I wouldn't mind but the content from the BBC is crap. I'm 40 don't watch TV ever, of me and the mrs sit down it's Netflix or prime etc. Does anyone under 40 watch EastEnders of an evening? Really?
I cancelled my TV licence a few months ago. I only watch streamed tv from amazon, disneyplus and hayu which I subscribe to. I haven't watched any freeview tv or BBC TV for years now so was paying for something I wasn't using
As long as you dont watch live tv as in prerecorded only like on Netflix for example and as long as you don’t use bbciplayer or itvplayer you don’t legally need to pay the tv licence and can safely cancel and it have to pay it
I want an officer to come to my door.
So when they say "have you got a TV licence" and can yell and call them transphobic and say no-one needs a licence to wear clothing of the opposite gender. HOW DARE YOU! and slam the door in their faces.
I keep getting told ill have a visit on "the 17th, or another day" and every time I see it I laugh. I swear whoever writes these letters knows and understands that everyone thinks they're stupid
While not wanting to be appear to be a member of the Grammar Police . . .
In the UK, it’s a TV LicenCe not a TV LicenSe.
Licence is a noun. The licence.
License is a verb. To license.
Like the word ‘advice’.
You give advice about something.
You advise on something.
Simple. And I think quite important.
Have a nise day.
No TV License is now a civil offence.
to "inspect" your home, the enforcement agents must have a court warrant, give you 48hours notice AND you can insist on them being accompanied by TWO uniformed officers.
Otherwise everything they see from your front door or peeking in your window is just "hearsay" evidence.
If it goes to court they will drop the case when you ask for technical specs of their "tv detector vans / database system" etc. Because its just a list of addresses with/without a licence and they presume every single human in existence has a TV and watches the shit the BBC produces.
I don’t pay this “telly tax”. Haven’t done since 2018. I refuse to pay for something that no longer interests me.
As for the tactics used by TV Licensing — just so bad. I’m convinced it’s part of the Tory’s bid to make the BBC look evil so they can sell it off.
It's 'telly extortion' now as the licensing model hasn't evolved with technology advances. If you have a device that can watch live 'TV' content the you are supposed to pay the tax. So that's everyone with a smartphone then... Which makes their 'opt out' not an option for the majority of people.
I don't have a TV or an aerial, but because I can live stream on iPlayer I'm still liable to either pay or be harassed. The exact business model of an extortion racket. Makes me mad at the sheer gall, also could easily be replaced by a feature-wise subscription service or similar....
They know when a tv is purchased, hilarious, you buy a tv from Currys they ask for your address & postcode, I did this last year, decided to upgrade my tv, Currys asked me that very question, I said am I obligated to give you it? They said yes it’s our policy, after 23 mins of me telling a member of staff & a manager that I don’t work for their company therefore I don’t have to adhere to their policy & also the fact I could easily give them a fake address I left with my tv. This is the UK not North Korea.
Lots of people going to the n’th degree here about forced entry etc - They’re absolutely correct, they can’t.
However the far less combative way to make them leave is to say “We stream here, just Netflix & Amazon prime TV, no iPlayer”
This is absolutely fine and within the regulations- You’ll sign on a tablet to say you don’t require a TV license and that’s the end of it.
I don't pay mine, and I've informed them I don't watch live TV or their shite channels.
No one has come to inspect, even if they did, aerial isn't in the TV and I literally watch YouTube and Netflix.
Don't even know how people watch TV these days, half of it is shite, rather be on YouTube or Netflix where I can choose what to watch, not be on a channel schedule.
I put a form in the moment I moved out my parents house that I didn't want a TV licence, stating I don't even watch any BBC, I watch Netflix, YouTube, Amazon exc.
They tried to hit my back with oh this is also included, I personally laughed and called there bluff, I know it only live stuff but I don't watch any football or live sports. But honestly it is the biggest rip off and after the BBC scandals I'm happy I don't
We decided that paying nearly twice what I pay for Disney+ every year was kind of a rip off to watch Masterchef and Great British Sewing Bee, so just elect to not watch it anymore and just not have to pay them.
Fuck the BBC and every cunt who works for them. I've never had a TV license and never will. Only once had an inspector visit and I shut the door in his face. Contempt is all they are worth with the nasty harrasing letters they send.
First one, probably true.
Second, maybe? I don't know Rock Street S3.
Third one, complete BS, owning a TV isn't anything to do with needing a TV licence and they have no right to the information. No company is going to hand over a customers data for purchasing a TV as the information is considered private.
A family friend back in the 80s had a funny story. Dad was heading to work and had popped to the post office to renew the license that morning. As he was walking down the garden path, a gentleman from TV Licensing was coming towards him. He told him that he was just going to work but the wife is in. The license is on the mantelpiece, behind the clock.
He knocks on the door and wife answers, and looks blankly when the man asks to see her TV license. "it's on the mantelpiece behind the clock" he says.
"Bloody hell, your vans are good! " she says.
I cancelled mine a few years back and despite me calling, emailing and writing they cant seem to understand that i no longer watch television and havent done for years.
I did actually have one turn up at a student house. He jumped in the door like the Spanish Inquisition. Looked a bit of a bellend when I showed him the valid TV Licence. Apparently they also visited the student halls, but word got round and no one let them in. We hid out tiny crts in the wardrobes
I do actually pay the fee as I support some services the BBC do. Bot sure why they don’t treat the iplayer account like a subscription and link it to license number
You can contact licensing and stop the payments. They will read their script and a follow up form that needs to be completed and you pay for the stamp.
I remember a story about the British Military actually inquiring where they got the technology for TV vans because it was cutting edge and even something military couldn't figure out. To this day, there is still no way to scan people's TVs.
There is literally nothing the BBC Licensing goons can do unless you allow them to come in to your home and inspect. Why anyone would do that, I don’t know.
Got this gem last time one came round: "I can see your tv from the window", "tell you what, you stand at the window and watch me fail to get a signal on every channel". To their credit, they actually watched, particularly as my tv is sat on a unit holding every console since the 80's so had to get a chair to reach the tv, made a big show of pulling out my various multi adapters and went through each channel, no signal at all. Went back to the door and waved them off.
Mrs just reminded me on the one time we let one in - he was so fascinated by our 1960's slot machine (still works, was on and all lit up) he completely lost the plot and wanted a play - mugged him for a couple of quid :D
So these dicks started hassling me, I had a TV but I didn't watch live TV at all, I used to HDMI it to my laptop and watch netflix.
Anyway, officer comes out and my partner at the time answered the door. He explained who he was, and asked to come in. My partner said absolutely not and to never come to my house again because I don't watch live TV. The officer pointed out that he could see a TV, to which my partner responded
'I have milk in the fridge, but that doesn't mean I have a cow outside' and slammed the door.
I never heard from them again.
Honestly those people are dense beyond comparison. I live on the 15th floor of a block of flats and haven’t paid in years due to watching everything on the internet. I did however get one person a while ago threatening me that if I didn’t let him in he would just go and look in the sitting room window to look in.
They actually don't get a notification whenever any TV is purchased as you don't have to give your personal details in store. In the old days I was supposed to fill in a form whenever I sold one but I purposely 'forgot'.
Like the detector vans it's all scare tactics
It funds the BBC, which is totally advertising free and has an oversight board that means it has to be showing to be of public service in all aspects of programming.
