TV licence court appearance

Dick Darlington

So basically ii've revieved a summons to my old address in my name for a court appearance due to not having a TV licence.

There was a TV in our house and it didn't belong to me so i didn't ever bother with a licence, it wasn't mine and i didn't watch it. An inspector called and i gave my name about a yr ago.

I have now moved out and this came to my old address through registered post.
So im going to be fined for a TV that belonged to a person in a house i didn't even know? I just rented the room. Theres also the fact that i no longer live there and neither do most of the poeple that did so i'd never get money off them if fined.
Anybody any experience of this ?

I guess i could just not turn up couldn't I ?

wyndham

Not giving legal advice but if you don't turn up you will be convicted in your absence. Fined and then this will be passed to gardai for collection/warrant.

John R

Dick Darlington wrote:

I guess i could just not turn up couldn't I ?

Yes, ignore it and it'll just go away. :rolleyes:

That is just about the worst thing possible to do. You need to deal with it.

I really don't know where you stand re living in a house with a tv that belonged to someone else.

and BTW, giving your name to the inspector; very stupid. What did you think was going to happen?

Wishbone Ash

Surely the owner of the house would be responsible for having a TV licence?

Tha Gopher

I wouldnt turn up tbh, the guards have better things to do than chasing people down for outstanding licence fines.

Then again, according to an ad campaign a few years back, if your dating a cute girl and she finds out yiv got a conviction for not paying your licence, she will give you a worse reaction than finding out you were done for child molesting.

Mossy Monk

can you not just get a tv license for your current address? (assuming you don't have one)

why the hell would you be summonsed for a house you used to live in. if i got one for a house i used to live in i would contact the license inspector and tell him that i dont live there anymore

charlie@w.d

Dick Darlington wrote:

So basically ii've revieved a summons to my old address in my name for a court appearance due to not having a TV licence.

There was a TV in our house and it didn't belong to me so i didn't ever bother with a licence, it wasn't mine and i didn't watch it. An inspector called and i gave my name about a yr ago.

I have now moved out and this came to my old address through registered post.
So im going to be fined for a TV that belonged to a person in a house i didn't even know? I just rented the room. Theres also the fact that i no longer live there and neither do most of the poeple that did so i'd never get money off them if fined.
Anybody any experience of this ?

I guess i could just not turn up couldn't I ?

did you own this house? you need to get a solicitor if you have a date in court and explain to him that it wasnt your tv, but if u owned the house i'm afraid u dont have a leg to stand on then!

jor el

Dick Darlington wrote:

I have now moved out and this came to my old address through registered post.

How did you end up with the letter then? I presume you still know someone who lives there.

If there's any contact info on the letter then you should contact them and explain that you no longer live there. You may need to provide proof of your new address such as a bank statement or utility bill. Get this sorted before the court date. They should then send another inspector to the house and find out who does live there now.

Elmo

Do you have an up to date licence for your new place if you can prove that you didn't live their all that long I am sure that the judge wouldn't pass down a fine. It should be down to the Landlord to make sure that the TV licence is paid for and them that takes the fall if it isn't IMO.

Zapho

Wishbone Ash wrote:

Surely the owner of the house would be responsible for having a TV licence?

Unfortunately no. A TV licence concerns the current occupants of the property not the owner. So if there's a TV its solely up to the occupants to take care of it, and if the occupants get fined they have to pay it, not the owner. Now sometimes the owner will pay the TV licence but I haven't come across that often.

OP, I really don't know what you'd do in this situation. More than likely they'll go easy on you. Is there anyway of contacting the dude who owned the TV or maybe the landlord might have his details still?

In future, give a fake name!

Mossy Monk

OP just tell them you havent lived there for x amount of time and that you are not responsible

simple really

Lump

Just go to court and say what you said to us. It's not rocket science.

John