TV Licence

Discodog · 11-11-2017 03:10PM

Mint Sauce wrote: »

Do they? Since when? One house I lived in, for 6 years, we had it down as The Occupier the whole time, despite getting personal mail addressed to each of us, Bank, Motor Tax, Mobile Bills, Leccy, etc. Although the last house I lived in, also as a tenant, the Property Tax came addressed to me, but I was the only one who received personal mail, TV Licence was still The Occupier though. Maybe that Postie was working for Revenue on the side.

My postman told me & even showed me the form.

Myself & my neighbours started getting addressed letters at the same time

dolcevita12 · 25-09-2018 11:10AM

Hi there,
I got a letter with my name asking to pay the tv licence. What should I need to do ?
Go directly to Post Office and ask about that and pay ? How do they get my details as I am a new resident in this place.
Should I need to speak with the landlady ? Any help to do as I do not want to pay a fee of 2,000 euros.

Mint Sauce · 25-09-2018 11:16AM

dolcevita12 wrote: »

Hi there,
I got a letter with my name asking to pay the tv licence. What should I need to do ?
Go directly to Post Office and ask about that and pay ? How do they get my details as I am a new resident in this place.
Should I need to speak with the landlady ? Any help to do as I do not want to pay a fee of 2,000 euros.

Do you have a TV? Pay it. If you dont have a TV, sign the decloration saying you dont have one, and dont pay it. How did they get your name anyway?

elperello · 25-09-2018 12:13PM

[QUOTE= How did they get your name anyway?[/QUOTE]

RTB ?

25-09-2018 01:16PM

Discodog wrote: »

The Postman has to fill out a name for any addresses that don't have one. So the name on the mail gets put on the register.

Never head of this happening so I'd question if its true, last house I lived in for three years and we never had a license. Person moving out not long after I moved in had a licence contacted an post to say he was moving out and to deregister him from the house. We just got letters "to the occupier" from then on which we ignored. Know plenty of other people with the same letters coming for years and never was their name on one.

Only way they get your name is if you give it to an inspector or buy a licence.

FGR · 28-09-2018 09:13AM

Only after moving into a new house. Got a visit from the inspctor as I was taking things out of the car.

He gave me six days to sort it.

Will I get post in the meantime or is this the first and final warning ?

Thanks.

Hector Savage · 28-09-2018 09:27AM

Are you allowed to watch Netflix on a computer/latop/tablet and not have a licence ? - so long as the devices can't pick up live TV im assuming so.
But now with live internet TV , RTE player etc - have they changed the law ?

Rhyme · 28-09-2018 10:31AM

Hector Savage wrote: »

Are you allowed to watch Netflix on a computer/latop/tablet and not have a licence ? - so long as the devices can't pick up live TV im assuming so.
But now with live internet TV , RTE player etc - have they changed the law ?

A device that can pick up a television signal or can be repaired to do so (a broken television still needs a license).

A laptop, phone, computer monitor, projector is fine.

Bob Harris · 28-09-2018 11:03AM

jacknuig wrote: »

Any thoughts on all this? Personally I think they're trying one and I don't think I have any legal requirement but I would appreciate everyone's .02

Did you get many .02's OP to cover the cost of the licence?

Worrybug85 · 29-09-2018 01:57AM

Hi all. I’m sure everyone’s sick of this topic but hope you can help.

Last month I moved out of my house for work up the country. A couple moved in with a year long lease while my neighbour helps me look after the place.

Problem is neighbour was chatting with me saying that the tv licence inspector had been with him a couple of days ago and then later saw him examining the bin outside my house. He then spoke with one of the tenants. I contacted the tenant and he told the inspector he didn’t have a licence as he just moved in. The inspector asked for his name but he didn’t write it down which to me set off alarm bells.

I’m warey that if he was looking at the bins he’d have taken my name from them as bins are paid by me. I don’t want a summons to court if the tenant decides not to get a licence promptly.

Has anyone been in this predicament? If I contact the tv licence crew will they update those details? Are they grand with that approach as I have proof I’m no longer there.

Also - as they already visited will they post out anything to the address before a prosecution or is it the case that once you’re visited all bets are off? Never got a letter there from tv licence inspectors before.