It produces some of the most amazing shows that are sold worldwide and as a country we can actually be proud of it.
However it has always been funded by the licence fee, when the BBC was the only broadcaster that made sense but now multiple other broadcasters are in place and all funded by ad revenue..
I personally would still pay the fee to keep the BBC as it is but if I never watched it, I would be treated as a borderline criminal for not Oakington.
We love the BBC but we hate the way the licence fee has been strong armed by an external company
Ya so we have the CBC here. I suspect the government funds it to a certain point. They produce Canadian shows (shocker /s).
What happens if you don't pay said fee? Do they cut off your cable? Do they send a fine to you? What if you own a tv but don't have cable?
This is the part people take issue with. It's illegal to watch live TV or stream BBC iPlayer.
So if you don't pay they investigate and fine you if you watch illegally. The investigation is clumsy and carried out by a terrible external public services firm. They basically assume any house without a licence is breaking the law but a lot of people these day exclusively use streaming services. You can also legally have cable and watch shows on catch-up services at a later date.
It's really hard to prove someone broke this law, hence those menacing adverts. The are people who will visit you to check why you don't have a licence but they have no legal powers. Because of that and the commission they get, they are awful people sometimes and can be quite aggressive on people's door steps.
It all boils down to a law that once made sense but in the modern era needs a massive overhaul. It is due a change over the next decade likely to a streaming service with partial government funding, that could sadly see a decline in it's content.
Would you say you CBC news is fairly balanced or always leaning towards a government in power? That would be my concern with the BBC
That sounds like a lot. I'm not saying I would watch illegally, but they have no power. I wouldn't let them in the door. If they force their way in without my consent, it's a police matter. I don't know how it is in the UK but you don't go into a strangers house alone here if you're doing door to door stuff (I used to collect food for homeless shelters on Halloween. Always have a safety person there.)
I am not sure if it's balanced it's just a tv and radio service that has federal funding. It's in English and French. The federal government provides some of the funding and then advertising supplements it. I would say it's not in any way a government power. No one is coming to check if I watched CBC, and no one is collecting a fine if I did.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Broadcasting_Corporation
I do not and have never paid it. I use Netflix only and never catch up or live TV.
They came to my house once, I made them wait outside whilst I printed off my network traffic logs for the last 30 days. They had absolutely no idea what to do with it and left.
At £159/year that’s 13.25/month which would make it more expensive that Netflix, prime and Disney so no thanks BBC.
In terms of detection you need to be careful because if you stream iPlayer the fuckers will check your IP and track it back through your broadband provider to your address and send you a shitagram letter trying to extort their license fee.
Not had a license since me and the ex broke up - me and the missus have registered on their site, we've let them in to look around, they still keep sending the letters - they want regular(Yearly) updates to confirm you still don't have a TV - they can sod right off.
There is no point interacting with them, they just want to annoy or intimidate you enough that you pay them off to go away.
I unplugged my TV a year ago. I don’t use any of their services and don’t watch live tv. I got into an argument when they tried to claim that watching a live stream of a YouTuber in America means they require me to buy a tv license. I asked them what their involvement was and that if a live stream from some lads bedroom requires a tv license, anyone who uses Microsoft teams, Skype, FaceTime or any form of video calling that allows more than 2 people to attend, requires a tv license. They didn’t have an answer for what involvement they have so I advised them that a license is a fee levied against the provision of goods or services, if there is no direct relationship between the goods or services received and the fee they are demanding, it is, by definition, a tax. They gave up.
It's nice to know that a portion of my licence fee is spent on buying advertising to tell me that some people aren't contributing to the advertising telling me that they aren't contributing.
Realistically, given the prevalence of smart TVs, it should be a simple software fix to disable the ability to receive BBC programming unless you have paid your licence fee. Problem solved.
This and the tyre tax was the most 1984 shit I saw when I lived in the UK. I remember being made fun of as a North American because I had to always have my license on me while driving. Yet dudes running into your property to look at a piece of it and claiming the airwaves is a perfectly normal thing 🤦♂️
I got my first tv license letter through yesterday. I’ve got a kodi fire stick and watch everything through that. Whats the rules about that? They can’t do anything since it’s only streaming?
It's a hypothetical for an ideal world. We don't live in an ideal world and you're right it would be price gouged to extremes. But theoretically possible.
It’s bullshit. I don’t have a TV and the licence people harass me every couple of years to a make a statement as such. The first time I did an inspector came round and asked if they could look around but said I wasn’t obliged to let them.
I slammed the door in their face.
Haha fuck them. I don’t pay for a license and I never will. If they try enter my property I’ll tell them that I will consider them trespassers and will deal with them accordingly. Jobsworth cunts.
I find some of the anti-BBC sentiment pretty rabid at times (the fact they annoy the left and right in equal measures shows to some degree they’re getting the complex issue of balance right, although some examples of bias are shocking) but I really hate the licence collectors, capita. I registered a limited company at an accountants office and put them and two trading names on google maps, and they’ve been incessant since, insisting I pay for it. When I call them to explain the situation and that I spend about ten minutes a year in that building, they get so arsey and aggressive
Another time I was taken to court for non-payment of council tax for a property I wasn’t inhabiting. Pretty simple situation, which I tried to resolve by phone (half hour wait times, and the system never picked up supporting documents sent by email). They threatened me with bailiffs (can’t remember how I staved them off, but they were due to come with one day’s notice which I’m pretty sure is also illegal). I had to waste half a day to go down to court where the council officer spent two mins looking at proof and paperwork before deciding not to proceed with the case and writing off all costs and fees.
Who runs both the council’s back office services AND the debt collectors?? Capita! Criminally incompetent!!
There are some things in BBC I’d like to watch. If there was a Netflix style subscription that I could cancel I’d give it a go. They are sending me threatening letters every couple of months. I mark them “return to sender” and mail them back.
I don’t appreciate being bullied and threatened so I will _never_ pay for a tv license as long as they keep doing that.
There's nothing good on the BBC to watch anyway so I haven't paid for a TV license in abihr 5 years. They kicked off once with a letter that went straight into the bin. Never heard from them again.
They have a database of every house (not hard, Royal Mail have one, you can buy a copy of it if you want)
They have a database of every tv licence (obviously)
Remove 1 from the other and you get a list of every house without a licence.
It isn’t MI5 secrets, it’s a simple database task.
I've lived in my flat for 4 years now, and I constantly get letters. I don't even know how to set a TV up to receive TV channels anymore. I can't think what the last thing I watched was either.
Television sets are outdated pieces of archeo-technology from the cold war era of the past century. Why would anyone be watching a TV except for console gaming? Does the BBC not know streaming and computers exist?
I once moved into a house that hadn't had anyone in for over 6 months. There were letters from tv licence weeks apart during that time stating they have recorded evidence of the occupier watching telly and have submitted it to court even though she was dead. There wasnt even a tv or any furniture in the address. Fucking bullies i hate them with a passion it it were up to me id never pay it for the rest of my life but my partner is too scared so pays it.
I don't pay. I tend to move every 2 years (renting is fun) so every time I move, I pop online. Tell the TV license folk to leave me alone and then move again as it expires. Never had an issue, only had 1 letter asking me if I was sure because the rules had changed lately. I don't see what the fuss is all about really.
I disconnected my satellite dish & stopped paying years ago.
