Forum Topic

TV Licence

Does anyone know exactly what happens if you don't pay your TV Licence? What happens next?

Brian Coyle ● 1244d33 Comments

You get a reminder in the post.

Andrew Jones ● 1244d

Here's a link with the details:https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/visit#:~:text=If%20you're%20found%20guilty%2C%20you'll%20be%20sent,of%2040%25%20of%20the%20fine

Paul Scullion ● 1244d

You ignore it, then what happens? I know the answer, but I really wanted to know whether anyone else has had the same experience, gone down the same route, and what has happened as a result? In my case, nothing. Nobody to my knowledge has ever been fined the ludicrous £1,000.00, but one woman was caught out and fined only because when a Capita on commission salesperson knocked on her door, she let them in regrettably, and ended up paying, I think £300.00.

Brian Coyle ● 1244d

You are executed. Then have to pay a fine. In that order.

Basil Finnis ● 1244d

I know of someone on a different forum. They detailed the steps . This was in the last 9 monthsYou get a visit obviously after ignoring offers to pay for oneThey take from their doorstep visit, their next approach , like you could ignore to  speak to them , or you could engage and say you don't watch or you could be daft and admit watching TV and ask them what they going to do about it.But he gotA letter in post with a formal charge of watching TV without a licence and possibly going to court to sort it .  They asked in the letter for a written reply and a plea In the mean time , he consulted the forum and described the way he had been using the TV and the forum agreed he really should have had a licence all along.  So he ended up buying one whilst waiting for the next stepsHe got fined 200  and 200 court charges at the end.

Andrew Craig ● 1244d

found his post -Got a letter telling me I'm charged with not having a TV liscenceI have virgin TV yes but its very rare I get to watch anything live due to my Autistic daughters genuine fear of adverts and what she may see.On my TV its usually Netflix and YouTube videos, I don't see any way around it other than plead guilty which is ridiculous.

Andrew Craig ● 1244d

" Does anyone know exactly what happens if you don't pay your TV Licence? What happens next?"Often what heppens is that refusniks boast about (not) doing so on social media, forums etc, or at least claiming to have not done so, and a heated discussion ensues.michael adams

Michael Adams ● 1244d

I think there is sometimes a custodial sentence meted out,particularly if the offender had recently suggested on a public forum that they may pursue that path.

Keith Iddon ● 1244d

You get a letter reminding you of no license at the premises and then you get a warning or a visit and then you will get a letter of persecution every 2-4 weeks. THE BBC IS DONE AND GONE Given someone I know who served 45 years with them they have turned into a disgrace of an outfit and the license needs to be scrapped and will be gone within 3 years anyway

Julian Pavey ● 1244d

The TV licence works out at just over 45p per day = £13.25 per month.Compared with Netflix, Sky or Virgin etc, this is a bargain.Meantime, while Mr. Craig is doubtless genuine in saying that he and his daughter don't watch BBC etc, I suspect that the majority of non-payers who claim this defence are bluffing.

Richard Cathcart ● 1244d

Whether you watch the BBC is completely irrelevant even though the BBC is funded by the TV licence. If you watch just Sky or ITV you are obliged to pay. The rules about when you need a TV license have changed in the last few years.

Andrew Jones ● 1243d

It's a TV and radio licence iirc.

Keith Iddon ● 1243d

You don’t need a radio licence to listen to radio any more. Don’t know when they stopped but I’m sure it was decades ago.

Andrew Jones ● 1243d

Andrew C.You say: "But he got a letter in post with a formal charge of watching TV without a licence". Where exactly did the letter come from? I can't understand how that came about. Where was the hard, concrete evidence that he was actually watching any TV program at all? The TV may well have been on, but how does that constitute any kind of evidence? Photographic evidence is inadmissible. If you do get a visit from one of these TV Licencing (Capita) salespeople on a £25.00 commission basis, just say 'No thank you' and politely close the door.   

Brian Coyle ● 1242d

I had a property that was empty for a long time because it was having building work done.  I received lots of reminder letters and eventually they threaten you with a visit.  Technically the license isn't just for the BBC and Channel Four is a public service broadcaster too,  but it also earns money from advertising.  I don't really understand why the BBC doesn't just move to having adverts too.

Nora Watkins ● 1242d

Hope you didn't pay anything, Nora. As for the BBC having adverts, as their North American counterparts do, I think this will probably come in 2027, when their Charter comes up for renewal, otherwise how are they going to survive? The problem is that the BBC has been sitting on an income of c£3.8billion a year, which flows in regardless of whatever they do, and in the process have become far too complacent.

Brian Coyle ● 1242d

I think it will be a sad day if the BBC ever has to show an advert and take the free market coin to survive.

Keith Iddon ● 1242d

did you not read the bit about the doorstep visit and the chat.  Most people must get caught out by this surely. They just say they are not watching BBC  but as others pointed out , that's not enough these days to evade the system.

