As regular readers will know, we frequently browse the internet looking for TV Licensing related articles and trivia. Every day someone has a new take on what the TV licence fee is, what it's for and how it's enforced.
Today we present our fifth instalment in the "Rapid Fire" series of posts, where we endeavour to remove the mystique surrounding TV licence rules and regulations.
In this edition we shall explore some of the Google search terms that have recently driven traffic to our humble little blog.
It was a whole five years ago that we wrote our last Rapid Fire article, which is now a bit outdated. The Quick Guide page, which is regularly updated, also provides the answers to many common TV Licensing questions.
1. What is TV Licensing?
Ans: The BBC is the statutory television licensing authority, legally responsible for all aspects of TV licence administration and enforcement. The BBC performs this role under the brand name of TV Licensing.
Several companies are contracted by the BBC to undertake different TV licence enforcement and administration duties. Capita Business Services Ltd. is the TV Licensing operations contractor, which deals with all customer-facing interaction.
Capita employs the TV Licensing goons that visit unlicensed properties; it employs the Court Presenters that prosecute suspected TV licence evaders in court; it employs the customer services staff that answer telephone calls and email queries; it maintains the TV Licensing website; it processes TV licence payments and refunds.
Other TV Licensing contractors are responsible for marketing, media and printing services.
The BBC retains full legal responsibility for everything done in the name of TV Licensing, but often passes the buck to its hapless contractors. Indeed it is rather convenient for the BBC to play dumb, as it regularly does, when it hears that Capita-employed TV Licensing goons have lied to, assaulted, defrauded or even raped an innocent member of the public - all of which have happened in the past.
2. How can TV Licensing prove if you are using a television?
Ans: With great difficulty is the honest answer, but that's not what the BBC and TV Licensing want people to believe.
Every TV Licensing prosecution boils down to one of two crucial pieces of evidence:
- That a TV Licensing goon claims to have seen or heard TV programmes (or BBC on-demand programmes) being received in an unlicensed property;
- That the occupier of an unlicensed property admits to having received TV programmes (or BBC on-demand programmes) without a valid TV licence.
Whenever a TV Licensing goon visits an unlicensed property they will attempt to interview the occupier under caution and enter their property in an effort to extract this incriminating information.
Their observations are recorded on a document called the TVL178 Record of Interview form, which forms the basis of any subsequent prosecution. The form lists a series of interview questions for the goon to ask the occupier and record their responses verbatim. It should be completed to the highest evidential standards, but it rarely is. We regularly hear about poorly completed forms, ranging from those with omitted information to those that are demonstrably (and maliciously) inaccurate.
A TV Licensing goon will not be able to complete the TVL178 form if the occupier refuses to communicate or engage with them. They are, after all, under no legal obligation at all to assist TV Licensing.
We always recommend that the occupier of an unlicensed property quickly identifies cold callers and immediately closes the door on anyone from TV Licensing (or who refuses to identify who they are).
3. Why won't TV Licensing leave me alone?
Ans: TV Licensing only really recognises two groups of people - those that have a TV licence and those that should have a TV licence so need to be persuaded, under threat of criminal prosecution, into buying one. It does not acknowledge that anyone could possibly survive without the legal need for a TV licence.
No-one is under any legal obligation at all to confirm their no-licence-needed status to TV Licensing. Those that do are either ignored or treated with scorn and suspicion, so it's really not worth the effort.
We recommend that anyone who does not legally need a TV licence ignores TV Licensing entirely. They should place TV Licensing's noxious correspondence straight in the bin where it belongs. In the unlikely event that a TV Licensing goon appears at their door, they should close it immediately - no dialogue is necessary.
4. Can TV Licensing detect people watching online?
Ans: Please see our earlier response to 2 above. The only way TV Licensing can catch someone watching online without a valid TV licence is to either catch them in the act, or dupe them into making an admission.