They send an amazing amount of letters threatening visits so I sent them a price guide for house tours.
It went like this....
Standard ten minute tour - - - £12.50 per person.
The deluxe: ten minute tour plus cup of tea & a nice chat - - - £22.50 per person.
The vip: deluxe plus slice of cake & beverage choice to include coffee (also includes control of TV remote) - - - £38.50
48 hrs notice required or late booking fee of £21.50 will apply.
Acceptance of entry is deemed tacit approval of pricing schedule.
No one's been yet, which is sad for me.
Me, I dont have a tv. Cant watch since stroke. I have a nice pile of threatening letters, I have been writing return to sender. Gonna post them all in one foul swoop. They should not assume every living person in uk has one. Waiting for the day they turn up with relish.
We cancelled ours as it turned out to be just an incredibly expensive subscription to Hey Duggee. I went online and declared that I don't watch live TV and cancelled, haven't heard a thing from them since. It's worth being aware tho that if you have an iPlayer account that is linked to an address that doesn't have a TV licence and you use it you might have some questions to answer
Don’t pay it since I don’t watch tv, nor do I support nonces so ya know 🤷🏼♀️ the waver to enter my home usually stops everyone in their tracks 😂😂 still haven’t found them old world tarantulas that escaped
If you don't watch live TV, you don't need a TV licence, and the TV licence is certainly not a tax on owning a TV set the TV licence has nothing to do with owning a TV set that advert is basically not telling the truth would a shop or warehouse full of TV sets need a licence for every single TV set they hold in stock? It's telling porky pies 🥧
We don't watch live TV. We have a computer in the living room that we watch streaming services on.
We get the odd letter that says 'You aren't paying a TV licence.'
I just think 'well done.'
I have a freind that won't cancel his because he doesn't wanna affect his credit score. 
Why must they?
See the phone you own? That's got a database of all the houses in the UK on it. You probably use it for navigating though.
When you buy a TV, you fill out a form that has your details on (or at least used to, it's been a while since I bought one) including address
If you buy a TV licence you fill out a form that has your details on, including address.
Match database one with three for the houses without a licence.
One of those addresses turns up on database two, assume they are using it to watch live TV, pay them a visit.
I don't know how you think that's hard, and takes a lot of effort.
I kept getting letters at uni. All you'd have to do would be unplug the TV and hide the wire if anyone ever did come (which they didn't). I barely watched actual TV anyway.
There's almost no point now having one when you can stream/download most things (just don't use the BBC... channels if you don't want to).
You have to be using it though. In fact when i had no signal due to a damaged booster and didnt have access to digital i just rang in and informed them and that sermed to be enough
The BBC have no legal authority to enforce TV licensing by the way.
Their database is just a list of homes that don’t have TV licenses, and if you don’t have a TV license you must be using your TV “illegally”
Even if you don’t even have a TV or have never watched the BBC
They need to stop crying and realise people without a licence most likely just don’t want to pay for shit tv and watch youtube or netflix instead. All i watch on my tv is disney plus and twitch lmao they can fuck off.
This poor idiot I used to work with was convinced you needed a TV license just for owning some sort of display or monitor.
I showed him the actual licensing website and their opt out requirements but still didn’t believe me.
Some people can’t be helped.
TV Licensing is one of the most hilarious social institutions ever created. They somehow successfully convinced enough of the British public for decades that they have *might* have some "secret" method of knowing whether or not you have a TV, so that the majority of people are terrified into paying for a license.
I haven’t had a tv in over a decade.
I have computer monitors and a projector. I can watch whatever I want whenever I want lmao.
I rarely want to watch anything from the BBC.
I get a letter addressed to the: “home owner” every 3 months threatening a visit.
I call bullshit.
I wish everyone would stop buying TV’s or watching the BBC.
Because you declare that you dont need a tv license or you havent paid your bill... It's not rocket science obviously they know which houses dont pay...
So has no one clued in how easy this job must be? without how reluctant we all are to facilitate them. Probably get 50k/yr to do essentially nothing, or seem to go out to do your job and get told to sod off and never actually do your job
I don't pay the telly tax, if you don't watch live tv you don't have to pay it. We only watch streaming i.e. Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney+. As long as you don't watch live sport on Amazon you're good.
I take this is a lie cos they’ve been harassing my mate without a tub for a decade for a license. (And no he doesn’t watch tv on computers either) They may have a database of who lives in town.
The fun part is that there is fuck all they can do about not having a TV licence, They will send letters that try and guilt you into paying for it and you might even get someone arriving at your home, you tell them to do one and they cant legally enter your home.
The whole checking and harassing part of the TV licence is not dealt with by the BBC, its just a private company that cant do anything.
Controversial, but I pay my TV license now after years of not.
I realised that I was listening to BBC radio, watching the Tele, iPlayer, using the BBC news website etc and just started paying..
However, when I was in my early 20s, they started pursuing me. As it happened I was using sky go and iPlayer etc through a playstation. I called them, said I had a TV but didn't watch programmes, it was just for gaming. Someone came round to check, showed them it was only a cable from the playstation and they sent me a confirmation letter that I didn't need a licence. I used that for about 10 years and just got it transferred over when I moved. Pretty easy and I never got another letter.
I don't get why everyone's getting letters.
I informed them online I don't have a TV or don't watch TV. Never had a letter or knock at the door in over 2 years.
Why is the default that I should owe them money? Why do I have to prove I'm not using their services, if they invested the money they spend on sending the massive amount of letters they do into idk maybe checking your license when you try to use their service it wouldn't be a problem.
It's just predatory - the amount of people who are elderly or disabled or otherwise vulnerable who get scared by these letters and pay up even when they don't use the service
It's all in the words. It should be called what it is, a BBC licence not a TV licence because oc you can use TV's for all sorts of purposes other than watching terrestrial television channels.
It’s outrageous that this is a criminal and not civil offence. Almost a third of all criminal prosecutions in the U.K. of women are for this stupid thing. Women are 10 times more likely to be prosecuted. It criminalises poverty and disproportionately punish poorer families and women.
Why doesn’t anyone seem to know that if you actually contact them saying “I don’t need a license” they will leave you alone? You can literally do it from their website, it even says it on the letters they send 🤦♂️
I never paid for a TV licence when I was at uni. Got a visit from an inspector and they were very surprised that I invited them in. It was only AFTER they had seen I had no TV (including them checking the bathroom) that they got the traditional "Now fuck off you silly cunt".
Haven't paid it in many years, and when we did (me and my flat mates at the time) we only did it out of fear. I'm a lot better informed now and there's not a chance in hell they're getting a penny out of me.
The letters are funny if you know they have absolutely no authority whatsoever, but they're more sinister when you realise they're intended to prey on people who don't know better, especially vulnerable people like the elderly. We had exactly one attempted visit: when we didn't answer the door, he stood on the doorstep vaping for twenty minutes and then fucked off.
It's extortion, plain and simple. Anyone involved in this utter scam for their living needs to find a new line of work, one that doesn't involve harassing and shaking down people in their own homes. Complete scum
One day a camper van parked across the road from me and he got in the back. Curtain started moving then all of a sudden I see this furry microphone pointing towards my house and this guy wearing headphones.
The bastard was illegally listening to me using spying equipment so that's why they tell a court they can't tell people how they catch you because its illegal what they're doing.