Andrew Craig ● 1242d

They could take programme sponsorship instead, less intrusive than ads and shorter in length too

Peter King ● 1242d

The offence is in having the appropriate recieving equipment installed in your home. Which to all intentsand purposes, simply means a set *being present*. Given that nowadays there may be no need for an external arieal or external power supply for the set to be connected to.  The actual wording is "install or use" Thus there is no requirement that anyone need actually watch the set. Whether from behind drawn curtains or not.michael adams

Michael Adams ● 1242d

What I posted earlier.

Keith Iddon ● 1242d

A-mate of mine has been running a smart TV though the Internet to watch mainly none live  programs for a couple of years without a license.Until another member of his family went onto the BBC i player to watch a prerecorded soap he didn’t want to miss .From that he got a letter saying he used the BBC service and was required to  pay for a licence.I don’t know how the BBC figure  that  out?  Maybe it’s to do with his computers IP address

Bernard Allen ● 1242d

As a licence fee payer myself I'm pleased that someone who used BBC iPlayer (and hence was required to have a TV Licence) was approached and asked to pay their due.What's good about the licence fee is that it provides for a universal standard of quality television to be available to all at a price that's considerably lower than the likes of sky, BT etc.

Andrew Jones ● 1241d

Its not about the fee,ive a license but i resent having to have one. If you buy your milk in a shop should you be required to pay the milkman a fee for doing so.As i said,it will be gone in 3-4 years which is why the BBC are stripping and cutting. Radio is the first which is why they are stopping SHOUTcast and pushing everyone onto BBC sounds as a starting point to the future.

Julian Pavey ● 1241d

France abolished their TV licence in 2022. I looked on the internet and found a huge number of countries have abolished their licences, so why not us.

Nicholas Beard ● 1241d

Just pay the license and stop moaning. I can't imagine a world without the BBC certainly not one replaced by the likes of GBeebies.

Matthew Swain ● 1241d

It is a shame to see the way people pick away at our national institutions by focusing on the negatives and pretending this represents the totality.There are obviously huge drawbacks in the current of method of funding for the BBC. It is essentially a regressive tax and they make no friends by the aggressive letters sent out, often to people who already have or don't need a licence.However, the problem is that no alternative model has yet been put forward that has fewer issues. The BBC can't be part ad funded in the UK because that would completely change its special nature and mean that other broadcasters would be entitled to insist it received no state support of any kind due to competition rules.The funding arrangements set up by Nadine Dorries are not going to automatically end the licence fee in 2028. At that stage we will have a government that treats the BBC as a national broadcaster rather than a punchbag in their culture wars who will try to come up with a sensible way forward.At this stage, we should probably remember what the licence fee model has enabled. High quality programming catering to a range of different audiences that are not served by other media, local news coverage across the regions, enabling this country to become a world centre of creative and technical expertise with huge knock on benefits for the wider TV and Film industry, boosting the soft power and influence of this country throughout the world and providing a balanced and credible news source in an age plagued by disinformation.Ultimately, visit any country, any where in the world and watch what their local broadcaster is showing and you will realise we have better telly. That is made possible by the licence fee so, while trying to mitigate its flaws, there is no doubt in my mind that it should be retained.

Felicity Caborn ● 1241d

Very well put, Felicity.

Alastair Banton ● 1241d

Except i dont listen to BBC radio and i dont watch hardly any BBC TV and even what i do watch with is about 2 programmes a week have dropped off so badly i dont even make a point of watching them either.So why should i support Its ok if your a fan and watch the beeb or listen to the beeb.What you like does not support those who dislike so that aurgument of value is not valid to many.So much as an alternative and at a cost to boot.

Julian Pavey ● 1241d

"At this stage, we should probably remember what the licence fee model has enabled. High quality programming...Like "All Round to Mrs Brown's perhaps?

Brian Coyle ● 1240d

Not really a useful comparison... there are standards that milk has to conform to and and production costs per litre for different producers/suppliers aren't going to vary by anywhere near the same ratio as production costs for an hour of television will vary depending on the type of content.You could say you resent paying taxes towards education - just let the parents of those school kids needing education fund it themselves, but most people would probably feel our taxes going to fund education is a good thing.Maybe the example I've given is a flippant one, but what about paying for the upkeep of the UK's nuclear deterrent? If you support the UK keeping a nuclear deterrent you probably wouldn't resent paying for that would you?

Andrew Jones ● 1239d

not sure, but I just have an Apple TV box 2nd edition - no roof aerial and neither do I watch any terrestrial tv, or on my phone of laptop; or want to. So I'm exempt from a tv licence. Best route remove you external roof aerial, if you can cope not watching the rubbish we're brainwashed to watch. Contact tv licensing and tell them you no longer receive terrestrial or any live tv or bbc radio. Then they'll exempt you. You can also do it via their website.

Carl Johns ● 1237d

You can also quite simply not pay the licence fee, as it's not fit for purpose, and there's very little they can do about it.

Brian Coyle ● 1205d