they'd happily conclude that you don't watch TV and leave you alone.
If not, then as I understand it you can send them a letter and officially revoke their right of way on your property - so that they aren't permitted to walk up your driveway, and then it's much harder for them to harass you. Mind you, the people who I saw recommending that method were indeed watching television without paying the license fee, so they deserved the harassment.
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Re: Living without a TV license?
I haven't had a TV license for several years now. You need to write to TV licensing stating that you don't use any TV reception equipment you have for watching live TV broadcasts; otherwise you're absolutely fine, legally. EDIT: @snooty - that's a long standing misconception, probably pedalled by TV Licensing in the first place! It's the use, not the possession, of the equipment that matter. AFAIK you don't have to "prove" anything - after all, how could you prove that you didn't watch TV? But they may well send an inspector round to check. I took the co-ax plug off the end of the aerial lead when I sent my letter - after all, if it doesn't have a plug how am I supposed to plug it in? ;)
The only thing to watch is to make sure you avoid streaming live television from iPlayer, since they do simultaneous live online streams of most of their programming. Otherwise you're probably spot on for the services you can use - although I'd do more research into Sky Player if I was you as you may find you're breaking T&Cs of your parent's subscription which would not be a good thing. You may be interested in http://www.seesaw.com/ - currently in beta, but it's basically an ad supported content aggregator of a lot of the online catch-up services. I only found out about it a couple of days ago so I've not really used it yet, but it looks pretty good.
Of course, I now have the big advantage that all my reception equipment is so old it only has analogue receivers and the analogue broadcasts here have been canned already, so I genuinely *can't* receive live TV anymore!
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Re: Living without a TV license?
A friend did exactly what you are talking about a few years back, to keep the inspector happy he fitted a blanking plate over the aerial socket on the wall. They checked it a few times, he allowed the in when they asked, hasnt seen them for a few years
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Re: Living without a TV license?
Well our aerial socket is the other side of the room so I'd have to trail co-ax across the floor (which I wouldn't do) I've ran the Sky co-ax around the skirting which I'd just remove.
Anyone who says they don't need a license could easily do a switcharoo as soon as the inspector leaves but I'm looking forward to less TV so wouldn't bother!
They have no legal right to enter your property anyway so unless they get a court order you never HAVE to let them in. The website says (from memory) that they'll book a visit to your home, this stops the threatening letters for 3yrs & as I'd have nothing to hide it's simpler all round to do that.
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Re: Living without a TV license?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
snootyjim
I have been told in the past that having a television capable of receiving an aerial signal is the issue - if it isn't completely and utterly disabled then you have to pay the license fee. That could be utter rubbish, but it's what I've been told.
....
It is utter rubbish .... up to a point.
The offences are in relation to receiving broadvast transmissions, not being capable of it. But there are two grey areas :-
1) What is "receiving"?
2) Convincing the licensing guys.
Dealing with 2) first, the licensing people can be a right nuisance, either with visits or pestering you with letters. One approach is to physically disconnect everything, remove the aerial and then let them check. If they're happy, they may back off on the pestering for a while, Or they may not. In large part, they take the attitude that everyone obviously watches TV, so if you don't have a licence, you're a dodger. And even if you disconnect it and let them in to check, then obviously you're going to reconnect as soon as they go away, so you're still a dodger. So they pester you.
The second approach is to ignore their letters and when they visit, tell them you don't have a TV and to go to hell. They have NO right to enter your premises to check unless you either give permission or they have a warrant. Of course, they view you exercising your right to deny them entry as prima facie evidence that you have something to hide, and ar therefore a license dodger, so they pester you even more.
Can they get a warrant? In theory, without evidence of actual use, no. In practice, if they tell a magistrate that they saw it through the window (whether true or not), then quite possibly. So, this approach if telling them to buzz off) might result in them showing up with a warrant (and the police, who are there to ensure no breach of the peace, not to conduct the search). The warrant will be valid for ONE search, within a specified period, and if that finds nothing, another search requires a separate warrant to be issued ... and is going to be a harder sell to the magistrate. And the warrant will be limited to finding offending equipment in use, so no inspecting your porn mag collect or rummaging through the wife's knocker drawer.