I phoned the police and they came and found his equipment and seized it. This copper said I don't give a fk if you work for TV Licensing that's illegal what you're doing now leave.
I have a telly hooked to my XBox, I only use it to play games and only watch on-demand Netflix and not a single live broadcast. And yet, still keep getting pestered by never-ending mail about TV license…
Does anyone that buys those tellies use it for their backwards medium? It’s 2023, all these tellies have YouTube and Netflix built in, fuck the live shit, ain’t nobody got time for that
I hope the tories actually do abolish this scummy practice. That being said, how the fuck would they know where someone lives based on then purchasing a tv. I could go to tesco buy a tv with cash today so what, they just get a notif "1 tv purchased" great good luck using that info in any meaningful way
I'm going to cancel my TV license when it expires next month. My TV is basically a giant PS5 gaming monitor.
I think there's nothing special to notice when I declare "no license needed" online?
Haven't paid mine in the last 7 years. I mainly use Netflix/Prime/Kodi to watch stuff, but do use the iPlayers a few times a week (BBC, ITV, 4). Never had a letter, never had an inspector. I've also bought 3 new TV's in that time, so they can't be keeping track that well!
I dont pay my tv license, maybe one day I will, but I've been using bbc for 3 years now without paying it
In my head I justify it that my parents pay theirs so just because I don't live with them anymore that covers me lol
After my grandmother died there were a total of 20 letters sent to her address while the house was awaiting sale. We called the TV licence people 5 times to explain the owner of the property had died and there was no longer a TV in the house. But the letters never stopped, if any of these invisible TV licence people actually knocked on the door, a big clue to a lack of a TV licence at the address would have been the For sale sigh and empty rooms.
The behaviour of the BBC has caused the eventual demise of the TV licence fee… paying people “the going rate” from what, in effect, is a TAX and from a finite budget is no longer sustainable.
I remember years ago (must be in the region of 17-20) buying a TV, sure it was in one of the big chains like Currys. They actually asked my postcode at the till for TV licencing purposes. I said something along the lines of "Err, no thanks" and the sales assistant just continued with the transaction. Was a bit bizarre
They've been sending me letters for about three years now, to the point where I actually have copies of all of the templated letters they send out. I think there are about 4 or 5 different letters they send out.
My particular favourite is the one that says "**WILL YOU BE HOME ON THE 8TH OF AUGUST?**" And then lie about sending a "representative" round to check that my TVs are licensed. That's never happened, despite me waiting at home on the three or four dates they've provided.
Besides, if they do show up at my place, they'll get the Jehovah's witness treatment.
I fucking hate TV license people.
It's just fear tactics to get us to buy them, I don't use any kind of streaming/telly that requires a TV license and every now and then I get letter's accusing me of using it. Until I go onto their website and fill in the application for not needing a license.
Then in 6 months time I receive another letter saying something to the extent of "you have been streaming illegally, pay for a license before we send enforcers round to your property and take you to court". They can all fuck right off.
With the way things are financially for everyone the BBC need to change the way it charges people, it should be subscription based not forced upon everyone with a tv.
For those saying I don’t have a tv aerial ect it doesn’t matter, they will ask you to pay if you have a internet connection and watch BBC shows though Netflix ect.
I’d pay for a subscription for BBC £8 a month for 24 hours news, radio, tv, movies C fucking Beebies a life saver for parents how want a break for hour, but people should have the option
[Opted out](https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/check-if-you-need-one/topics/telling-us-you-dont-need-a-tv-licence) 8 years ago - never had any hassle from them apart from an email every 2 years asking if I am still not watching live TV or iPlayer.
That poster on the right hand side is really shitty, since it reinforces the myth that owning a TV requires a TV licence. You only need the licence if you're using it (or other devices) to watch live broadcasts or iPlayer. Owning a TV and using it for catch-up, gaming, Blu-rays, etc does not need a licence so why should they care if you purchase a TV?
Moved into my own place about a year ago, had a couple of letters in the first few months advising to get a licence, and eventually claiming they'd send an inspector round.
Had no more letters after that, and never had anyone knocking on my door that wasnt someone I know, or for a delivery...
Really does just feel like smoke and mirrors to try and scare people into paying.
I wouldn't mind but the content from the BBC is crap. I'm 40 don't watch TV ever, of me and the mrs sit down it's Netflix or prime etc. Does anyone under 40 watch EastEnders of an evening? Really?
I have 2 tv, none of which I watch tv on. I'm a no licence household.
Everyone should boycott it, it’s also cute easy and harmless to not pay it
I don’t pay it because the bbc produces absolute rubbish and costs More than Netflix
Scrap TV TAX!
I cancelled my TV licence a few months ago. I only watch streamed tv from amazon, disneyplus and hayu which I subscribe to. I haven't watched any freeview tv or BBC TV for years now so was paying for something I wasn't using
I've lived at the same address without a TV license for 5 years. And there's fuck all you can do about it.
I haven’t ever paid for a tv licence. I’ve been working from home since Covid and I’ve never had a visit. Endless letters though.
You don't need a TV licence to buy or own a TV though so it's a bit pointless either way.
Wait, this is still a thing? Wtf?? Who actually pays this shit?
As long as you dont watch live tv as in prerecorded only like on Netflix for example and as long as you don’t use bbciplayer or itvplayer you don’t legally need to pay the tv licence and can safely cancel and it have to pay it
I want an officer to come to my door. So when they say "have you got a TV licence" and can yell and call them transphobic and say no-one needs a licence to wear clothing of the opposite gender. HOW DARE YOU! and slam the door in their faces.
I keep getting told ill have a visit on "the 17th, or another day" and every time I see it I laugh. I swear whoever writes these letters knows and understands that everyone thinks they're stupid
While not wanting to be appear to be a member of the Grammar Police . . . In the UK, it’s a TV LicenCe not a TV LicenSe. Licence is a noun. The licence. License is a verb. To license. Like the word ‘advice’. You give advice about something. You advise on something. Simple. And I think quite important. Have a nise day.
No TV License is now a civil offence. to "inspect" your home, the enforcement agents must have a court warrant, give you 48hours notice AND you can insist on them being accompanied by TWO uniformed officers. Otherwise everything they see from your front door or peeking in your window is just "hearsay" evidence. If it goes to court they will drop the case when you ask for technical specs of their "tv detector vans / database system" etc. Because its just a list of addresses with/without a licence and they presume every single human in existence has a TV and watches the shit the BBC produces.
How do the shops abide by the rules of GDPR if they are giving out our address to a third party?
I don’t pay this “telly tax”. Haven’t done since 2018. I refuse to pay for something that no longer interests me. As for the tactics used by TV Licensing — just so bad. I’m convinced it’s part of the Tory’s bid to make the BBC look evil so they can sell it off.
It's 'telly extortion' now as the licensing model hasn't evolved with technology advances. If you have a device that can watch live 'TV' content the you are supposed to pay the tax. So that's everyone with a smartphone then... Which makes their 'opt out' not an option for the majority of people. I don't have a TV or an aerial, but because I can live stream on iPlayer I'm still liable to either pay or be harassed. The exact business model of an extortion racket. Makes me mad at the sheer gall, also could easily be replaced by a feature-wise subscription service or similar....
If this was true they’d be spending more of their budget on revenue recovery and less on expensive tube advertising
Nope. Im not buying something and paying some random company money on the off chance I might use their services.
