In today's post we respond to an email received from one of our readers.
Lancastrian Craig, a stay at home Dad, was surprised to get a TV Licensing calling card through the door, even though he was at home all day and had no visitors.
Our reader writes:
Dear TV Licensing Blog,
I found your website by total accident, but I'm really glad I did.
My situation is that I live in a ground floor flat with my girlfriend and our 8 month old baby daughter. My girlfriend has a better paid job than I do, so when she returned to work I volunteered to take a career break to look after the baby at home. We get our entertainment from sites like YouTube, so we don't have (or need) a TV licence. In the 2 years since we moved here we have received a TV Licensing letter nearly every month, but no-one has ever visited us.
The other day the TV Licensing man pushed a leaflet through my door saying that he had visited. The strange thing is that I was home all day and never heard anyone ringing the doorbell. Given the urgency of every TV Licensing letter I was really expecting him to hammer on the door, but he must have just pushed the leaflet through and left.
My girlfriend is now really worried that TV Licensing will return, perhaps with the police in tow. Please can you give us a bit of advice?
Craig
TV Licensing Blog replies:
Dear Craig,
Thank you very much for getting in touch with the TV Licensing Blog.
Congratulations on the recent birth of your baby daughter.
It sounds like you're aware of the relevant legislation already, but just to be on the safe side we'll remind you. Your property needs to be covered by a TV licence if you use any equipment there to watch or record TV programmes on any channel or, since 1st September 2016, watch or download on-demand programmes on the BBC iPlayer.
If you don't need a TV licence, which you have said you don't, then there is really no need to be concerned about TV Licensing. You are under no legal obligation to assist TV Licensing at all. Put TV Licensing letters straight in the bin; leave TV Licensing goons out in the cold. Do not waste a minute of your time fretting about the legal authority TV Licensing doesn't have.
As for the TV Licensing goon that visited your property, there is a chance that he/she pushed the calling card straight through without bothering to ring the doorbell. Sometimes the arrival of a calling card is enough to coerce the occupier into buying a TV licence, whether they legally need one or not.
It would also be fair to say that many TV Licensing goons lack backbone and stamina, so quietly pushing a leaflet through the door is the easiest option for them. TV Licensing also uses G4S for the bulk delivery of calling cards.
For more information, please download our free ebook TV Licensing Laid Bare.
Best wishes
Peter
If you have any questions you would like answered on the TV Licensing Blog, please email us with the words "Reader Letter" in the subject line. Our email address is in the sidebar. As mentioned on the About page, we can't guarantee to respond to every email but will try our best.
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At last count, TVL had a grand total of 327 goons to cover the entire United Kingdom, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. They are likely to rely more and more on computer-generated letters and pretend visits.
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