TV Licence - ALL TV licence discussion/queries in this thread.

Johnboy1951 · 19-09-2015 10:18am

L1011 wrote: »

Lead to plenty of buildings with "no roof" and a felted top floor instead in Dublin the 60s/70s. Frank McDonald wrote extensively on that (before he became an insufferable bore) and the damage it caused to georgian buildings. There were plenty of actively rented apartments, shops, offices, etc in these unrateable "uninhabitable" buildings.

It also led to a lot of older farm cottages being stripped of roofs (where more suitable modern homes were built) which were not only an eyesore, but a terrible waste of useful buildings.

therealgirl · 20-09-2015 3:21pm

Hi,
TV licence question

We had a TV licence provided by our landlord in our last house...
We recently moved to a house where the previous tenant had her own licence, so obviously this new address has no TV licence.
We brought our Sky subscription with us, but a few days later we found we were going to be cut a lot of money from wages...
So I cancelled the Sky subscription & our TV is now sitting in the attic.

Just before I cancelled the sky I got a visit from the TV licence inspector.
He asked my details & had we a TV, I said yes but I'm cancelling everything tomorrow...
He took down my details & said I need a licence...

We've always had our landlord provide TV licence before as he has provided a TV at our old address...
So how does this work now?
Someone told me if I had a TV on the day the inspector called I'll need a licence..

This was two days ago...I have an email from sky today to confirm my account is cancelled...
Anyone know what I should do next?
Should I email and ask for inspector to visit again to see there's no TV?

Thanks

steveon · 20-09-2015 3:25pm

therealgirl wrote: »

Hi,
TV licence question
We had a TV licence provided by our landlord in our last house...
We recently moved to a house where the previous tenant had her own licence, so obviously this new address has no TV licence.
We brought our Sky subscription with us, but a few days later we found we were going to be cut a lot of money from wages...
So I cancelled the Sky subscription & our TV is now sitting in the attic.

Just before I cancelled the sky I got a visit from the TV licence inspector.
He asked my details & had we a TV, I said yes but I'm cancelling everything tomorrow...
He took down my details & said I need a licence...

We've always had our landlord provide TV licence before as he has provided a TV at our old address...
So how does this work now?
Someone told me if I had a TV on the day the inspector called I'll need a licence..

This was two days ago...I have an email from sky today to confirm my account is cancelled...
Anyone know what I should do next?
Should I email and ask for inspector to visit again to see there's no TV?

Thanks

If there is a tv even in ur atticand unplugged u need a license.
No tv on premises then no license required
Tv broken sitting in corner = license required

License is not responsibiliy of landlord however some mite like to pay to help get house rented

Fred Swanson · 20-09-2015 3:26pm

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Johnboy1951 · 20-09-2015 3:28pm

therealgirl wrote: »

Hi,
TV licence question
We had a TV licence provided by our landlord in our last house...
We recently moved to a house where the previous tenant had her own licence, so obviously this new address has no TV licence.
We brought our Sky subscription with us, but a few days later we found we were going to be cut a lot of money from wages...
So I cancelled the Sky subscription & our TV is now sitting in the attic.

Just before I cancelled the sky I got a visit from the TV licence inspector.
He asked my details & had we a TV, I said yes but I'm cancelling everything tomorrow...
He took down my details & said I need a licence...

We've always had our landlord provide TV licence before as he has provided a TV at our old address...
So how does this work now?
Someone told me if I had a TV on the day the inspector called I'll need a licence..

This was two days ago...I have an email from sky today to confirm my account is cancelled...
Anyone know what I should do next?
Should I email and ask for inspector to visit again to see there's no TV?

Thanks

I would arrange for the TV set to be held by someone who has a licence.
(if it gets used it would prevent it from getting damp in the attic)
Then when you get a letter about lack of a licence you can truthfully say there is no TV on the premises.

Of course you could also leave it in the attic and tell lies (not advised) about its premises .... the inspector is not going up there!

therealgirl · 20-09-2015 3:30pm

Fred Swanson wrote: »

You are guilty of the offence and the inspector has all the proof he needs. Buy a licence or go to court. Your choice.

Thanks Fred, I see Boards still has its helpful idiots ðŸ˜’

Fred Swanson · 20-09-2015 3:31pm

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therealgirl · 20-09-2015 3:33pm

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

I would arrange for the TV set to be held by someone who has a licence.
(if it gets used it would prevent it from getting damp in the attic)
Then when you get a letter about lack of a licence you can truthfully say there is no TV on the premises.

Of course you could also leave it in the attic and tell lies (not advised) about its premises .... the inspector is not going up there!

Well it's definitely not going to get used here... We've no sky, no boxes or anything... I'll give it to my mum.

So do I email them so with a copy of the sky sub cancellation email attached?

Johnboy1951 · 20-09-2015 3:35pm

therealgirl wrote: »

Well it's definitely not going to get used here... We've no sky, no boxes or anything... I'll give it to my mum.

So do I email them so with a copy of the sky sub cancellation email attached?

Up to you, but I would do nothing unless they make contact, and then simply state there is no reception equipment in the house.

Fred Swanson · 20-09-2015 3:40pm

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therealgirl · 20-09-2015 3:41pm

Fred Swanson wrote: »

It is a legal fact.

You told the inspector you have a TV, offence proved.

My three yr old told him we have a TV...I then said we were getting rid of everything, which we have done two days later

Fred Swanson · 20-09-2015 3:45pm

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Johnboy1951 · 20-09-2015 3:48pm

We recently moved to a house

How long were you in the house prior to the visit from the inspector?

therealgirl · 20-09-2015 3:53pm

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

How long were you in the house prior to the visit from the inspector?