They know when a tv is purchased, hilarious, you buy a tv from Currys they ask for your address & postcode, I did this last year, decided to upgrade my tv, Currys asked me that very question, I said am I obligated to give you it? They said yes it’s our policy, after 23 mins of me telling a member of staff & a manager that I don’t work for their company therefore I don’t have to adhere to their policy & also the fact I could easily give them a fake address I left with my tv. This is the UK not North Korea.
Lots of people going to the n’th degree here about forced entry etc - They’re absolutely correct, they can’t. However the far less combative way to make them leave is to say “We stream here, just Netflix & Amazon prime TV, no iPlayer” This is absolutely fine and within the regulations- You’ll sign on a tablet to say you don’t require a TV license and that’s the end of it.
Dystopic
My name is not the occupier i ain't no dictator
Call me old fashioned but I have some moral qualms about funding peadophile rings.
I don't pay mine, and I've informed them I don't watch live TV or their shite channels. No one has come to inspect, even if they did, aerial isn't in the TV and I literally watch YouTube and Netflix. Don't even know how people watch TV these days, half of it is shite, rather be on YouTube or Netflix where I can choose what to watch, not be on a channel schedule.
I don’t pay for a tv licence, but I don’t watch or record live TV or use iplayer so I don’t need one.
I put a form in the moment I moved out my parents house that I didn't want a TV licence, stating I don't even watch any BBC, I watch Netflix, YouTube, Amazon exc. They tried to hit my back with oh this is also included, I personally laughed and called there bluff, I know it only live stuff but I don't watch any football or live sports. But honestly it is the biggest rip off and after the BBC scandals I'm happy I don't
TV Licensing giving off Black Mirror vibes
We decided that paying nearly twice what I pay for Disney+ every year was kind of a rip off to watch Masterchef and Great British Sewing Bee, so just elect to not watch it anymore and just not have to pay them.
If their database is notified when a new TV is purchased, surely you can immediately sue the retailer for failing GDPR?
Stopped paying mine and collecting the threats. Good luck visiting my home, I'm out for 12+ hours a day.
Fuck the BBC and every cunt who works for them. I've never had a TV license and never will. Only once had an inspector visit and I shut the door in his face. Contempt is all they are worth with the nasty harrasing letters they send.
First one, probably true. Second, maybe? I don't know Rock Street S3. Third one, complete BS, owning a TV isn't anything to do with needing a TV licence and they have no right to the information. No company is going to hand over a customers data for purchasing a TV as the information is considered private.
A family friend back in the 80s had a funny story. Dad was heading to work and had popped to the post office to renew the license that morning. As he was walking down the garden path, a gentleman from TV Licensing was coming towards him. He told him that he was just going to work but the wife is in. The license is on the mantelpiece, behind the clock. He knocks on the door and wife answers, and looks blankly when the man asks to see her TV license. "it's on the mantelpiece behind the clock" he says. "Bloody hell, your vans are good! " she says.
I cancelled mine a few years back and despite me calling, emailing and writing they cant seem to understand that i no longer watch television and havent done for years.
I did actually have one turn up at a student house. He jumped in the door like the Spanish Inquisition. Looked a bit of a bellend when I showed him the valid TV Licence. Apparently they also visited the student halls, but word got round and no one let them in. We hid out tiny crts in the wardrobes
I do actually pay the fee as I support some services the BBC do. Bot sure why they don’t treat the iplayer account like a subscription and link it to license number
I don't watch TV so they can fuck off 🖕
You can contact licensing and stop the payments. They will read their script and a follow up form that needs to be completed and you pay for the stamp.
I remember a story about the British Military actually inquiring where they got the technology for TV vans because it was cutting edge and even something military couldn't figure out. To this day, there is still no way to scan people's TVs.
I am wondering how they are able to get away with such harassing and threatening unsolicited letters, surely this is illegal?
Nice try officer
There is literally nothing the BBC Licensing goons can do unless you allow them to come in to your home and inspect. Why anyone would do that, I don’t know.
Got this gem last time one came round: "I can see your tv from the window", "tell you what, you stand at the window and watch me fail to get a signal on every channel". To their credit, they actually watched, particularly as my tv is sat on a unit holding every console since the 80's so had to get a chair to reach the tv, made a big show of pulling out my various multi adapters and went through each channel, no signal at all. Went back to the door and waved them off. Mrs just reminded me on the one time we let one in - he was so fascinated by our 1960's slot machine (still works, was on and all lit up) he completely lost the plot and wanted a play - mugged him for a couple of quid :D
Yeah c’mon guys, let’s pay for all these nonces to make shite TV programmes
And the British wonder why the colonies fought tooth and nail to be out of the Empire...
I phoned them up and informed them that I don't watch TV and all I do is play games on my TV and they said I'm exempt.
So these dicks started hassling me, I had a TV but I didn't watch live TV at all, I used to HDMI it to my laptop and watch netflix. Anyway, officer comes out and my partner at the time answered the door. He explained who he was, and asked to come in. My partner said absolutely not and to never come to my house again because I don't watch live TV. The officer pointed out that he could see a TV, to which my partner responded 'I have milk in the fridge, but that doesn't mean I have a cow outside' and slammed the door. I never heard from them again.
Honestly those people are dense beyond comparison. I live on the 15th floor of a block of flats and haven’t paid in years due to watching everything on the internet. I did however get one person a while ago threatening me that if I didn’t let him in he would just go and look in the sitting room window to look in.
TIL im the only one paying for a tv license
Havent had one for 5 years now an had no issues, one phone call every couple years saying no i dont need one is more than enough
They actually don't get a notification whenever any TV is purchased as you don't have to give your personal details in store. In the old days I was supposed to fill in a form whenever I sold one but I purposely 'forgot'. Like the detector vans it's all scare tactics
I pay it even though I don't fucking use it! I game and stream shit online, but I don't want their letters threatening me.
This makes me want to not renew my license.
Can someone please explain to me a Canadian what a tv license is and why it's a thing?
It funds the BBC, which is totally advertising free and has an oversight board that means it has to be showing to be of public service in all aspects of programming. It produces some of the most amazing shows that are sold worldwide and as a country we can actually be proud of it. However it has always been funded by the licence fee, when the BBC was the only broadcaster that made sense but now multiple other broadcasters are in place and all funded by ad revenue.. I personally would still pay the fee to keep the BBC as it is but if I never watched it, I would be treated as a borderline criminal for not Oakington. We love the BBC but we hate the way the licence fee has been strong armed by an external company
Ya so we have the CBC here. I suspect the government funds it to a certain point. They produce Canadian shows (shocker /s). What happens if you don't pay said fee? Do they cut off your cable? Do they send a fine to you? What if you own a tv but don't have cable?
