Features - QOTW: Do you pay the TV Licence fee?

[chaotic_russ]

my freeview box has packed in and my amp (booster) has failed so no tv for me , yet they still want paying which is beyond a joke tbh , would you pay for something you cannot use ?

[jim]

As mentioned before, if you're not receiving live TV you don't need to pay the license fee.

[Darkplek]

I lived for a year as a student without one, and didn't miss it... but then we needed Sky, for internet, so had to start paying it again. And currently I'm in a household that pays for it, but I honestly never watch live TV, so I certainly don't need it. It seems like a ridiculous system, in the first place, considering how many other channels there are beyond the BBC and yet you're forced into paying this yearly fee whether you want to use their service or not...

[peterb]

£3/week (less than a pint of beer) Bargain!. (My internet connection costs more than that!)

[Daydreamer]

They have no right to enter your home unless they have a search warrant issued by a magistrate, in which case, they likely will be accompanied by police (who are there to ensure there is no breach of the peace, not to conduct the search). And such warrants are issued. I know that, because a very close relative has issued a number of them.

well yeah if police are with them and they have a search warrant that's a different story.

as I said if people willingly choose that service and are happy to pay for it then fine, but i don't think people should be forced into it when they don't even use bbc services.

[peterb]

my freeview box has packed in and my amp (booster) has failed so no tv for me , yet they still want paying which is beyond a joke tbh , would you pay for something you cannot use ?

Get it fixed then. TV licensing isn't responsible for the servicabilty of your TV receiver.

[amdavies]

If you want to know how TV will end up without the BBC and the influence it has on British TV as a whole, take a look at Sky 1. Today (Saturday) it has just 5 hours of first-run programs plus a 2 hour and 40 minutes film tonight at 10 o'clock. That's the flagship channel of an entire broadcasting company with about 70% repeats on arguably the most popular day of the week for television.

[OilSheikh]

TV costs way too much in the UK.
We need cable solutions like in the Indian subcontinent. For Less than £10pm you get STAR SPORTS, TEN SPORTS, ESPN and hundreds of good channels like HBO, AXN, etc.

[Saracen]

well yeah if police are with them and they have a search warrant that's a different story.

as I said if people willingly choose that service and are happy to pay for it then fine, but i don't think people should be forced into it when they don't even use bbc services.

Police don't need to be there, and it's the licencing people that have the warrant, not the police. It us a legally valid warrant, without a police presence. Police are there as a preventative .... it stops people kicking off. Usually.

As for not using BBC services, you are aware that part of the licence fee goes (or did, last time I looked, to some other channels. But that's really the point. As with many givernment-funded services, they are there for us to use, but we aren't obliged to. Roads are provided, hut you don't get to opt out of part if your income tax if you don't use them. You don't get a rebate if you take out private health care either. You won't get a refund on council tax if you don't use libraries, and don't get a tax rebate for education just because you don't have kids.

The BBC is there, available. If you don't use it, that"s your choice.

[chaotic_russ]

Get it fixed then.

that's hard to do when you have no money spare due to having my disabled money cut , so tell me how if your that clever when elec and gas prices keep rising etc

[Workaholic]

This is a dilemna I'm thinking about right now....

Pay for TV License or cut back and spend the same amount on getting a land line and ADSL installed?
Kinda no brainer until someone said 'what about when friends come around!'

[Agent]

Police don't need to be there, and it's the licencing people that have the warrant, not the police. It us a legally valid warrant, without a police presence. Police are there as a preventative .... it stops people kicking off. Usually.

As for not using BBC services, you are aware that part of the licence fee goes (or did, last time I looked, to some other channels. But that's really the point. As with many givernment-funded services, they are there for us to use, but we aren't obliged to. Roads are provided, hut you don't get to opt out of part if your income tax if you don't use them. You don't get a rebate if you take out private health care either. You won't get a refund on council tax if you don't use libraries, and don't get a tax rebate for education just because you don't have kids.

The BBC is there, available. If you don't use it, that"s your choice.

Is this guy talking nonsense then to the police officer? There is a lot of waffle, but some bits which caught my attention: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRQTkOk__48.
He seems to successfully turn them away without giving them access.

I'm just curious because I'm fed up of TV Licensing. I don't watch TV at all. I don't even want to watch TV....If I had the time to! Yet I get bugged by them on a fairly regular basis.

I made the 'honest mistake' a few years back by fessing up about owning a TV, but not using it to receive any channels. There isn't an aerial plugged in and it's not tuned in. It's 100% legal according to their own website and phone helpline, but they insist on not believing this. I don't even talk to them now - I just send them away as most of the time they are very rude and in some cases almost threatening (same as the letters).