About six weeks... We had no sky transferred over til last week though

therealgirl · 20-09-2015 10:27pm

Also...do I need to get someone to remove the dish& cables that are on the house?

Johnboy1951 · 20-09-2015 11:30pm

therealgirl wrote: »

About six weeks... We had no sky transferred over til last week though

In which case you should have had a licence for that period.

If it was only a couple of days during the move it might be different.

therealgirl wrote: »

Also...do I need to get someone to remove the dish& cables that are on the house?

No you can leave them in place.
Aerials alone do not warrant a licence.

crossmolinalad · 22-09-2015 11:38am

Do the same as in Holland
Cut the fee in half and put it up with the property tax
Problem solved

aoraki · 23-09-2015 10:12pm

Hi Folks, looking for a bit of advice regarding the TV licence and TV equipment that would incur a TV Licence fee.

We have a TV at home but we don’t use it, we haven’t used it at all in the last 7 months, it’s been turned on maybe once in the last 18 months and we don’t miss it in the slightest. Any content we watch is online, ie. Netflix. So the TV Licence renewal notice has come in the letterbox and it has prompted the conversation in our house whether to ditch the TV or not. We have decided to go TV-less.

So getting rid of the TV is the easy bit, it’s going this weekend. But is that all I need to do to be exempt from the TV licence? We have the box from the TV service provider, does having this piece of equipment make me liable for the TV licence also?

Getting rid of that is a little less straightforward. We are with a well known TV service provider but we are in a contract with them until early next year. I have absolutely no problem paying them the monthly fee until the contract is over, even if I am no longer using the service. We have the most basic of packages so it’s not a large amount every month. But when I rang the service provider and told them of my situation they told me that they could only take the equipment back when the account was cancelled, and not before. The cancellation fee of course is astronomical, way more than I would be paying if I just paid them their monthly fee until the end of the contract. I told them that it was a win-win for them, they are still getting their monthly subscription from me, and they would also have their equipment back so could reuse it for another subscriber and save money on that. But no dice. (The operator said he would have a word with his customer care team, put me on hold, and then promptly hung up on me. You can probably guess who the service provider is from this behaviour)

So I’m just reaching out here to see if anybody can offer any advice on the situation I am in now. If it turns out that having the TV box makes me liable for a licence, I'm just going to disconnect it and store it at my parents place until my contract is up. If an inspector calls to the house I won’t have either a TV or the TV box on my premises, so presumably I won’t be in violation of any rules. Is it as simple as that?

By the way, I’m not trying to con anybody or welch on any commitments. I just don’t see the logic of paying for a TV licence fee when we are not going to use it, (we won’t even have a TV!) and if there is anything I can do to legitimately avoid doing so, then I will do it.

Thanks

Fuzzy Clam · 23-09-2015 10:31pm

Keep your subscription and box for your provider and get rid of the TV.
No licence required then.

Fred Swanson · 23-09-2015 10:38pm

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aoraki · 23-09-2015 10:52pm

Fuzzy Clam wrote: »

Keep your subscription and box for your provider and get rid of the TV.
No licence required then.

Thanks for the response Fuzzy Clam, but will that definitely exempt me from the licence, or will I be told by an inspector that I have a piece of equipment that is capable or receiving a TV signal and hence I need a licence for? If I am exempt I have no problem just leaving the box where it is, pay my monthly fee and give it back when the contract is over. But I'd like to be sure.

When I asked the service provider this they hadn't a clue of course.

Fred Swanson · 23-09-2015 10:54pm

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aoraki · 23-09-2015 10:58pm

Fred Swanson wrote: »

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Thats what I'm thinking. So the box is going to go live somewhere else for the remainder of the contract, and the TV licence inspectors can take a run and jump for themselves :P

Haznat · 23-09-2015 10:58pm

I don't know why people engage with the inspectors. Just shut the door.

Fred Swanson · 23-09-2015 11:02pm

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Fuzzy Clam · 23-09-2015 11:02pm

aoraki wrote: »

Thanks for the response Fuzzy Clam, but will that definitely exempt me from the licence, or will I be told by an inspector that I have a piece of equipment that is capable or receiving a TV signal and hence I need a licence for? If I am exempt I have no problem just leaving the box where it is, pay my monthly fee and give it back when the contract is over. But I'd like to be sure.

When I asked the service provider this they hadn't a clue of course.

The licence is for equipment capable of "displaying " the TV picture.
AFAIK this has not changed.
If the box is connected to any piece of equipment that is capable of displaying a picture, or that there is any equipment on the premises capable of such, then you may have a problem.
The box alone does not require a licence.

Even without a box or aerial, the TV requires a licence. Working or not.

Fuzzy Clam · 23-09-2015 11:09pm

Haznat wrote: »

I don't know why people engage with the inspectors. Just shut the door.

Perhaps, but that is not good advice to somebody who is trying to stay within the law.
In this instance the op does not appear to wanting to break the rules.

aoraki · 24-09-2015 1:26pm

Fuzzy Clam wrote: »

Perhaps, but that is not good advice to somebody who is trying to stay within the law.
In this instance the op does not appear to wanting to break the rules.

Thanks for the advice. Yup, not trying to pull a fast one or anything like that. Also I know they get a bad rep but I have no real issue with License Inspectors - they are just doing a job at the end of the day. And I don't want to get into a protracted dispute with the authorities over the ins and outs of being liable for a license fee or not. Better things to be doing with my time. So will engage with them fully but will just make sure that they will have absolutely no cause to pursue me!

Harry Palmr · 01-10-2015 10:55am

I just got a flyer through the postbox telling me to have my licence ready for inspection! Who do these people think they are?!

Fred Swanson · 01-10-2015 11:05am

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TV Licence - ALL TV licence discussion/queries in this thread.

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