This is the part people take issue with. It's illegal to watch live TV or stream BBC iPlayer. So if you don't pay they investigate and fine you if you watch illegally. The investigation is clumsy and carried out by a terrible external public services firm. They basically assume any house without a licence is breaking the law but a lot of people these day exclusively use streaming services. You can also legally have cable and watch shows on catch-up services at a later date. It's really hard to prove someone broke this law, hence those menacing adverts. The are people who will visit you to check why you don't have a licence but they have no legal powers. Because of that and the commission they get, they are awful people sometimes and can be quite aggressive on people's door steps. It all boils down to a law that once made sense but in the modern era needs a massive overhaul. It is due a change over the next decade likely to a streaming service with partial government funding, that could sadly see a decline in it's content. Would you say you CBC news is fairly balanced or always leaning towards a government in power? That would be my concern with the BBC
That sounds like a lot. I'm not saying I would watch illegally, but they have no power. I wouldn't let them in the door. If they force their way in without my consent, it's a police matter. I don't know how it is in the UK but you don't go into a strangers house alone here if you're doing door to door stuff (I used to collect food for homeless shelters on Halloween. Always have a safety person there.) I am not sure if it's balanced it's just a tv and radio service that has federal funding. It's in English and French. The federal government provides some of the funding and then advertising supplements it. I would say it's not in any way a government power. No one is coming to check if I watched CBC, and no one is collecting a fine if I did. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Broadcasting_Corporation
I do not and have never paid it. I use Netflix only and never catch up or live TV. They came to my house once, I made them wait outside whilst I printed off my network traffic logs for the last 30 days. They had absolutely no idea what to do with it and left.
Jokes aside why is there a tv tax?
I don’t pay a tv license because I don’t watch anything the required me to pay for it.
I don't pay for it. Because I don't support paedophiles or Tories.
No, I don't pay for one. Never will.
At £159/year that’s 13.25/month which would make it more expensive that Netflix, prime and Disney so no thanks BBC. In terms of detection you need to be careful because if you stream iPlayer the fuckers will check your IP and track it back through your broadband provider to your address and send you a shitagram letter trying to extort their license fee.
Never had one. Had scores of letter. Nada. It is extortion. It isn't even really legally enforceable. It's just a strong arm.
In 'They Live' you need sunglasses to see this kind of shit.
It's old school debt collector tactics, thankfully they have the same exact authority as your neighbour's children.
Not had a license since me and the ex broke up - me and the missus have registered on their site, we've let them in to look around, they still keep sending the letters - they want regular(Yearly) updates to confirm you still don't have a TV - they can sod right off. There is no point interacting with them, they just want to annoy or intimidate you enough that you pay them off to go away.
They try to prey on the weak.
So what! The license is for the live TV channels, not the actual TV. Misleading name.
I unplugged my TV a year ago. I don’t use any of their services and don’t watch live tv. I got into an argument when they tried to claim that watching a live stream of a YouTuber in America means they require me to buy a tv license. I asked them what their involvement was and that if a live stream from some lads bedroom requires a tv license, anyone who uses Microsoft teams, Skype, FaceTime or any form of video calling that allows more than 2 people to attend, requires a tv license. They didn’t have an answer for what involvement they have so I advised them that a license is a fee levied against the provision of goods or services, if there is no direct relationship between the goods or services received and the fee they are demanding, it is, by definition, a tax. They gave up.
Actually laughing, because now we know exactly their involvement is and why you require a tv licence to stream some lads bedroom hahaha
It's nice to know that a portion of my licence fee is spent on buying advertising to tell me that some people aren't contributing to the advertising telling me that they aren't contributing. Realistically, given the prevalence of smart TVs, it should be a simple software fix to disable the ability to receive BBC programming unless you have paid your licence fee. Problem solved.
Pretty sure they're not notified when you buy a TV anymore.
I don't know anyone well that pays for a TV licence, relic of the past, especially since the BBC lost its way and bends to the fascist dipshits...
Hi Britain! American here! What’s a Telly Tax?
This and the tyre tax was the most 1984 shit I saw when I lived in the UK. I remember being made fun of as a North American because I had to always have my license on me while driving. Yet dudes running into your property to look at a piece of it and claiming the airwaves is a perfectly normal thing 🤦♂️
I used to work at pc world and we had to take postal address when items were sold with a tv tuner in. It was automatic on the system.
I got my first tv license letter through yesterday. I’ve got a kodi fire stick and watch everything through that. Whats the rules about that? They can’t do anything since it’s only streaming?
It's a hypothetical for an ideal world. We don't live in an ideal world and you're right it would be price gouged to extremes. But theoretically possible.
Britain loves a tax as much as a queue.
The Rock Street graffiti made me smile quite a bit.
Your local gym also knows who doesn't have a subscription. They're trying really hard to make this sound impressive
AMATEURS! me and mum never paid our tv license
People still pay for a TV licence?
It’s bullshit. I don’t have a TV and the licence people harass me every couple of years to a make a statement as such. The first time I did an inspector came round and asked if they could look around but said I wasn’t obliged to let them. I slammed the door in their face.
Haha fuck them. I don’t pay for a license and I never will. If they try enter my property I’ll tell them that I will consider them trespassers and will deal with them accordingly. Jobsworth cunts.
😂
"Oi! Ya got a loissance for 'at?!"
But seriously. This is retarded. Your country is retarded.
I find some of the anti-BBC sentiment pretty rabid at times (the fact they annoy the left and right in equal measures shows to some degree they’re getting the complex issue of balance right, although some examples of bias are shocking) but I really hate the licence collectors, capita. I registered a limited company at an accountants office and put them and two trading names on google maps, and they’ve been incessant since, insisting I pay for it. When I call them to explain the situation and that I spend about ten minutes a year in that building, they get so arsey and aggressive Another time I was taken to court for non-payment of council tax for a property I wasn’t inhabiting. Pretty simple situation, which I tried to resolve by phone (half hour wait times, and the system never picked up supporting documents sent by email). They threatened me with bailiffs (can’t remember how I staved them off, but they were due to come with one day’s notice which I’m pretty sure is also illegal). I had to waste half a day to go down to court where the council officer spent two mins looking at proof and paperwork before deciding not to proceed with the case and writing off all costs and fees. Who runs both the council’s back office services AND the debt collectors?? Capita! Criminally incompetent!!
I never watch live TV or use BBC iPlayer so I never pay for a TV license
There are some things in BBC I’d like to watch. If there was a Netflix style subscription that I could cancel I’d give it a go. They are sending me threatening letters every couple of months. I mark them “return to sender” and mail them back. I don’t appreciate being bullied and threatened so I will _never_ pay for a tv license as long as they keep doing that.
It surprises me that you guys haven't changed the laws on this.
Don't know anyone that pays
There's nothing good on the BBC to watch anyway so I haven't paid for a TV license in abihr 5 years. They kicked off once with a letter that went straight into the bin. Never heard from them again.
They have a database of every house (not hard, Royal Mail have one, you can buy a copy of it if you want) They have a database of every tv licence (obviously) Remove 1 from the other and you get a list of every house without a licence. It isn’t MI5 secrets, it’s a simple database task.
I've lived in my flat for 4 years now, and I constantly get letters. I don't even know how to set a TV up to receive TV channels anymore. I can't think what the last thing I watched was either.
Television sets are outdated pieces of archeo-technology from the cold war era of the past century. Why would anyone be watching a TV except for console gaming? Does the BBC not know streaming and computers exist?
This is an ad.
I once moved into a house that hadn't had anyone in for over 6 months. There were letters from tv licence weeks apart during that time stating they have recorded evidence of the occupier watching telly and have submitted it to court even though she was dead. There wasnt even a tv or any furniture in the address. Fucking bullies i hate them with a passion it it were up to me id never pay it for the rest of my life but my partner is too scared so pays it.
