Quick TV Licence Question - probably asked 1000 times !

[paulburton]

Hi all,

Thanks for reading

Quick question, can't see the answer obvious on the TV Licence website

I have a property, that I have owned for 2 years, and 1 month, the property has been under renovation for this time (I know, started off as a 6 month tart up)

Since owning the property, I have never made contact with TV licensing, as property empty during the renovations, and they never wrote to me.

The property is now finished, but will remain empty for another couple of months I would of thought.

I have however, now bought a big plasma TV, and bolted it to the wall in the living room. There is no other furniture in the house, no bed, but fitted kitchen (that includes appliances built in)

When I bought the TV, they ask you your address, I gave them my current address, not the address of this property.

I have now received a letter from TV Licensing, addressed to the previous owner, that says on the envelope 'Please note changers to your Licence'

Now to my question ......... do I return it unopened with 'addressee gone away' on the envelope, and wait and see what arrives (probably another one saying 'To the owner' I would guess.

Also, do I need a TV licence ? as property unoccupied, though TV on the wall ?

I think because the previous occupant was elderly, they were probably getting a free TV Licence, and maybe they thought that they still lived there.

Many thanks to any responses,


Paul

 

[Stivino]

My understanding of it is, if there's any equipment capable of receiving a TV signal, you need a license.

 

[big-all]

if you have equipment that is capable off receiving live tv you need a license
the best you can do is phone and explain because if you just get a licence to save the hassle they may try to get the back licence fee since you took over the house
and remember they have heard all the excuses before so have some proof to hand because the more convincing you are the quicker its sorted

read this [my post] to see how persistant they can be

//www.diynot.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=1703221#1703221

 

[paulburton]

Or I take the TV off the wall, and take it to my current address, thus should be OK, just not easy to move a 50" plasma

I think I could prove the none occupied for the time I have had the property, due to the 1500 photos I have of it's renovation progress, and that I haven't had to pay council tax because of the works (have started now as free period expired)

Paul

 

[vv2806]

Move the TV to your current address. Check with your council, if the property is still unoccupied, you might be entitled to 50% discount of the council tax.

I have an unoccupied property and have received numerous letters from the TV licensing. Most of them are not polite, on the brink of being rude, and they go straight to the bin. There was only one polite letter to which I bothered to reply and explain the situation. Recently they started sending me the usual letters again, I personally don't care as there is no equipment there. The TV license inspectors are free to come and check the property but to date nobody has turned out.

 

[paulburton]

Thanks again to all, re the telling council, yes, I have already got the discounts I can, think it's first year free, next 6 months at 50% then I can get a 25% reduction from then onwards.

So what do I do with this letter, open it ? or return it with addressee gone away ?


Thanks, Paul

 

[vv2806]

Throw them to the bin

 

[DominicJ]

I had a tv at a house under renovation for two and half years, plenty of "youre breaking the law" letters, plenty of threats to visit, one visit, some more "youre breaking the law letter" and then I moved in and bought a licence and they didnt say a word.

You need a licence to receive live television broad casts, you can watch DVD's or play your Xbox to your hearts content.
To be fair, you can watch TV and theres not much they can do about it.

I'd just bin it

 

[paulburton]

Interestingly ........ following the advice to bin it, I thought I would open it before I did. Inside was a letter to the previous owner, saying thanks for renewing your TV licence for the next 3 years, now due to expire in November 2013

I think because the previous occupant was over 75, and they get it free, they must just automatically renew it for 3 years at a time, so I will keep stum until such time that I move in.

Thanks for everyone’s comments,


Paul

 

[vv2806]

 

[joinerjohn]

Years ago, I used to help look after a blind relative. She got the TV license at a vastly reduced rate. Surprisingly, she was not allowed to have the TV on whilst anyone else was there. Apparently this was termed a breach of the reduced licence fee conditions.
I was there once when the TV licence people knocked at the door. They were "Just Checking" that the lady was blind and asked her to turn the TV on. I pointed out that, she wasn't allowed to turn it on whilst sighted people were in the house and the chap said it was ok on this occasion because he was there ( I wondered at that point whether he was blind too).
TV Licensing try to get you all ways.

 

[ericmark]

In the past it was all down to owning a TV and when I wanted to use a TV to view my computer I asked the question. "What do I need to do to make it no longer a TV" I had hoped I could just blank off the RF socket however at that time it seemed there was no way to be able to use a TV even if not used to receive broadcast programs.

