UK dopers - Question about TV Licensing

[Dog80]

Are they legaly entitled to search my house? Do they simply take a look, or they go through cupboards etc.? Can I refuse them entry?

[GorillaMan]

Yes you can refuse entry. But seeing a TV through a window, or using the detector vans (which do exist, and aren't just an urban myth) is evidence enough for a fine.

[GorillaMan]

Yes you can refuse entry. But seeing a TV through a window, or using the detector vans (which do exist, and aren't just an urban myth) is evidence enough for a fine.

[sinical brit]

Never let them in. or indeed answer any questions to an inspector on the doorstep. Put the burden of proof on them whether you have a licence or not.

Its an unfair and very dubious tax. Why make their lives easyer. Dont we get bullied and threatened enough regarding the licence fee?

sin

[chiefgnome]

They don't have any legal right to enter your home, you can tell them to sod off. They can go and get a warrant to search your home (see section 366 of the Communications Act below), at which point you can't tell them to sod off unless you enjoy being prosecuted and fined.

http://www.legislation.hmso.gov.uk/acts/acts2003/30021--l.htm

[Celyn]

Yes you can refuse entry. But seeing a TV through a window, or using the detector vans (which do exist, and aren't just an urban myth) is evidence enough for a fine.


What confuses me about those detector vans is, if they are so very very good, why do they bother with sending letters? I've been told (by a former employee of T.V. Licensing) that they simply do not have enough vans, but I do not know how true that is.

[NutMagnet]

Shopkeeper:
What man?


Customer:
The man from the cat detector van.


Shopkeeper:
The looney detector van, you mean.


Customer:
Look, it's people like you what cause unrest.


Shopkeeper:
What cat detector van?


Customer:
The cat detector van from the Ministry of Housinge.


Shopkeeper:
Housinge?


Customer:
It was spelt like that on the van. I'm very observant!. I never seen so many bleeding aerials. The man said that their equipment could pinpoint a purr at four hundred yards! And Eric, being such a happy cat, was a piece of cake.

[GorillaMan]

Put the burden of proof on them whether you have a licence or not.

Errrrr.....they know you haven't got a licence, it's whether you have a TV that's the issue.

Its an unfair and very dubious tax. Why make their lives easyer. Dont we get bullied and threatened enough regarding the licence fee?

It's not a tax. And why is it unfair? You choose to own a TV, in the knowledge that the licence exists. And asking you to pay something you owe is hardly 'bullying'.

[jjimm]

I'm in favour of BBC funding remaining as-is, but the unfair part does exist when one owns a TV set but doesn't use it for terrestrial broadcast, or only uses it to watch videos.

But that doesn't happen very often...

[Xerxes]

I always thought the detector vans worked on the principle that they detected EM radiation produced by the sodding great transformers used in CRTs - does anyone know if they'd have any luck with LCD/Other-new-tech flatscreen TVs?

[Patr100]

Strictly speaking, you don't even have to own a TV, if you have any equipment "capable of receiving TV signals" then you require a license, even if you say you never watch any of the channels.That includes VCRs unless they have had their tuner removed.

[PookahMacPhellimey]

It's not a tax. And why is it unfair? You choose to own a TV, in the knowledge that the licence exists. And asking you to pay something you owe is hardly 'bullying'.

I agree that since you know what it is going to cost you, you should be expected to pay up. I also agree with JJIMM that the BBC ought to be funded publically. But I believe it is a complete rip off. In Holland the licenses cost about a third of what they do in the UK and the quality seems about the same. (Off topic. I find Americans have a tendency to really overrate BBC programs.) So even if I choose to get a TV I don't have any choice in paying any less than grossly over the odds. If it were down to me (I live in a shared house, so the decision isn't mine) I would make the sensible choice and chuck the telly out.


If I would refuse the inspectors entry to my house it would be because I take issue with people going into searching my house without a warrent, not because I would take issue with paying a TV license as such. Of course, since I pay up like a good girl, they won't, or not until they mess up their paperwork again.