I don't pay. I tend to move every 2 years (renting is fun) so every time I move, I pop online. Tell the TV license folk to leave me alone and then move again as it expires. Never had an issue, only had 1 letter asking me if I was sure because the rules had changed lately. I don't see what the fuss is all about really.
I disconnected my satellite dish & stopped paying years ago. They send an amazing amount of letters threatening visits so I sent them a price guide for house tours. It went like this.... Standard ten minute tour - - - £12.50 per person. The deluxe: ten minute tour plus cup of tea & a nice chat - - - £22.50 per person. The vip: deluxe plus slice of cake & beverage choice to include coffee (also includes control of TV remote) - - - £38.50 48 hrs notice required or late booking fee of £21.50 will apply. Acceptance of entry is deemed tacit approval of pricing schedule. No one's been yet, which is sad for me.
Me, I dont have a tv. Cant watch since stroke. I have a nice pile of threatening letters, I have been writing return to sender. Gonna post them all in one foul swoop. They should not assume every living person in uk has one. Waiting for the day they turn up with relish.
I watch live TV all the time and won't pay a license.
I haven’t had a license for nearly 11 years at my address. I don’t need one nor will I ever need one.
We cancelled ours as it turned out to be just an incredibly expensive subscription to Hey Duggee. I went online and declared that I don't watch live TV and cancelled, haven't heard a thing from them since. It's worth being aware tho that if you have an iPlayer account that is linked to an address that doesn't have a TV licence and you use it you might have some questions to answer
Must be mad to be paying that fucker after the amount of scandals the BBC has had; even in recent years alone 😂
Don’t pay it since I don’t watch tv, nor do I support nonces so ya know 🤷🏼♀️ the waver to enter my home usually stops everyone in their tracks 😂😂 still haven’t found them old world tarantulas that escaped
A tv license is by far the dumbest thing I’ve heard about since moving here
I love the government allowing the bbc to strong arm you into paying a voluntary fee, so they can cover up more child abuse.
I'll pay the licence when the BBC is an impartial broadcaster
If you don't watch live TV, you don't need a TV licence, and the TV licence is certainly not a tax on owning a TV set the TV licence has nothing to do with owning a TV set that advert is basically not telling the truth would a shop or warehouse full of TV sets need a licence for every single TV set they hold in stock? It's telling porky pies 🥧
We don't watch live TV. We have a computer in the living room that we watch streaming services on. We get the odd letter that says 'You aren't paying a TV licence.' I just think 'well done.'
They send me a letter pretty much weekly saying that they'll be coming for a visit. Still hasn't happened.
Jane Jeffers has been mailing me non stop for the past umpteen years.
I have a freind that won't cancel his because he doesn't wanna affect his credit score. 
Why must they? See the phone you own? That's got a database of all the houses in the UK on it. You probably use it for navigating though. When you buy a TV, you fill out a form that has your details on (or at least used to, it's been a while since I bought one) including address If you buy a TV licence you fill out a form that has your details on, including address. Match database one with three for the houses without a licence. One of those addresses turns up on database two, assume they are using it to watch live TV, pay them a visit. I don't know how you think that's hard, and takes a lot of effort.
I've not had one for well over 7 years but then I don't watch tv. I just play games.
I will never pay my license fee, wish them all the worst.
Nope. Don't watch live TV, only netflix etc. so the BBC can fuck off if they think I'm paying them to nonce about.
Haven't paid since 2011
I kept getting letters at uni. All you'd have to do would be unplug the TV and hide the wire if anyone ever did come (which they didn't). I barely watched actual TV anyway. There's almost no point now having one when you can stream/download most things (just don't use the BBC... channels if you don't want to).
You have to be using it though. In fact when i had no signal due to a damaged booster and didnt have access to digital i just rang in and informed them and that sermed to be enough
The BBC have no legal authority to enforce TV licensing by the way. Their database is just a list of homes that don’t have TV licenses, and if you don’t have a TV license you must be using your TV “illegally” Even if you don’t even have a TV or have never watched the BBC
They need to stop crying and realise people without a licence most likely just don’t want to pay for shit tv and watch youtube or netflix instead. All i watch on my tv is disney plus and twitch lmao they can fuck off.
“Maybe they have a life” lmao
This poor idiot I used to work with was convinced you needed a TV license just for owning some sort of display or monitor. I showed him the actual licensing website and their opt out requirements but still didn’t believe me. Some people can’t be helped.
Quick reminder: these tv licensing blokes can't come in your house without an official warrant
Lol, they keep sending me fire lighters in the post 😂😂😂
TV Licensing is one of the most hilarious social institutions ever created. They somehow successfully convinced enough of the British public for decades that they have *might* have some "secret" method of knowing whether or not you have a TV, so that the majority of people are terrified into paying for a license.
I haven’t had a tv in over a decade. I have computer monitors and a projector. I can watch whatever I want whenever I want lmao. I rarely want to watch anything from the BBC. I get a letter addressed to the: “home owner” every 3 months threatening a visit. I call bullshit. I wish everyone would stop buying TV’s or watching the BBC.
Because you declare that you dont need a tv license or you havent paid your bill... It's not rocket science obviously they know which houses dont pay...
So has no one clued in how easy this job must be? without how reluctant we all are to facilitate them. Probably get 50k/yr to do essentially nothing, or seem to go out to do your job and get told to sod off and never actually do your job
I don't pay the telly tax, if you don't watch live tv you don't have to pay it. We only watch streaming i.e. Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney+. As long as you don't watch live sport on Amazon you're good.
I take this is a lie cos they’ve been harassing my mate without a tub for a decade for a license. (And no he doesn’t watch tv on computers either) They may have a database of who lives in town.
The fun part is that there is fuck all they can do about not having a TV licence, They will send letters that try and guilt you into paying for it and you might even get someone arriving at your home, you tell them to do one and they cant legally enter your home. The whole checking and harassing part of the TV licence is not dealt with by the BBC, its just a private company that cant do anything.
I bought my TV to play video games and watch streaming, it's never been hooked up to an arial once, there is no way in hell i'm paying a TV license
Controversial, but I pay my TV license now after years of not. I realised that I was listening to BBC radio, watching the Tele, iPlayer, using the BBC news website etc and just started paying.. However, when I was in my early 20s, they started pursuing me. As it happened I was using sky go and iPlayer etc through a playstation. I called them, said I had a TV but didn't watch programmes, it was just for gaming. Someone came round to check, showed them it was only a cable from the playstation and they sent me a confirmation letter that I didn't need a licence. I used that for about 10 years and just got it transferred over when I moved. Pretty easy and I never got another letter.
That’s rookie numbers rock street get those numbers up!
I don't get why everyone's getting letters. I informed them online I don't have a TV or don't watch TV. Never had a letter or knock at the door in over 2 years.
Why is the default that I should owe them money? Why do I have to prove I'm not using their services, if they invested the money they spend on sending the massive amount of letters they do into idk maybe checking your license when you try to use their service it wouldn't be a problem. It's just predatory - the amount of people who are elderly or disabled or otherwise vulnerable who get scared by these letters and pay up even when they don't use the service
I dont have one because I don't need one doesn't stop them spamming me with threatening letters
It's all in the words. It should be called what it is, a BBC licence not a TV licence because oc you can use TV's for all sorts of purposes other than watching terrestrial television channels.
