A few weeks ago whilst going to the gym met the chap from TV licensing at the door. We had a quick chat and by the end of the conversation he had convinced me to sign a direct debit form to pay TV licence. After not thinking much about it, noticed they had taken about 39£ and I stopped the direct payments as 3e never watch anything on BBC as we have Netflix and virgin TV. In fact on the day he came I just wanted to go to the gym so had just blindly agreed to what he was saying.
The single justice procedure Notice has arrived and not sure what to do as I don't really want any trouble coming my way. Whats the best way to sort it out as there is mention of "an application is being made for 120£ contribution towards the cost of TV licensing and I need to plead guilty or not guilty. Does this mean if I pleade guilty all I am paying is the 120?
The single justice procedure Notice has arrived and not sure what to do as I don't really want any trouble coming my way. Whats the best way to sort it out as there is mention of "an application is being made for 120£ contribution towards the cost of TV licensing and I need to plead guilty or not guilty. Does this mean if I pleade guilty all I am paying is the 120?
67 Comments
sorted byAre you above the law? you can't bend the law to mean whatever suits you. The law requires that if you watch live TV (amongst other conditions) you need a TV licence. Granted, I'm not sure if watching without one is actually 'theft' (I can easily change it to 'dishonest'), but there's no doubting that telling them you don't watch live TV, when you do, definitely makes one a liar.
Netflix has no TVL implication (on the assumption no Netflix content is live, maybe), just the VM TV req TVL. Unusual to have court mentioned in first communication, or have you ignored a couple of reminders?
The licence fee funds the BBC but it isn't that you only have to pay it if you watch the BBC. Watching gold on virgin tv is watching live tv and this requires a licence. Netflix doesnt. Don't forget too that dad's army was originally produced by the BBC, and if no one paid their licence fee, programmes like this would never have been filmed in the first place.
If you watch live TV on virgin you need a license.
Thanks for being very observant with regards to my grasp of English or how to write the language . For your own information, yes I am not a native English speaker. In fact I had to learn the language from scratch, at a very later part of my life so pardon me, if this is not good enough to match the required standard but I am really trying my best to express myself, in order for the lovely people on here to help and advise me.
No harm in making an appointment to speak to Citizens Advice. They should be able to give you the information you want.
Isn't that the lawyer's job?
For someone who obviously knows very little on the subject you sure do give a lot of untrue advice. You only need a licence if you actually watch or record live telivision not if you are capable of it. Your argument is like saying that you are a murderer just because you own a knife so are capable of killing someone.
Do some research, the TV licence website itself says you do not need a TV licence for on demand or catch up services.
tvlicensing.co.uk/faq…104
More tripe. The law clearly states that you only need a TV licence if you actually watch/record live television or watch BBC iplayer. The burden of prove lies with the accuser who will need to prove that you actually watched or recorded live television.
Please stop giving false advice. This is a site for people to save money and you are potentially costing people money if they believe you and unnecessarily purchase a TV licence that they do not need.
I will fill the form in, pay the licence and then get more clarity in terms of how to prevent this from happening again because to be fair. Kids only use Netflix and I watch some Dads army on gold and that's it. But none of this is BBC so even though I remain confused I will just pay.
I wish nobody had paid their TV licence. Ever.
They may have you banged to rights if you've say admitted to watching it for 6 months and only paid £39 towards 3 months TV licencing fees.
Depending on how long you've told them you've been live broadcasting (they do ask and put the info on the form) its quite conceivable you decided to cease doing so shortly after their visit when you decided you don't watch enough live TV to warrant the £150 cost per year, but of course you decided to cease during the 3 month period you paid the £39 to cover for a licence get working out some dates
They presumably haven't visited since, so are working on the assumption you've continued watching TV whilst not paying for a licence, and no, having an active sky / virgin TV subscription isn't evidence you've been live broadcasting, which may not be the case, and you'd have a defence which they have no evidence to dispute, if you had ceased to watch live broadcasts.