Now, for point 1) - what is "receiving". As I understand it, it doesn't matter of you're receiving a watchable signal or not. It's the technical act of receiving that seems to provide the line, and if a suitable signal goes into a TV receiver and is detected as a signal, then it's "received"., In the old analog days, that meant that the signal the aerial picked up went into a mixer and if the set was tuned by adding in the right IF signal, then a TV signal came out, even if it was little more than white noise and barely noticeable audio.
And that is why the advice was always to remove the antenna and detune the set. And that includes all equipment capable of receiving, such as video recorders.
The licensing people used to insist that possessing the equipment was enough and that they didn't have to demonstrate actual usage. They lost that one and had to change their tune. They even apparently lost one case where a set was covered with a cloth, used as a table and had a plant on top. They asked if the set worked and could be seen working, at which point the aerial was plugged in,the set plugged into the mains, the plant and cloth removed and the set turned on ... at which point they took the owner to court. And lost.
So now, they apparently need to establish that you are receiving, not merely that you possess equipment capable of doing it. BUt the set might well be actually receiving without you being aware that it is, hence the advice to remove aerials and detune.
What their criteria is for evidence of "receiving" in today's digital and online world, I don't know, I haven't researched this recently enough. But just about any computer, including a good few mobile phones, are capable of receiving live broadcasts over the web, simultaneously with TV transmission, and doing that would require the doer to be covered by a licence. I've certainly heard nothing to suggest that merely owning a mobile phone that could receive such transmission, regardless of whether it ever actually has, requires a TV licence, and there'd probably be riots if they tried to enforce that.
Suppose you own a suitable phone, and I borrow it for an hour to "browse" the web, maybe HEXUS, while you're working on the computer. Unknown to you, I tune to the BBC and watch a live broadcast. Who needs a licence? You, as the phone owner, or me as the person doing the receiving? Suppose you have a licence but I don't. Are we covered? Or I do but you don't, are we covered then? And how do they prove , to a court, who did what and when? That whole area is an absolute minefield which, as far as I know, has never been tested in court.
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Re: Living without a TV license?
i heard watching iplayer(anyway) you still need a license dunno about the other streaming players
just googled it
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/bbcintern...re_a_tv_1.html(dated 2008)
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A question I often get asked is whether you need a TV licence to watch BBC programmes over the internet.
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).
also found this
http://iplayerhelp.external.bbc.co.u...ayer/tvlicence
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Re: Living without a TV license?
Lots of useful info here regarding not having a TV license, the powers of the inspectors etc.
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Re: Living without a TV license?
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Originally Posted by
Rob_B
....
They have no legal right to enter your property anyway so unless they get a court order you never HAVE to let them in. .....
A search warrant rather than a court order, but yeah, basically. The question is how hard that would be to get? There's plenty of anecdotal evidence to suggest that, at least in some courts, it's pretty much a rubber-stamping. As the courts issue these regularly, how much "evidence" does the magistrate require before granting it? All the indications are ... not much and sometimes, perhaps merely the word of the official asking for it. I have that much, as it were, direct from the horse's mouth. ;)
The limitation seems to be more on the manpower and time resource to enforce the warrants, not the ability to get them. Therefore, while you're still unlikely to be on the receiving end of a warrant, I wouldn't put too much reliance on the fact that it requires an "order" from a court, as they aren't that hard to get.
You are absolutely right, though, that without that warrant, they have no right to enter or search, let alone to require you to provide answers to questions or write letters. And, of course, an unguarded answer to a question might provide the evidence they need to get the warrant. ;)
There is, therefore, what you are required to do by law if you don't have a TV (which is, and far as I know, absolutely nothing) and what you might want to do to avoid as much hassle as possible, which is pretty much what you've said you'll do .... disconnect, detune and write a letter. Standing on your right to refuse entry (without a warrant) is within your rights (and me being an awkward git, what I'd probably do) but is also probably not going to minimise their hassling of you.