I've done my research as far as the legality of the TV: No live content and you're fine (I only use web streaming services / Bluray / DVD / Games consoles and so on). But the courts seem to be an absolute farce when it comes to enforcement. Cases getting dropped on the day of a hearing if you plead not guilty. People being found guilty, only to have it overturned (Shakespeare vs. TV Licensing) and just generally there being a lot of hassle.

I don't want TV Licensing in my house at all. Since they are just a private company that gets paid via commission (Capita Business Services Ltd) and have proved many times they can't be trusted. I simply don't want the hassle.

To get a warrant they are supposed to have sufficient evidence to get one. Yet I've been told point blank "I'll come back with a warrant".....yeah, do that mate.....But if they do, where do I stand?
I know their official documentation says that even when they have a warrant, they should never force entry - but this isn't a guarantee they actually won't. From what I've seen though, if you say "no" and point a camera at them, even with the police present, they don't force entry.

So quite simply: I don't break the law in regards to my TV. If they do come back with a warrant, it must have been obtained with fabricated evidence since I don't watch live broadcasts. If this happens do I have any way of turning them away, legally, without having to prove I'm innocent later in the courts later (Which is insane in its own right)?

I know you're not a lawyer, but I'm sure you know more on this than me

[MrBozack]

NO. None of my family watch live broadcast, we don't listen to the radio either.

I have phoned the TV licencing office and withdrawn their (and Capita Business Services Ltd) rights of access. It's illegal for them to call at my house.

When you withdraw access rights, they will try and gain your name - DON'T GIVE IT TO THEM. You just moved in, okay? Once they have a name, they will start a contract with you - at which point you leave common law.
They will also try and convince you they don't know about access rights. Trust me, they do. They're just well trained at trying to BS you. Ask to speak to a supervisor if you have to.
Very soon you will recieve a letter confirming you don't need a license and nobody can call on their behalf. They write to me every few years and check the situation is the same. I rip up the letter and send it back in a pre-paid envelope. Sometimes I pop a charity bag or pizza menu in it (for good measure).

-It's not illegal to watch TV and not own a license - unless you enter their contract.

-British people have been paying to watch BBC for years, while some of Europe were given it free.

-Even BBC admit they have never prosecuted anyone with technical evidence from a "detector van" or suchlike.

-BBC does advertise it's own DVD's, "charities" and paper publications.

-BBC sells off the programs we paid for, to freeview channels WITH advertisements.

-BBC covers up, and indeed participates in organised paedophilia. They refuse to be held accountable too.

-BBC news lies. It announced World Trade Center Building 7 collapsed - 20 minutes before the people in New York were surprised by it happening. State sponsored propaganda, to put it generously.

So, 100% no - and never again. I used to pay it every year for decades. It was never worth the cost, and never will be.
For anyone interested in not paying their license - here's some handy links.

BBC silence over licence loophole: Corporation refuses to say how many households do not need one because they catch-up online

A British 9/11 truther is claiming victory following a court ruling that said he did not have to pay a fine over his refusal to pay his annual £130 TV license fee.

Killing Auntie Films - Let's finish off Auntie Beeb once and for all.

[AlexKitch]

TV license just came up for renewal - decided not to, for the first time. I can count on two hands the number of times per year that I want to watch live TV.

Had enough of it. It's a blatant tax on entertainment.

[Daydreamer]

Police don't need to be there, and it's the licencing people that have the warrant, not the police. It us a legally valid warrant, without a police presence. Police are there as a preventative .... it stops people kicking off. Usually.

As for not using BBC services, you are aware that part of the licence fee goes (or did, last time I looked, to some other channels. But that's really the point. As with many givernment-funded services, they are there for us to use, but we aren't obliged to. Roads are provided, hut you don't get to opt out of part if your income tax if you don't use them. You don't get a rebate if you take out private health care either. You won't get a refund on council tax if you don't use libraries, and don't get a tax rebate for education just because you don't have kids.

The BBC is there, available. If you don't use it, that"s your choice.

you compare bbc to 'roads and healthcare'?
yeah and its my choice not to use it and my choice not to pay the license.

[fail_quail]

I currently live with my parents still. so they watch lots of TV and pay the licence.

Myself, i watch about 1 program a month at most, and that via iplayer.
When i move out i'll not get a license, total waste of money for me

That said, if i get another job where i can get away with listening to the BBC radio stations, i'd probably get a licence to avoid feeling guilty