[marky33]

they simply do not have enough vans
I was told once by a "source" that there is, in fact, only one van in the whole UK. Its existence is a deterrent rather than an effective tool - like the cardboard cut-outs of police cars they put on motorway bridges - do they still use those?

[jjimm]

BTW, if you Brits want to bemoan TV license fees, believe me, you're getting value for money compared to some countries: last night I had to cough up roughly the same amout (you pay £116, I had to pay €152) - let me repeat that: €152 to pay for the bag of shite that is Radio Telefís Éireann, which produces about one programme worth watching each year if you're lucky.

[GorillaMan]

According to TV Licensing (http://www.tv-l.co.uk/penalties/detection_tvvans.html), they use both a 'fleet' of vans, and handheld scanners.

[GorillaMan]

...and if the vans don't exist, then there's been people lying to parliament about it: http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm200203/cmselect/cmpubacc/118/2070104.htm

[PookahMacPhellimey]

BTW, if you Brits want to bemoan TV license fees, believe me, you're getting value for money compared to some countries: last night I had to cough up roughly the same amout (you pay £116, I had to pay €152) - let me repeat that: €152 to pay for the bag of shite that is Radio Telefís Éireann, which produces about one programme worth watching each year if you're lucky.

Actually, I rather embarrassingly muddled up my previous post. The first bit was about UK licensing fees being a rip off.

The second part was about wanting to chuck out the telly altogether refers to my current situation. Which is living in Ireland. You are very very right. Although my Ozzie housement rather likes the archive programs which he sees as comedies.

[Cat Fight]

It's not the license I have a problem with so much as the horribly rude letters these people are sending out. I get at least one a month (I have no TV, and my house has been unoccupied for a year) and it reads like a ransom note- e.g. 'You are currently breaking the law' 'Your statement will be taken in compliance with the Police and Criminal Evidence Act' etc., with a tiny note somewhere on the back of the letter about what to do if you happen to not have a TV. The whole thing just feels sleazy, like a mob shakedown. If anyone else were sending me these letter, they'd be arrested for harassment (and don't tell me to just write them a letter to let them know that I have no TV, I don't plan on wasting money on a stamp and am planning on holding off on writing them back until I move out, after which I'll send them a wonderfully nasty letter).

[ticker]

I know what you mean Cat Fight. I have a licence but there are two slight variations of my address so I get these letters all the time. Buggered if I'm going to waste time/stamp putting them right. I fulfilled my obligation buying the bloody licence so let them get their knickers in a twist over it.

[GorillaMan]

Just scrawl "No TV known at this address" on the envelope and shove it back in a post box :D

[kellner]

What really bugs me about German TV licensing inspectors is that they work on a bounty basis. Is this the same in the UK?

This seems to attract... well... special elements of society and doesn't necessarily make them more honest about their actual privileges.

[Dog80]

In Greece, the fee for the two government channels comes with the electricity bill. You might not have a TV, but you still have to pay that fee. At least, its much cheaper (about 50 euros per year maybe) and these channels have a strong and crisp signal all over Greece (most private channels don't broadcast at remote places)

As for the licensing in UK, I find it very silly. Since their EM radiation is entering my house, I can do whatever I like with it. Its like turning the stereo volume way up and charging your neighbour for listening to your music.

And by the way, I don't have a television or VCR in the house, I simply want to give them a hard time. :D I am getting lots of letters for the Council Tax too, and I haven't replied to any of them (They have some very complicated forms asking for every conceivable personal information). When they start shouting at me I will hand them my student exeption letter.

[GorillaMan]

The first you'll hear of a 'hard time' over council tax is a court date. And at that point, it's costing a lot of all of our money. Just send in the letters now - by not paying and not giving evidence of exemption, you're giving them good reason to hassle you.

Re the TV licence....people tend to overlook the radio aspect of it - the licence fee manages to fund 5 national stations, and a comprehensive network of local ones. I doubt that the other countries mentioned can match that (although I'm always happy to be corrected :) )