Personally, as long as I genuinely didn't have a TV, I'd simply ignore letters and tell inspectors to go away unless they have a warrant. If they do have a warrant, then "knock yourselves out guys, search on .... then go away". But that's because my attitude is that I'm not going to muck about with the hassle of writing letters just to prove to some officious body that I dont have a TV, when I'm under no obligation to prove diddly squat to them.
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Re: Living without a TV license?
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Originally Posted by
scaryjim
Of course, I now have the big advantage that all my reception equipment is so old it only has analogue receivers and the analogue broadcasts here have been canned already, so I genuinely *can't* receive live TV anymore!
Thats actually one of the few real uses for the switch over, those that dont buy digiboxes or new TVs may not require a licence :D
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Re: Living without a TV license?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Saracen
Personally, as long as I genuinely didn't have a TV, I'd simply ignore letters and tell inspectors to go away unless they have a warrant. If they do have a warrant, then "knock yourselves out guys, search on .... then go away". But that's because my attitude is that I'm not going to muck about with the hassle of writing letters just to prove to some officious body that I dont have a TV, when I'm under no obligation to prove diddly squat to them.
Or fill in the online form http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/check-i...-needed-top12/
:)
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Re: Living without a TV license?
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Originally Posted by
Rob_B
Which I'm also under no obligation to fill in.
If I don't receive TV broadcasts, I don't need a licence. If they think I'm committing an offence, it's for them to prove it, not for me to have to explain why I don't need one.
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Re: Living without a TV license?
True, but just saying! Bloke at work has no license & always gets letters/etc but he just ignores them (he's legit in doing it) loves the fact he appears to be annoying them!
Well, just rang Sky to see what the process of leaving is, they've knocked £10.50/month of the bill for the next 6months with no additional contract term so that's a bonus while I consider my options. As I'm with them for landline as well I'd need to move providers for that too, gits..
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Re: Living without a TV license?
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Originally Posted by
Rob_B
As I'm with them for landline as well I'd need to move providers for that too, gits..
The real down fall of having all your eggs in one basket. Some of my family found this out when trying to move away from a complete Virgin package as they just weren't using the TV side of things.
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Re: Living without a TV license?
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Originally Posted by
Rob_B
True, but just saying!....
Oh sure. I did say though, ".... and me being an awkward git, what I'd probably do ...". It's the awkward git in me that would decline to fill in the form or send a letter.
Just for clarity, I do have a licence. But for the wife's affection for Eastenders and a few others, I might be inclined to not bother and dump the TV, but it's more than either my life or even continued good health is worth to suggest it. :D
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Originally Posted by
Rob_B
...
Well, just rang Sky to see what the process of leaving is, they've knocked £10.50/month of the bill for the next 6months with no additional contract term so that's a bonus while I consider my options. As I'm with them for landline as well I'd need to move providers for that too, gits..
A word of warning .... get that "no contract extension" in writing. I had that argument with NTL. They told me that over the phone, but the letter referred to "new contract" and the T&Cs included a minimum term. Despite several attempts to get them to confirm that in writing, they would not. Claimed they couldn't write such a letter, even manually. So I cancelled completely and left them. So my advice .... cover yourself and make sure you get that confirmed in writing.[/quote]
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Re: Living without a TV license?
I have a 42" TV with only one HDMI slot on the back sitting in my living room. It's only for my WDTV Live and Xbox360 to connect, not any kind of live broadcast.
At first, we just ignored the TV licensing people. Eventually, one of them came to the door, utterly convinced we had been watching TV. My TV is right next to the door, so I invited him and asked him to have a look. I tried explaining that it was physically impossible without a set top box but he was very keen to ignore that and get me to sign a direct debit regardless.
He said that if I don't sign it, all it takes is for him to come round one evening and look through my window. I just laughed and said do what you want mate, makes no difference. I think his level of technical knowledge was very low.