Anything that’s posted to my name is normally forwarded to me so I might be kept in the loop that way.

Thanks

Discodog · 29-09-2018 09:08AM

So much misinformation in this thread. They get your name because the postman has to fill out missing names using the other post you receive.

You do not need a license unless you have a television receiver. That's a TV. An aerial, dish etc is not a TV.

Mint Sauce · 29-09-2018 10:15AM

Discodog wrote: »

So much misinformation in this thread. They get your name because the postman has to fill out missing names using the other post you receive.

You do not need a license unless you have a television receiver. That's a TV. An aerial, dish etc is not a TV.

Unless that has came in to practise in the last 3-4 years, I would doubt it. 12-13 years prior or house sharing, even in cases where I was the only one to receive post, I have never had a reminder addressed to me or any of my house mates, always addressed to the occupier, and have even renewed and got first licencses, as the occupier.

Discodog · 29-09-2018 12:36PM

Mint Sauce wrote: »

Unless that has came in to practise in the last 3-4 years, I would doubt it. 12-13 years prior or house sharing, even in cases where I was the only one to receive post, I have never had a reminder addressed to me or any of my house mates, always addressed to the occupier, and have even renewed and got first licencses, as the occupier.

It came in after An Post took over. We "interrogated" our postie at his retirement party.

Paddy Cow · 29-09-2018 01:31PM

Hector Savage wrote: »

Are you allowed to watch Netflix on a computer/latop/tablet and not have a licence ? - so long as the devices can't pick up live TV im assuming so.
But now with live internet TV , RTE player etc - have they changed the law ?

They tried to scrap the TV license and replace it with a "communication tax" that would apply to every house, whether or not they had a tv. The reasoning behind it was that everyone has the internet, even on their phones and could watch RTE player. It would in reality just be easier for them to force everyone to pay. It quietly went away after the sh!tstorm that was the water charges.

STB. · 01-10-2018 06:38PM

Discodog wrote: »

So much misinformation in this thread. They get your name because the postman has to fill out missing names using the other post you receive.

You do not need a license unless you have a television receiver. That's a TV. An aerial, dish etc is not a TV.

It would be a SERIOUS breach of Data Protection for An Post to use this information for any other purposes.

Discodog · 01-10-2018 07:44PM

STB. wrote: »

It would be a SERIOUS breach of Data Protection for An Post to use this information for any other purposes.

How when An Post are the collectors?

Paddy Cow · 01-10-2018 07:53PM

OP don't mind them. They are only fishing for money. When I moved into my current flat, I had a tv and transferred my license over. The tv was one of those giant analogue ones and it broke so I got rid of it and I couldn't afford a new one so just didn't bother as I had the internet. When the license ran out I started getting letters saying I had to renew. I filled out the form to say I no longer had a tv. They kept sending me letters saying if I didn't pay I could face a €1,000 fine.

One day I got a form in my letter box saying the tv inspector had visited but I wasn't at home and I had to pay up because there was evidence that I had a dish. Total bullsh!t. My landlord owns the main house and yes he had a dish but that was nothing to do with the granny flat in which I lived. I ignored their monthly threatening letters and one day I got a knock.

It was the tv guy and as soon as he said he was from An Post I gave him the warmest welcome he has probably ever received. I was sick of the harassment and wanted them off my back so I was like "so you're from An Post? Great, come on in. Just be warned I have dogs and a load of birds. I hope that doesn't bother you". I got him to check my bedroom and living area. I explained that I don't have a tv and could he please report back to HQ and get them to stop sending me threatening letters. I even explained that it wouldn't be practical for me to have a tv on the wall as the birds would just peck it to death and crap all over it. I thought that would be the end of it.

I heard nothing from them for about a year. Then the same inspector turned up on my door and again I wanted to bring him in and show him around but this time he didn't want to lol. He just asked me if I had got a tv since the last time and I said no. He was happy with that and off he went. A few months later I started getting more letters saying I needed to get a tv license :rolleyes: This continued for about 6 months, with me ignoring each one. Eventually they stopped and I haven't heard from them in three years.