However it is all down to case law and it seems a few cases fought has changed the law and it became the ability to receive TV broadcast signals and this has progressed further it seems.

As far as I can tell it has now been reduced to receiving broadcast signals and as far as I can see now one has actually be caught with TV set receiving.

It is all down to case law and as a result cases can be over turned and what is true today be be different tomorrow hence the problems in finding black and white answers on the net.

One problem is the word "Broadcast" and if you watch programs on the computer with even the BBC's catch-up service it does not require a licence. However odd as it may seem Catch up TV does need a licence as although it is called "Catch-up" in fact it is live.

Now of course this opens up another can of worms. It means any computer connected to the internet should have a TV licence as one has the ability to watch live TV even if you don't use that ability. Unless firms configure their routers so employees can't watch the live channels then they would need licences. However I am sure if they did in bulk the tvcatchup would change it's URL so it could be watched again.

There is today duel standards where people watching cable TV need a licence yet people using the internet seem to get away without one. Even though really they both are using the same system.

Likely we will see some more court cases and the law will change again but what you have to consider is do you want to be the one paying to change the case law? I think not. So if it were me I would do all to make it apparent that the TV is not in use. Remove the lead set so it can't be powered up. Also aerial patch lead. So if any one was to visit they could be immediately given access and shown that it was not able to receive. Any delay and it would be considered you had disabled the TV.

My brother-in-law for at least 30 years has not had a TV in the house. From time to time he gets letters demanding he buys a licence. Which of course he never does. They have written letters complaining about this harassment but it still happens form time to time. Seems no one can believe they don't have a TV.

In my own case when using computer I also thought not worth the time and energy fighting a court case. So swapped the TV for a monitor. Then bought a black and white TV and black and white licence for my caravan as it was lived in at same time as rest of family was at home. In whole 3 years not one person was caught and we were all the same and I was only one with licence. On returning home I then had loads of letters asking me to renew the licence even though we already had a colour licence for same address. In hind sight I wish I had never bothered with a licence and had just taken the chance.

Same applies to those living on a boat. So long as one has a valid address to hand it is so hard for them to prove you are using a TV in both locations I know of no body who has been fined.

However one is still taking a chance. Is it worth it for price of a licence?

 

[DominicJ]

Honestly, theres loads on the internet about this, unless you admit them to your home and sign a confession, they cant touch you.
They have no right of entry to your home, unless they a court order, which they dont.
Detector vans are technicaly possible, but they have no way of proving you are using a specific ariel, they have no legal right to enter and check.
If someone turned up and said he wanted to inspect your double glazing, you'd tell him where to go, id badge or not.
Tv licence salesmen are no different

 

[ericmark]

As a condition of my licence I am required to give the inspectors access. As a result for me as a licensed ham I can't refuse access. However when caught using a TV they had a problem when I pointed out it was slow scan TV and was not broadcast it was a one to one connection.
He inspected my amateur licence and departed rather bewildered as he had not been told the definition of broadcast.

At that time it said equipment for receiving TV signals in colour which since the aerial was silver and black I suppose it was colour! But the equipment that receives the broadcast signals is the aerial. After the aerial we do amplify and process the signal but that is no longer a radio signal.

When cable TV arrived the wording was changed but as far as I am aware there was not a new act of parliament. However it is all down to case law anyway.

As to detecting and proving you are receiving the equipment they use has been accepted in case law as proving that you are receiving TV signals. They do not have to enter the premises to prove you have broken the law. However as I have said there are cases where the information is wrong as far as the licence goes. I could as a repair man go to a house install an aerial and test it. The shop licence would cover this. Unless they knock on the door they would be unaware the equipment was covered by the commercial licence so they have to give you the chance to explain why they have detected a TV and have records showing no licence.

Where the signal is not from an aerial i.e. cable or satellite then I am not sure how they can detect a monitor. Likely they can detect a standard TV but if a monitor is used without any TV decoder then not convinced they can detect it.

 

[joinerjohn]

I always thought the TV detectors worked by picking up spurious RF frequency from the actual TV set itself. Maybe wrong, could be an urban legend.
I know they turned up at my daughters once and she didn't let them in , telling them she no longer owned a TV. Whilst the man was at the door, her son came home from school, went inside and turned the TV on (you could see it from the window)
Result? A large fine

I bet his a**e was sore that night