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Re: Living without a TV license?
Indeed, I had that with Orange a couple of years ago (indeed, it's the reason I'm no longer with Orange). They rang up and offered me a discount on my line rental, said *nothing* about an extended contract, ensured me I'd be able to upgrade my handset any time I wanted - when I went into the store a couple of months later to upgrade I was told I'd only just started a new contract and couldn't upgrade for another however many months. Needless to say, I was most dischuffed, rang Orange and had a lengthy discussion with them, and eventually got on to a very nice supervisor who sighed, confessed that they'd had loads of problems with marketing not telling people they were agreeing to a new contract, and removed the contract and gave me my PAC code (pac? mac? I can never remember which is which). But yeah, definitely check that out ASAP...
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Re: Living without a TV license?
Sort of related to this, is it still true that when you purchase a television you have to provide your full postal address at the point of purchase ?.
I'd heard that the details were then passed on to TV Licensing so that their database then had a record that receiving equipment was present at that address, and it was assumed that if you did not have a license you were receiving a TV signal illegaly ?.
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Re: Living without a TV license?
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Originally Posted by
Fatboy40
Sort of related to this, is it still true that when you purchase a television you have to provide your full postal address at the point of purchase ?.
Television, set top box, PVR...the list goes on.
I had my new TV sent to my office, then I bought another as a gift (sent to my office) and another for home shortly after (yup, sent to my office).
I had three letters from the TV Licensing dept. asking/telling me to apply for a license immediately.
I replied in writing, refusing on the grounds that I already had sufficient licenses to cover the items I purchased.
They sent an inspector to my office who "found" a small portable TV/VHS combi unit in an upstairs room and demanded I sign a mandate on the spot. I refused and invited him to search the entire building (4 storeys 20+ rooms) for an aerial/coax socket.
He accepted my invitation and spent two hours combing the office and obviously he found nothing.
When he was done searching, I showed him a copy of the letter I wrote to the TV Licensing dept. in 2003 advising them that the TV/VHS would only be used to watch recorded media and a copy of their reply which told me that this was perfectly acceptable.
He was not a happy chappy.
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Re: Living without a TV license?
I've been living without a TV for the last 6 months and I really don't miss it that much! Sure, I do miss the odd show or series (like Stargate Universe and Bones) but I get by with a DVD rental club, PC games and books.
The license issue hasn't affected me as my landlady has a license for her TV.
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Re: Living without a TV license?
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Originally Posted by
format
I have a 42" TV with only one HDMI slot on the back sitting in my living room. It's only for my WDTV Live and Xbox360 to connect, not any kind of live broadcast.
At first, we just ignored the TV licensing people. Eventually, one of them came to the door, utterly convinced we had been watching TV. My TV is right next to the door, so I invited him and asked him to have a look. I tried explaining that it was physically impossible without a set top box but he was very keen to ignore that and get me to sign a direct debit regardless.
He said that if I don't sign it, all it takes is for him to come round one evening and look through my window. I just laughed and said do what you want mate, makes no difference. I think his level of technical knowledge was very low.
That type of thing is not an uncommon story, which is why a lot of people just shut the door in their faces, if they don't have a warrant ... and ignore letters. Hence why my attitude would be to ignore letters and that if they have a warrant, get on with the search, and if they don't, naff orf.
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Re: Living without a TV license?
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Originally Posted by
mycarsavw
....
He was not a happy chappy.
I particularly admire your exquisite sense of timing. :D
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Re: Living without a TV license?
I have been living without TV for 6 months myself, I do have a 50" plasma however it is only used for web browsing and x-box use. Have to admit, I don't miss TV at all, its quite weird when I go to somebody's house with TV and I find myself sat there watching nothing but adverts sandwiched in between small chunks of content. TV sucks doesn't it really?
