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TV Licensing, What You Need To Know

When I was 18 my parents bought me a TV. It was about 8 inches wide and situated in the middle of a stereo. They assured me that their TV licence would cover it while I was at University. Seemed fair enough to me, and so I carted it the 200 miles or so to University with all my other belongings.

Within a few weeks I received a very stern letter warning me that if I had a TV I had to have a licence. I decided my best course of action was to ring. I explained the situation, that it was a tiny little TV and I didn't actually watch it. They told me point blank that I needed a licence, so I began forking out the Ł11 a month. This was a plain simple lie.

During this time I didn't watch broadcasts, I only watched the occasional video. I was under the impression that because I owned a TV I needed a licence. It was the TV-L who told me this, and various people confirmed that they had been told the same thing.

A year later I moved into a private house and there we had a full sized television and did indeed receive broadcasts and so we certainly needed a licence. I took responsibility for paying this as I was still paying a licence for my little TV, so I transferred it across to the new address and collected payments from the other people at the house.

During this time I only watched The Simpsons and played on the X-Box one of my housemates had bought. Did I get my Ł110 worth? I'll let you be the judge of that.

When I moved into a private flat in my 3rd year I paid my licence for a little longer until one day I found some information that the TV Licensing company really don't want people to know.

I didn't believe the website that told me this, so I read up on it and studied the wording of the letters from the TV-L. It was all true. I had paid for a licence for a long time that I did not need.

Contrary to what the TV-L have made you think with their poorly worded letters; you do not need a licence just because you own a TV. I own and use a TV but no longer pay a licence. The TV-L are aware of both of these facts and agree that it is OK for me to do this.

When you need a licence

You only need a licence if you are using your TV to receive UK television broadcasts. The moment you tune into a broadcast you are breaking the law unless you own a licence. If you can show that you are not using your television to receive broadcasts then you owe the TV-L nothing.

When you don't need a licence

You do not need a licence to own a TV.

It is a myth that you need a licence if you own a TV. I will not directly accuse the TV-L of making this myth, but at one point the letters they sent out claimed that if you have a TV then you need a licence. This is not true. Admittedly in the majority of cases it is likely to be true, but they make no mention of this anywhere.

You do not need a licence to plug your TV into the mains.

Another myth is that you do not need a licence for your TV, as long as you don't plug it in. Again this isn't true. You can plug it in and use it, as long as you don't use it to receive UK broadcasts.

You do not need a licence to own a VCR.

Same thing. Owning a VCR does not mean you are necessarily tuning into broadcasts.

You do not need a licence to watch VCRs / DVDs / listen to music / play games.

The TV-L can not charge you, fine you, arrest you or touch you in any other way for using your TV for these purposes. This is private use of your TV and you do not need a licence for it.

In fact you can even watch recordings of UK broadcasts, although whoever supplied you with these recordings is almost certainly in breach of Copyright laws, and if you recorded them yourself then you must have been receiving broadcasts...which is illegal unless you had a licence.

How to avoid a fine

First of all unplug any ariel your TV may have. Get rid of it, you won't need it if you're not watching TV.

Next check all the channels to make sure there is no picture showing or sound playing, not even a vague image. Tune the channel out if necessary. Personally I advise doing this at night, as reception tends to be better at night because the atmosphere behaves differently.

If you have anything else that can receive TV signals (VCRs for example) then do the same thing for them.

Keep them this way. If you do get a call from the TV-L they will check that your receiving equipment is not receiving anything. If there is an image or sound then you may be liable for a fine.

More myths exploded

The TV-L have made most of the country believe that they have vans with scanning equipment that can detect when you are watching TV. This dates back as far as the 70s when they bought vans, put impressive looking antenna on top of them and drove them around cities and towns. These vans simply could not detect if you were watching TV, they were designed to frighten people into buying TV licences.

Nowadays the technology to detect what you are watching on TV is available but is expensive. The circuitry required to detect the tiny signals leaked by the oscillators in TVs is very complicated and very sensitive, therefore are expensive to produce. For that reason the TV-L have not bought many of these scanners. If you were to believe the hype they produce you would think that every second person on the street works for the TV-L and are carrying one of these hand-held scanners.

In fact the chances of them scanning you are tiny. They simply do not have enough scanners to cover the country. They do not have enough scanners to cover one city, never mind all of them.

The adverts produced by TV-L suggest that if you are caught watching TV you will be automatically liable to a Ł1000 fine. Again this is not true. First you get a warning. Then you get a smallish fine. If you re-offend then you get a larger fine, and if you re-offend you get another larger fine and so on up to a maximum of Ł1000.