Contrary to what TV Licensing would have people believe, it cannot snoop on people's wi-fi connections, mobile phone data or access confidential ISP subscriber information. Of course as the paramilitary wing of the BBC, TV Licensing has access to a lot of shitty, third-rate local radio stations to peddle such tripe - and it does so frequently.
As readers may well be aware, a TV licence is now required to watch or download BBC on-demand programmes via the iPlayer. Accessing the iPlayer requires a BBC Account, which requires the viewer to provide both email and physical addresses. In its iPlayer privacy policy, the BBC states that it may use this information to check the TV licence status of iPlayer users. The obvious way around this is to use a brand new disposable email address and the physical address of your favourite electrical retailer when you sign up for a BBC Account.
Even if an unlicensed iPlayer viewer provided their correct address details, it would still not prove TV licence evasion was taking place - they could be accessing it on a laptop from a correctly licensed property, or they could be accessing BBC Radio One (which does not legally require a TV licence).
5. Is a TV licence needed for an empty property?
Ans: No, a TV licence is not needed for an empty property - there is no-one there who can use equipment to receive TV programmes or BBC on-demand programmes via the iPlayer.
6. Can I watch on my laptop or tablet without paying for a TV licence?
Ans: The TV licence of a person's main home address covers them to receive TV programmes on unplugged devices (those powered by their own internal batteries and without an external aerial) anywhere else.
Legally speaking, this option is only available if a person's main home address is covered by a valid TV licence.
This rule is quite handy for students, because it allows them to legally use their unplugged laptop or tablet for receiving TV programmes when they are at university or college, as long as their home address is covered by a valid TV licence.
7. Why is TV Licensing taking double payments from my bank account?
Ans: TV Licensing always takes double payments for the first 6 months whenever a person takes out a new TV licence by monthly Direct Debit.
This means the licence is fully paid within the first 6 months and the seventh payment is actually towards the next years' licence.
It also means that a person paying by monthly Direct Debit is 6 months in credit if they choose to cancel their TV licence a couple of years down the road. They are entitled to a refund in this regard.
Of course TV Licensing, being the opportunistic vultures they are, tend not to volunteer that information.
8. How can I cancel my TV licence?
Ans: Our advice is to tell TV Licensing of your intention to cancel in writing, making sure you retain a copy for your records.
You do not legally need to give a reason for your cancellation, but an organisation as arrogant as TV Licensing will expect one anyway - just say "I do not legally require a TV licence with effect from [date]" in the body of your written cancellation notification. You do not need to prove that you no longer need a TV licence.
Be sure to cancel any Direct Debit payments the moment after you have sent your cancellation notification, because TV Licensing has form for ignoring cancellation notifications and plundering people's bank accounts regardless.
If you are in credit with TV Licensing, you are entitled to a refund. Given TV Licensing's woeful level of customer service, it is a regrettable fact that it will make the refund process as time consuming and difficult as possible.
9. Can you been arrested for having no TV licence?
Ans: No, you can't. TV licence evasion is not an arrestable offence.
10. What alternatives are there to paying for a TV licence?
Ans: Legally speaking, a TV licence is only required for those properties where equipment is used to receive TV programmes (e.g. programmes at their time of broadcast on any TV channel) or BBC on-demand programmes via the iPlayer.
A TV licence is not legally required for watching any non-BBC on-demand services - e.g. ITV Hub, My5, All4, Netflix, Amazon Prime Instant Video, YouTube etc.
Please consult our article Top Alternatives to Paying the TV Licence Fee for more information.
Note that a TV licence would be legally required if you were watching a live streamed TV channel via any platform - e.g. Sky News on YouTube, or a Premier League football match on Amazon Prime.
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1 comment:
When I cancelled my licence in August 2016 they only paid me 3 months back because at the time they gave refunds in quarters. I continued to watch live TV until the end of October. I suspect someone threatened them with court action because they dropped that scam, plus if they had turned up at my gaff before the end of October I would have told them I had a licence until the end of October.
If they paid back in quarters then the licence should be valid until the end of that quarter and not cancelled immeditely.
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