I had a couple of run ins with a TV licensing a few years back when I did in fact have a TV and was using it to watch TV. I was pretty poor at the time and I knew the rules so I just decided I wasn't going to pay it. It was all good really, one day though a guy showed up at my door. I spun him the usual story, he demanded to come in and check. I refused and tried to close the front door and he actually stuck his foot in my front door. At that point I quietly warned him that if he didn't get his foot out of my property I was going to put him on his arse. If I remember rightly, i did have to shove him out of my doorway. The guy stood outside my flat shouting that I was 'not above the law, you know!'. After that my then g/f insisted we get a license. I would have chanced it to be honest, its one of those stupid rules that you pretty much have to drop yourself in it to get caught, they rely on people admitting it. Some might say that's a morally dodgy position to hold, but I disagree because I think its also morally bad to expect us to contribute to the BBC without without ever asking if we want it. Given that its been possible to encrypt TV channels for pretty much an eternity there is no reason to have a blanket tax that everybody pays. Fair enough, it might mean the end of the BBC, but if people decide it isn't worth £150 of their money a year then what are you gonna do, it obviously wasn't worth it.
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Re: Living without a TV license?
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Originally Posted by
G4Z
....
It was all good really, one day though a guy showed up at my door. I spun him the usual story, he demanded to come in and check. I refused and tried to close the front door and he actually stuck his foot in my front door. At that point I quietly warned him that if he didn't get his foot out of my property I was going to put him on his arse. If I remember rightly, i did have to shove him out of my doorway. The guy stood outside my flat shouting that I was 'not above the law, you know!'. ...
And he is?
He has NO right to force entry, or to enter at all without wither a warrant or permission, and you ARE entitled to use reasonable force to remove him.
He's a hypocrite. And an idiot.
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Re: Living without a TV license?
Oh yes mate, I am not saying I am any better I hold my hands up I broke the rules (I should probably be given an ASBO or flogged in the street maybe...) but that guy just made me more determined to not pay it. I hate paying bullies, its also how I feel about council tax as it goes but we should probs not get into that discussion again!
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Re: Living without a TV license?
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Originally Posted by
G4Z
...The guy stood outside my flat shouting that I was 'not above the law, you know!'
Was the correct response not to shout "I AM the Law" out of your window at him in your best Stallone voice?
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Re: Living without a TV license?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Fatboy40
Sort of related to this, is it still true that when you purchase a television you have to provide your full postal address at the point of purchase ?.
I'd heard that the details were then passed on to TV Licensing so that their database then had a record that receiving equipment was present at that address, and it was assumed that if you did not have a license you were receiving a TV signal illegaly ?.
I once got a letter from TV Licensing saying that I'd purchased TV receiving equipment from ebuyer and I had to buy a TV license. I had recently made a large purchase from ebuyer for 2 clients, one ordered 5 basic office machines, the other a custom build for handling large DTP projects. None of the specs contained any components that could even vaguely hope to receive broadcast television.
Phrases concerning piss ups in breweries and bun fights in bakeries spring invitingly to mind... ;)
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Re: Living without a TV license?
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Originally Posted by
G4Z
Oh yes mate, I am not saying I am any better I hold my hands up I broke the rules (I should probably be given an ASBO or flogged in the street maybe...) but that guy just made me more determined to not pay it. I hate paying bullies, its also how I feel about council tax as it goes but we should probs not get into that discussion again!
That was kinda my point, Gaz. I wasn't calling you a hypocrite. I was calling him one. It was him telling you you're not above the law when he was trying to insist on doing something he has no right to do, over gaining entry.
Okay, you were taking the mick a bit over the license. I don't condone that, especially as I'm one of the mugs that does pay it every year even when I can't afford it. But I wasn't commenting on that. And you certainly weren't hiding it here. It's the temerity of him trying to force his way in and then telling you you're not above the law. That was the sheer cheek of it. There's a phrase about pots and kettles, isn't there? He ought to think about that. :D
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Re: Living without a TV license?
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Originally Posted by
Saracen
That was kinda my point, Gaz. I wasn't calling you a hypocrite. I was calling him one. It was him telling you you're not above the law when he was trying to insist on doing something he has no right to do, over gaining entry.