And of course in order for them to fine you they have to catch you offending. As I said there are not many scanners in the country at the moment, so the only way they can catch you offending is to gain entry to your house.

To gain entry to your house they need one of two things:

1. Your permission. You have to let them in. you can answer the door to them, tell them to "get lost" and close it again and they are powerless to do anything about it.
2. A warrant. In order to get a warrant they need to have evidence that you are offending, otherwise they will not be able to acquire one - but without access to the house or a scanner they will not be able to provide evidence.

Please note that I do not condone watching TV without a licence, I merely include this section to try and help people see how many myths there are surrounding TV licensing.

A Better Solution

The BBC should be a subscription service and there should be no TV licence. It should be free to buy a TV, tune it in to anything that is made available by broadcast and be able to watch it. Why? Because it is in breach of the European Human Rights laws. These laws state that every Human has the right to:

"receive and impart information and ideas without interference from a public authority"

Ok, so it is open to interpretation I agree. But considering that the licence pays only for BBC 1 and 2, not ITV, Channel 4 or Five, surely the public authorities are interfering with my ability to receive information? More importantly they do not receive money from the licence but I still have to pay a licence to watch it. If the BBC want people to pay to watch their channels then they should scramble the signal and make people pay for a decoder.

Alternatively, with everyone moving to cable and satellite these days they should simply use the capabilities that have been in place for years on these "new" technologies which allow them to do all this without reinventing the wheel.

Did you know that the majority of "offenders" who have been fined or arrested for using their TVs are female?

This is because when the TV-L enforcement officer comes a-knocking on the door it is usually the female of the family who is home. The enforcement officers do not care who takes the blame for the offence, and so it is generally women who get slapped with the fines or sentences. Is that fair?

Cancelling Your Licence

You can cancel your licence by emailing the TV-L at [tvlcsc@capita.co.uk]
Or you can ring and cancel: 0870 241 6468

Remember that students can claim back 3 months of the year for which they have paid by filling in a form. Make sure you request your form!