OP remember that the tv license is nothing more than a Government sponsored protection racket for RTE. They will try to bully and cajole you into paying it. If you had a tv and were trying to get out of it, then sucks to be you, they can make you pay. There is no tv in your house. Don't pay.

SPDUB · 01-10-2018 09:21PM

Discodog wrote: »

It came in after An Post took over. We "interrogated" our postie at his retirement party.

He was pulling your leg .

1) An Post didn't take it over .They always employed the Inspectors back to when it was still P & T

2 ) I did delivery for An Post for a number of years and never once did what he described

Discodog · 01-10-2018 09:41PM

SPDUB wrote: »

He was pulling your leg .

1) An Post didn't take it over .They always employed the Inspectors back to when it was still P & T

2 ) I did delivery for An Post for a number of years and never once did what he described

I don't think he was. How do you suggest they suddenly got people's names when previous letters were sent to "the Occupier"?

Fr_Dougal · 01-10-2018 09:48PM

Discodog wrote: »

I don't think he was. How do you suggest they suddenly got people's names when previous letters were sent to "the Occupier"?

Electoral Register. Which is against Data Protection was laws now.

Discodog · 01-10-2018 10:05PM

Fr_Dougal wrote: »

Electoral Register. Which is against Data Protection was laws now.

I am not on the register & neither were several others who got named letters

dxhound2005 · 01-10-2018 10:09PM

Discodog wrote: »

I am not on the register & neither were several others who got named letters

I don't know what letters any of my neighbours get in the post, and I don't know how many of them are not on the electoral register. Maybe your neighbours need data protection.

01-10-2018 10:10PM

Needing a licence to own a tv is madness in this day and age

dxhound2005 · 01-10-2018 10:13PM

368100 wrote: »

Needing a licence to own a tv is madness in this day and age

It won't be long until people will pay for whatever content they want. Without something like a licence fee, nothing will be Free to Air. Some people won't be happy with that either.

SPDUB · 01-10-2018 10:15PM

I've no idea how they get the names

I know I , or anyone else in the office , never filled out a form for the Licence Inspector .

The only time an Inspector turned up at our office was to check if there was a telly there since there was no licence listed for the premises

01-10-2018 10:20PM

dxhound2005 wrote: »

It won't be long until people will pay for whatever content they want. Without something like a licence fee, nothing will be Free to Air. Some people won't be happy with that either.

If it was billed as a utility i wouldnt have as much of a problem with it, but needing a license for an electrical item in your house is where i think its stuck in the dark ages.....if there was a license for a radio itd seem ridiculous too.....and i dont agree that nothing will be free to air, plenty of other channels manage on advertising revenue alone, and I dare say their finances are probably in a lot better shape than RTE

dxhound2005 · 01-10-2018 10:24PM

368100 wrote: »

If it was billed as a utility i wouldnt have as much of a problem with it, but needing a license for an electrical item in your house is where i think its stuck in the dark ages.....if there was a license for a radio itd seem ridiculous too.....and i dont agree that nothing will be free to air, plenty of other channels manage on advertising revenue alone, and I dare say their finances are probably in a lot better shape than RTE

It started in 1926 as a Wireless (Radio) Licence.

http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1926/act/45/enacted/en/html

01-10-2018 10:25PM

dxhound2005 wrote: »

It started in 1926 as a Wireless (Radio) Licence.

http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1926/act/45/enacted/en/html

Yes.....somebody needs to tell them its not 1926 any more

dxhound2005 · 01-10-2018 10:30PM

368100 wrote: »

Yes.....somebody needs to tell them its not 1926 any more

Every facet of economic activity is taxed in some fashion. It was only a few short years from the start of radio broadcasting that the licence fee came in. So whatever technology comes along will also suffer the same fate.

01-10-2018 10:35PM

dxhound2005 wrote: »

Every facet of economic activity is taxed in some fashion. It was only a few short years from the start of radio broadcasting that the licence fee came in. So whatever technology comes along will also suffer the same fate.

Again, Ive no problem with that.....its just backwards to arbitrarily levy a "license fee" for having a tv in the house, whether its used or not. If other channels can manage on advertising revenue then RTE should be able to too...instead of propping up crazy salaries

TV Licence

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