Yeah mate I know, I was agreeing with you. I was just being defensive because I just know somebody at some point is gonna come along and call me on this one. Might as well point out I was a lot younger and less responsible back then as well! Honestly tho, I really don't feel bad about doing it in anyway, so then again I probably would do it again.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Saracen
Okay, you were taking the mick a bit over the license. I don't condone that, especially as I'm one of the mugs that does pay it every year even when I can't afford it. But I wasn't commenting on that. And you certainly weren't hiding it here. It's the temerity of him trying to force his way in and then telling you you're not above the law. That was the sheer cheek of it. There's a phrase about pots and kettles, isn't there? He ought to think about that. :D
Quite right :)
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Re: Living without a TV license?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Saracen
Personally, as long as I genuinely didn't have a TV, I'd simply ignore letters and tell inspectors to go away unless they have a warrant. If they do have a warrant, then "knock yourselves out guys, search on .... then go away". But that's because my attitude is that I'm not going to muck about with the hassle of writing letters just to prove to some officious body that I dont have a TV, when I'm under no obligation to prove diddly squat to them.
That'd be me then. I can honestly say that I have only personally owned a TV in my life for no more than a week (I bought a small handheld TV over around 10 years ago from Argos but returned it after realising that reception on those devices were awful). I have lived in places with TVs (and valid TV licenses), but also spent many years without one. At one point, I lived with two flatmates who had their own TVs and paid the licence. When they left (-> stopped paying them), I started getting receiving those threatening letters. After the first two or three (progressively more threatening) letters I started dumping with other junk mail. I just couldn't be bothered filling them. Anti-climatically (not that I mind), I've never had a visit from an inspector after ignoring them for years. But if they do come knocking I would do exactly what you've said.
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Re: Living without a TV license?
Don't let the TV "inspectors" in your house. They don't have any rights to enter your property. They are effectively salespeople that gets a commission on each person they "convict".
So the incentive is for them to find you guilty even though you have done nothing wrong.
They can only enter if they have a search warrant but that is hard to get if they dont have evidence in the first place.
You don't need a licence to watch iPlayer.
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Re: Living without a TV license?
Like Saracen I most likely wouldn't bother with TV if I wasn't married- but my wife likes it, so what can you do. I didn't have a TV while I was in halls of residence, and in that year I received three or four very rude and condescending letters from TV licensing (addressed to me, by name) informing me (in effect) that I was a criminal for not having a licence. I snapped when they sent me an A3 sized sheet of paper, folded up to A5 size, which had "You need a TV licence to watch TV" on every face in increasingly large type. When you opened it right up to full A3 size it also added the comment "(just in case it wasn't clear the first time)".
Cheeky bastards:mad:. I got a pair of scissors, snipped out anything that could have tied the letter to me, then wrote "**** off", "**** OFF", "**** OFF (just in case it wasn't clear the first time)" on the three sides, and posted it back to them in their pre-paid envelope. Made me feel better anyway:).
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Re: Living without a TV license?
You have to have a TV license to buy a Freeview box in Argos now, ha!
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Re: Living without a TV license?
So.. I have a friend who are told they are being taken to court because a tv inspector tricked their way into their house by claiming to have a letter for them and finding a broken tv that can't receive broadcasts.. they never checked the tv.
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Re: Living without a TV license?
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Originally Posted by
Saracen
I particularly admire your exquisite sense of timing. :D
He wasted my time it was only fair I wasted his :D
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Re: Living without a TV license?
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Originally Posted by
G4Z
I had a couple of run ins with a TV licensing a few years back when I did in fact have a TV and was using it to watch TV.
Goddamit you're a thief as well as a traffic law-breaker.
Only joking G4Z. Heehee!
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Re: Living without a TV license?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
mycarsavw
When he was done searching, I showed him a copy of the letter I wrote to the TV Licensing dept. in 2003 advising them that the TV/VHS would only be used to watch recorded media and a copy of their reply which told me that this was perfectly acceptable.