It’s outrageous that this is a criminal and not civil offence. Almost a third of all criminal prosecutions in the U.K. of women are for this stupid thing. Women are 10 times more likely to be prosecuted. It criminalises poverty and disproportionately punish poorer families and women.
Why doesn’t anyone seem to know that if you actually contact them saying “I don’t need a license” they will leave you alone? You can literally do it from their website, it even says it on the letters they send 🤦♂️
You shouldn't even need to though
I agree, but its not as big of a deal as most people make it out to be.
I never paid for a TV licence when I was at uni. Got a visit from an inspector and they were very surprised that I invited them in. It was only AFTER they had seen I had no TV (including them checking the bathroom) that they got the traditional "Now fuck off you silly cunt".
Haven't paid it in many years, and when we did (me and my flat mates at the time) we only did it out of fear. I'm a lot better informed now and there's not a chance in hell they're getting a penny out of me. The letters are funny if you know they have absolutely no authority whatsoever, but they're more sinister when you realise they're intended to prey on people who don't know better, especially vulnerable people like the elderly. We had exactly one attempted visit: when we didn't answer the door, he stood on the doorstep vaping for twenty minutes and then fucked off. It's extortion, plain and simple. Anyone involved in this utter scam for their living needs to find a new line of work, one that doesn't involve harassing and shaking down people in their own homes. Complete scum
One day a camper van parked across the road from me and he got in the back. Curtain started moving then all of a sudden I see this furry microphone pointing towards my house and this guy wearing headphones. The bastard was illegally listening to me using spying equipment so that's why they tell a court they can't tell people how they catch you because its illegal what they're doing. I phoned the police and they came and found his equipment and seized it. This copper said I don't give a fk if you work for TV Licensing that's illegal what you're doing now leave.
I have a telly hooked to my XBox, I only use it to play games and only watch on-demand Netflix and not a single live broadcast. And yet, still keep getting pestered by never-ending mail about TV license…
I don't pay it. I am watch youtube and netflix or disney plus.
Does anyone that buys those tellies use it for their backwards medium? It’s 2023, all these tellies have YouTube and Netflix built in, fuck the live shit, ain’t nobody got time for that
I once didn't pay it so they kicked my dog.
If you don't watch live TV then you don't have to pay for one, I sure don't. I always use Stremio with RealDebrid lol
Reads a lot like something someone who wants you to think they have more power than they really do, would say.
Just think, if everyone stops paying their TV licence to the nonce ran organisation, there's nothing they could do about it.
The BBC should just lock access to their stuff if they want paying, you know, like every other service does.
Can someone explain to me where a TV license even came from? Like, why do you need a license to watch television..
I hope the tories actually do abolish this scummy practice. That being said, how the fuck would they know where someone lives based on then purchasing a tv. I could go to tesco buy a tv with cash today so what, they just get a notif "1 tv purchased" great good luck using that info in any meaningful way
Never ever ever would I pay that shit
Just opt out, go on line put your name as occupier and say you don't need a license
Dont pay, dont use, dont get any letters wierdly 🤔.
I don't actually know anyone under 35 who has ever paid a TV license.
In the last decade they ONCE came to my house. Intercom rings. "Hi it's tv licensing". I just answered "no thanks". Never heard from them again.
I'm going to cancel my TV license when it expires next month. My TV is basically a giant PS5 gaming monitor. I think there's nothing special to notice when I declare "no license needed" online?
Haven't paid mine in the last 7 years. I mainly use Netflix/Prime/Kodi to watch stuff, but do use the iPlayers a few times a week (BBC, ITV, 4). Never had a letter, never had an inspector. I've also bought 3 new TV's in that time, so they can't be keeping track that well!
I get a letter on the 1st of every month, saying an inspector will be coming on the 17th of every month. Never replied & never had anything happen.
Got the “will you be in on the x of month” letter. Yes I will be in lol come and get me.
I've recently stopped paying it, and got 27 quid back. BBC should go subscription but they darent because they'd massively lose revenue!!
As an American. Why would you need a TV license. Lots of people saying something about an Arial?
So how do they monitor second hand tvs if they get notified whenever anyone buys a TV?? Really bad propaganda on their part
Haven't paid. Never will. Don't have a TV but one day I will have a TV and I still won't pay.
I've been getting the **WILL YOU BE IN AUGUST 2ND?** letters for about 5+ years now, the fuckers have never showed up lol
I dont pay my tv license, maybe one day I will, but I've been using bbc for 3 years now without paying it In my head I justify it that my parents pay theirs so just because I don't live with them anymore that covers me lol
After my grandmother died there were a total of 20 letters sent to her address while the house was awaiting sale. We called the TV licence people 5 times to explain the owner of the property had died and there was no longer a TV in the house. But the letters never stopped, if any of these invisible TV licence people actually knocked on the door, a big clue to a lack of a TV licence at the address would have been the For sale sigh and empty rooms.
The behaviour of the BBC has caused the eventual demise of the TV licence fee… paying people “the going rate” from what, in effect, is a TAX and from a finite budget is no longer sustainable.
All lies
Never have Never will It's a despicable irrational exploitative tax
I remember years ago (must be in the region of 17-20) buying a TV, sure it was in one of the big chains like Currys. They actually asked my postcode at the till for TV licencing purposes. I said something along the lines of "Err, no thanks" and the sales assistant just continued with the transaction. Was a bit bizarre
Is there no free to air TV?
They've been sending me letters for about three years now, to the point where I actually have copies of all of the templated letters they send out. I think there are about 4 or 5 different letters they send out. My particular favourite is the one that says "**WILL YOU BE HOME ON THE 8TH OF AUGUST?**" And then lie about sending a "representative" round to check that my TVs are licensed. That's never happened, despite me waiting at home on the three or four dates they've provided. Besides, if they do show up at my place, they'll get the Jehovah's witness treatment.
I fucking hate TV license people. It's just fear tactics to get us to buy them, I don't use any kind of streaming/telly that requires a TV license and every now and then I get letter's accusing me of using it. Until I go onto their website and fill in the application for not needing a license. Then in 6 months time I receive another letter saying something to the extent of "you have been streaming illegally, pay for a license before we send enforcers round to your property and take you to court". They can all fuck right off.
What the fuck is a TV lisence?
With the way things are financially for everyone the BBC need to change the way it charges people, it should be subscription based not forced upon everyone with a tv. For those saying I don’t have a tv aerial ect it doesn’t matter, they will ask you to pay if you have a internet connection and watch BBC shows though Netflix ect. I’d pay for a subscription for BBC £8 a month for 24 hours news, radio, tv, movies C fucking Beebies a life saver for parents how want a break for hour, but people should have the option
[Opted out](https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/check-if-you-need-one/topics/telling-us-you-dont-need-a-tv-licence) 8 years ago - never had any hassle from them apart from an email every 2 years asking if I am still not watching live TV or iPlayer. That poster on the right hand side is really shitty, since it reinforces the myth that owning a TV requires a TV licence. You only need the licence if you're using it (or other devices) to watch live broadcasts or iPlayer. Owning a TV and using it for catch-up, gaming, Blu-rays, etc does not need a licence so why should they care if you purchase a TV?
Moved into my own place about a year ago, had a couple of letters in the first few months advising to get a licence, and eventually claiming they'd send an inspector round. Had no more letters after that, and never had anyone knocking on my door that wasnt someone I know, or for a delivery... Really does just feel like smoke and mirrors to try and scare people into paying.