Why not just go online and buy a licence in full. Tell them the tv wasn’t working which is why you cancelled and once it was fixed (which you did yourself) you bought the licence outright. (edited)
tvlicenceresistance.info/
The letter is basically asking do you plead guilty to the offence or not guilty, the case will go before the magistrates and will be heard in your absence (if you don’t want to attend). If you plead not guilty you have to write back the reason and any mitigating circumstances and the judges will decide if you’re guilty or not. If you plead guilty straight away, the case will still be heard in court but the fine will be automatically reduced (I think by a third, plus costs and perhaps a victim surcharge)
Personally, I would plead guilty, send a separate letter in to the court admitting guilt and saying an oversight on your part and that you have since bought a full tv Licence.
You’ll still have to pay the £120 the tv licensing are claiming as well if you still haven’t paid them. (edited)
The burden of proof (if you haven't already admitted to mis-use) is on the "private company" official to prove guilt, exactly why they try to get into your home to show that your kit is basically set up to receive (also different from receiving) signal from channels requiring you to pay the license, & all the tactics they go with.
Sounds like you've been caught admitting use without license though.
I personally doubt a judge will believe innocent "ignorance" of the law, its a rolling court process these days, as with so many things in a jaded world.
I was stitched up by a bored judge a few years ago on an entirely different matter, don't let them force you to do anything without a court appointed defense, if there is none, ask why & ask for a deferrment until available.
What’s the point of going to the Citizens Advice Bureau?
Just fill the form in, add your ‘sorry, I won’t do it again letter’ and wait for the judgement to arrive in the post. Get the TV license today and put away £20 a week to cover the fine.
You won’t get a criminal record.
I'd like to see some evidence of these few cases that have scanned channels and led to prosecution. My mother borrowed my kitchen TV for her caravan in the summer and it now has channels tuned in. I don't really want to hard reset it but If you have evidence (not a tabloid newspaper article) that a scanned TV is illegal to use without a licence, I would like to see it. I don't have an antenna plugged in and ony watch Netflix,Prime,Youtube and occasionally NowTv when it's on offer. Your statements contradicts the tv licensing rules so would be very interested where they are bending the rules to prosecute.
19 years and I am still waiting for the TV Detector van to catch me.
Links because that sounds like BS
well you wrote that & you stated that in your famously deleted piece, now you appear in denial & are digging yourself a deeper hole.That's precisely why I asked for fact via links because you were stating utter balls.
How you are twisting stuff further, just delete your bs & leave this thread well alone, you aren't helping any! (edited)
25years mate...
Who? I wasn't even born when it was made
You did and then deleted it. Saying lots of people have been prosecuted for having scanned channels on a tv, hence why I asked for evidence of these prosecutions!
Like I say to my 10 year old boy "If you are going to lie, then you have to be consistent and convincing, otherwise you will be caught out"
I have also watched iPlayer, which you are saying I would have to prove I hadn't "ever" watched it, last day of August 2016 was the last time I watched it, so the children have to wait for Dr Who to arrive on Netflix now.
Streaming for me was a godsend as we have a really poor TV signal and I would never go back to live TV even if I had the choice. (edited)
Hi, well never heard back from them again! I have now filled my online declaration, that we don't need a licence, so yes good outcome. Not sure if the court can come back after this long though...
Hmm will wait and see, it's been way too long though.. Hope they retraced it .
That's what I thought. So if I have virgin and Netflix I need the licence right? If so is there any way I can sort this out without court? Can I ring the licence authority directly to pay?
This was my thoughts Andy.
To have them arrive at the door usually means that some other communications must have been overlooked?
For the avoidance of doubt a license is required where equipment capable of receiving live channels is being used or catch up for a programme within 2 hours of its original broadcast.
Thanks so if we only use virgin and Netflix are we supposed to pay for a license? Sorry if this sounds a bit scilly.
OK thanks. Now the next question how do I resolve this or court is the only way? If I call the TV licensing and make a payment will that resolve the issue?
I have no idea. Is this letter from the court or TV license? You can call them and ask.
Link
Usually overseas visitors use this method
Not to sure this is right according to tvlicensing.co.uk/che…nce only needed if you watch or record live TV etc.