LoweyPages - The Next Inevitable Step
TV Licensing, What You Need To Know When I was 18 my parents bought me a TV. It was about 8 inches wide and situated in the middle of a stereo. They assured me that their TV licence would cover it while I was at University. Seemed fair enough to me, and so I carted it the 200 miles or so to University with all my other belongings. Within a few weeks I received a very stern letter warning me that if I had a TV I had to have a licence. I decided my best course of action was to ring. I explained the situation, that it was a tiny little TV and I didn't actually watch it. They told me point blank that I needed a licence, so I began forking out the Ł11 a month. This was a plain simple lie. During this time I didn't watch broadcasts, I only watched the occasional video. I was under the impression that because I owned a TV I needed a licence. It was the TV-L who told me this, and various people confirmed that they had been told the same thing. A year later I moved into a private house and there we had a full sized television and did indeed receive broadcasts and so we certainly needed a licence. I took responsibility for paying this as I was still paying a licence for my little TV, so I transferred it across to the new address and collected payments from the other people at the house. During this time I only watched The Simpsons and played on the X-Box one of my housemates had bought. Did I get my Ł110 worth? I'll let you be the judge of that. When I moved into a private flat in my 3rd year I paid my licence for a little longer until one day I found some information that the TV Licensing company really don't want people to know. I didn't believe the website that told me this, so I read up on it and studied the wording of the letters from the TV-L. It was all true. I had paid for a licence for a long time that I did not need. Contrary to what the TV-L have made you think with their poorly worded letters; you do not need a licence just because you own a TV. I own and use a TV but no longer pay a licence. The TV-L are aware of both of these facts and agree that it is OK for me to do this. When you need a licence You only need a licence if you are using your TV to receive UK television broadcasts. The moment you tune into a broadcast you are breaking the law unless you own a licence. If you can show that you are not using your television to receive broadcasts then you owe the TV-L nothing. When you don't need a licence You do not need a licence to own a TV. It is a myth that you need a licence if you own a TV. I will not directly accuse the TV-L of making this myth, but at one point the letters they sent out claimed that if you have a TV then you need a licence. This is not true. Admittedly in the majority of cases it is likely to be true, but they make no mention of this anywhere. You do not need a licence to plug your TV into the mains. Another myth is that you do not need a licence for your TV, as long as you don't plug it in. Again this isn't true. You can plug it in and use it, as long as you don't use it to receive UK broadcasts. You do not need a licence to own a VCR. Same thing. Owning a VCR does not mean you are necessarily tuning into broadcasts. You do not need a licence to watch VCRs / DVDs / listen to music / play games. The TV-L can not charge you, fine you, arrest you or touch you in any other way for using your TV for these purposes. This is private use of your TV and you do not need a licence for it. In fact you can even watch recordings of UK broadcasts, although whoever supplied you with these recordings is almost certainly in breach of Copyright laws, and if you recorded them yourself then you must have been receiving broadcasts...which is illegal unless you had a licence. How to avoid a fine First of all unplug any ariel your TV may have. Get rid of it, you won't need it if you're not watching TV. Next check all the channels to make sure there is no picture showing or sound playing, not even a vague image. Tune the channel out if necessary. Personally I advise doing this at night, as reception tends to be better at night because the atmosphere behaves differently. If you have anything else that can receive TV signals (VCRs for example) then do the same thing for them. Keep them this way. If you do get a call from the TV-L they will check that your receiving equipment is not receiving anything. If there is an image or sound then you may be liable for a fine. More myths exploded The TV-L have made most of the country believe that they have vans with scanning equipment that can detect when you are watching TV. This dates back as far as the 70s when they bought vans, put impressive looking antenna on top of them and drove them around cities and towns. These vans simply could not detect if you were watching TV, they were designed to frighten people into buying TV licences. Nowadays the technology to detect what you are watching on TV is available but is expensive. The circuitry required to detect the tiny signals leaked by the oscillators in TVs is very complicated and very sensitive, therefore are expensive to produce. For that reason the TV-L have not bought many of these scanners. If you were to believe the hype they produce you would think that every second person on the street works for the TV-L and are carrying one of these hand-held scanners. In fact the chances of them scanning you are tiny. They simply do not have enough scanners to cover the country. They do not have enough scanners to cover one city, never mind all of them. The adverts produced by TV-L suggest that if you are caught watching TV you will be automatically liable to a Ł1000 fine. Again this is not true. First you get a warning. Then you get a smallish fine. If you re-offend then you get a larger fine, and if you re-offend you get another larger fine and so on up to a maximum of Ł1000. And of course in order for them to fine you they have to catch you offending. As I said there are not many scanners in the country at the moment, so the only way they can catch you offending is to gain entry to your house. To gain entry to your house they need one of two things: 1. Your permission. You have to let them in. you can answer the door to them, tell them to "get lost" and close it again and they are powerless to do anything about it. 2. A warrant. In order to get a warrant they need to have evidence that you are offending, otherwise they will not be able to acquire one - but without access to the house or a scanner they will not be able to provide evidence. Please note that I do not condone watching TV without a licence, I merely include this section to try and help people see how many myths there are surrounding TV licensing. A Better Solution The BBC should be a subscription service and there should be no TV licence. It should be free to buy a TV, tune it in to anything that is made available by broadcast and be able to watch it. Why? Because it is in breach of the European Human Rights laws. These laws state that every Human has the right to: "receive and impart information and ideas without interference from a public authority" Ok, so it is open to interpretation I agree. But considering that the licence pays only for BBC 1 and 2, not ITV, Channel 4 or Five, surely the public authorities are interfering with my ability to receive information? More importantly they do not receive money from the licence but I still have to pay a licence to watch it. If the BBC want people to pay to watch their channels then they should scramble the signal and make people pay for a decoder. Alternatively, with everyone moving to cable and satellite these days they should simply use the capabilities that have been in place for years on these "new" technologies which allow them to do all this without reinventing the wheel. Did you know that the majority of "offenders" who have been fined or arrested for using their TVs are female? This is because when the TV-L enforcement officer comes a-knocking on the door it is usually the female of the family who is home. The enforcement officers do not care who takes the blame for the offence, and so it is generally women who get slapped with the fines or sentences. Is that fair? Cancelling Your Licence You can cancel your licence by emailing the TV-L at [tvlcsc@capita.co.uk] Or you can ring and cancel: 0870 241 6468 Remember that students can claim back 3 months of the year for which they have paid by filling in a form. Make sure you request your form! Further Reading ["Do I need a TV Licence if I only watch pre-recorded videos?" mini-FAQ] An excellent resource for information on this topic, I learnt a lot from this website. [TV-L UK] The TV-L website. Don't expect any answers on there though, they purposefully surround TV licensing with lies and myths to force people to buy a licence out of fear. [C.A.L.] The Campaign to Abolish the TV Licence. [Why I Switched Off My TV] As the name suggests ... this is all about why I don't watch TV any more. Last updated 10th of January 2005 at 23:23 For web design go to Shoestring Websites!	\| Home \| --- \| Blog \| \| Serious \| \| Software \| \| Linux \| \| Humour \| \| Tunes \| --- \| Disclaimer \|