He was not a happy chappy.
Classic - I like it!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Rave
I got a pair of scissors, snipped out anything that could have tied the letter to me, then wrote "**** off", "**** OFF", "**** OFF (just in case it wasn't clear the first time)" on the three sides, and posted it back to them in their pre-paid envelope. Made me feel better anyway:).
Another classic! Reminds me of a letter I got offering me a loan - nearly died when I read the APR (well over 100%, possibly 200+%) - cut out my details, wrote "no thanks - bit steep" & sent it in their prepaid envelope. Read once that someone kept the prepaid envelopes, gathered up junk mail (the senders + others) & sent it back crammed - theory was the heavier it was the more it cost them. One caveat, don't get shirty with phone pests - they may work shifts & ring you back in the middle of the night...
This thread has cheered me up (appeals to my devilish side... or sides LOL).
I blame my Granda - he recalled being called to the office where HMRC were waiting - when they suggested they had dipped his van, he craftily suggested "not my van, couldn't have been - I never got a chit", to which they replied "doesn't matter, we couldn't even identify what it was running on!"
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Re: Living without a TV license?
I also have no TV, and don't miss it at all. Everything broadcast really is rubbish. The only problem is that whenever I encounter one now I get lost in time and stand transfixed, especially by adverts. In any case I intend never to own a TV for as long as I live in the UK.
I'm disappointed to have had no run-ins with TV Licensing - which is just a trading name operated by the BBC, they are not in any way a government authority or tax-collection agency or whatever. This is because my landlord pays for one license for the whole shared house (before anyone points out that technically we need individual licences for each room, I'd like to say that naturally I do not give a monkeys).
Anyway, here's a great and funny site apparently operated by the kind of grumpy old fart I hope to become one day, who documents the various tactics and deception TV Licensing (TM) has tried on him over the years:
http://www.bbctvlicence.com/
Just don't ask him not to write below this line:
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:lol:
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Re: Living without a TV license?
Looking at the latest letter on that licensing site: why the hell does a blind guy have to pay more for a colour TV license than for a black and white!?
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Re: Living without a TV license?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
JPreston
... my landlord pays for one license for the whole shared house (before anyone points out that technically we need individual licences for each room, I'd like to say that naturally I do not give a monkeys). ...
Besides, that's only true if you have signed individual tenancies rather than a single joint tenancy, and (I think) if you have televisions in your own rooms rather than in a communal room. I'm pretty sure TV Licensing wouldn't win a case asking you all to buy separate licenses if there was only one TV in the house...!
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Re: Living without a TV license?
Lived without TV for 6 years plus now. Its simpler than you think!
Zakk recently introduced me to newswipe via the I-player; Brooker's views on TV pretty much sum it up!
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Re: Living without a TV license?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
JPreston
http://www.bbctvlicence.com/
Just don't ask him not to write below this line:
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:lol:
That's an awesome website.
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Re: Living without a TV license?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
jnm21
Another classic! Reminds me of a letter I got offering me a loan - nearly died when I read the APR (well over 100%, possibly 200+%) - cut out my details, wrote "no thanks - bit steep" & sent it in their prepaid envelope. Read once that someone kept the prepaid envelopes, gathered up junk mail (the senders + others) & sent it back crammed - theory was the heavier it was the more it cost them.
i constantly do that with junk mail, it amuses me no end
anything that comes with a pre-pay envelope gets whatever other junk mail is to hand rammed in the pre-pay & sent back.
a few years ago i was looking after my sister's flat, she'd emigrated & it was on the market, i was dealing with the sale & keeping an eye on the place. the place was empty but once their TV license ran out the letters started arriving
what i particularly didn't like was the tone of their corespondance, their letters are only just short of abusive. something i mentioned to the phone monkey i spoke to when i rang to tell them to behave themselves, i got a similarly curt "its been checked by our lawyers & is within acceptable standards" i was half expecting him to add a "so there..ner ner"! at the end of it