T.V. Licence

[stevieweevie]

What happens if you dont have a T.V. licence, I heard that they dont really have any reall power to do anything, is this true?

[sandyRoe]

There are a number of people sitting in prison at the moment because they didn't, or couldn't, pay the fine they got for not having a licence.

[McMouse]

No it's not true. If you should have a tv licence and don't have one you stand a very good chance of being prosecuted. BBC have outsourced licence enforcement and so there is a commercial incentive for these people.

[mccfluff]

you can be prosecuted and fined

[factor-fiction]

What about if you tell them you never watch TV but they don't believe you. Has anyone on AB ever been in this postion?

[gina32]

you can tell them whatever you like but the tv emits a signal which shows that its in use, regardless of whether you watch it or not

[McMouse]

You also need a licence if you watch live tv on laptop though how they police I don't know.

[factor-fiction]

But what if they never actually catch you watching it but still keeep knocking on your door asking questions. Maybe this has happened to someone on AB at some stage

[gina32]

you dont need to be actually watching it, if its on they can tell

[tamborine]

they check cables attached to tv & check your pc history.....they'll soon be checking iphones - only way to dodge is have a 70y old live in :)

[factor-fiction]

Where's Rebel Souls gone just when I was expecting him to chip in. Watching TV perhaps

[New Judge]

You must be covered by a valid TV Licence if you watch or record television programmes as they're being shown on TV. It makes no difference what equipment you use - whether it’s a laptop, PC, mobile phone, digital box, DVD/video recorder or a TV set - you still need a licence. It also makes no difference if you do not watch the BBC – you still need a licence. You do not need a licence if you only watch programmes via the “catch up” services such as BBC’s i-Player, though only today there was an announcement by a government minister that this may be changed. If you have equipment that is capable of receiving such broadcasts it is assumed that you watch the TV and the defence that you do not watch it is unlikely to succeed. Enquiry officers do not have the right to enter property but may apply to magistrates for a warrant of entry if they have suspicion that an unlicensed TV set is being used.

The TV Licensing Agency works on the assumption that everybody in the country has a TV. Their database contains every address and those addresses that have no licence are investigated.

The maximum penalty for not having a TV licence is a fine of £1,000. It is true that, like any other fine, a defaulter can be sent to prison for non-payment. However, whilst quite a large number of people are prosecuted and fined for not having a TV licence, very, very few people are sent to prison for non-payment of a TV licence fine.

[Buenchico]

(2-part post):

Point 1:
SandyRoe's information is out of date. At one time you could be sent to prison but that part of the legislation has been repealed. The maximum penalty is now a fine of £1000 although, of course, anyone who wilfully fails to pay a court fine (regardless of the offence) always risks imprisonment.

Point 2:
It has been suggested above that you need to have the television set turned on (irrespective of whether you're actually watching it) in order to be prosecuted for licence evasion. That's untrue. Simply 'installing' a TV set, without a licence is an offence under Section 363 of the Communications Act 2003.

Point 3:
As Gina32 correctly indicates, ALL electronic equipment emits radio frequency energy. You only need to put a transistor radio next to your PC or printer for a demonstration. However, more importantly, any device with circuitry tuned to receive specific frequencies (as with a TV set) will emit radiation on that frequency and upon harmonics of it (which means that it can be identified as a TV set rather than, say, a PC).

[Buenchico]

Point 4:
It's the RF emissions referred to in Point 3 which make it possible to detect the presence of TV sets (often even when they're only in 'standby' mode). 40 years ago, when I was involved with our school electronics club, one of our projects was to investigate and make devices which could detect TV and radio sets, and tell the difference between them and other electronic devices. If a few teenagers could manage to do so then, there seems to be a very good chance that communications experts can do so now!

Point 5:
It has been stated above that TV licensing officials have no power to enter anyone's home. Of course, if you leave your door unlocked, ANYONE can legally enter your home at any time. (Trespass, per se, is not a criminal offence). Even if we ignore that, licensing officials can still seek a warrant, under Section 366 of the Licensing Act 2003, if they can show grounds for suspecting that a TV is being used (or has simply been installed) without a licence. That could be the evidence from a detector van or, possibly, from the records submitted by the shop which sold you the TV set.

Chris

[Buenchico]

PS: Since this question was posted under 'Law' and asks "what happens if . . ?" I should have also mentioned that the weekly newspaper for this area (the Bury Free Press) always contains listings of the week's proceedings in the local magistrates' courts.

Hardly a week goes by without a long list of names of people who've been prosecuted for using a TV without a licence. Since the courts vary fines according to the offender's income, there is quite a wide range of fines shown. However £300 to £400 is typical, with a few fines below £100 but with some others well above £500.

[webbo3]

Mcmouse, according to this you don't need a licence to watch tv on the net, but it could change.

http://www.dailymail....r-hints-minister.html



Dave.

[factor-fiction]

The TV licence fee raises close to £3.5 billion a year. It's probably quite efficient in that the rate of non-payment is pretty low at around 5% and the enforcement costs are not great. However given that 98% of households now have a TV I do wonder whether the licence is the best way to raise this revenue. If the fee were abolished and income tax were increased slightly then wouldn't that be a more efficient system (saving the 'detector' vans, paperwork etc) and a fairer system too?

[New Judge]

Yje Mail item refers to watching programmes using "catch up" services (see my earlier post).

If you have a PC that enables you to watch programmes as they are broadcast you need a licence.

[Hopkirk]

Just pay up.

[HARPY]

You can have as many tv's and computers as you like you only need a tv licence if you watch live tv. You can watch bbc i player with NO licence. If you want to check for yourself here is the official tv licence website. Send them an email and you will get a reply within 48 hours.

http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/