Have you paid your TV Licence?

[PvtPyle]

Originally Posted by iCraig

Innocent until proven guilty, you don't ram him into court and go "Right, you're guilty of not paying your TV license. You now have the opportunity to prove your innocence. Begin!"

Interestingly, and on a side note, I believe this is how the legal system in Japan works. The accused is presumed guilty unless he can prove himself innocent.

[Treefrog]

Originally Posted by iCraig

Until they have proof, they shouldn't go around threatening and harassing people.

Agreed. But as the letters are just worded to sound intimidating rather than actually accusing they are underhanded but not illegal, and I'm guessing that they can send out a lot of letters for the same cost as one inspector's visit.

And like the e-mail scams - if it didn't work, they'd stop doing it.

[PvtPyle]

Originally Posted by Treefrog

Agreed. But as the letters are just worded to sound intimidating rather than actually accusing they are underhanded but not illegal, and I'm guessing that they can send out a lot of letters for the same cost as one inspector's visit.

And like the e-mail scams - if it didn't work, they'd stop doing it.

Indeed. I imagine that they are particularly effective with pensioners.

[Admiral Huddy]

I once paid a Bill... Bloody cowbow he was.

[Dee]

Any letters we get from them, I bin. Ive had this problem for years, they keep sending letters saying there is no license at this address. Yes there sodding well is!

Daz goes mad at me

[BBx]

That's funny Stan

****es me off that you have to pay 6mths in advance aswell.

How completely *** is that!?!

BB x

[Justsomebloke]

I pay mine & I am on my arse
I have a little plaggy card i use & pay a bit off here & there, I get a letter every now & again telling me i have fallen behind a bit & just pay a bit more, It's not one of the bills that causes probs i must say

[MarcLister]

Originally Posted by Bigstan

TVL are utterly useless and pay no attention when you do contact them anyway.

When I was living in the company flat, my employers paid the licence fee and we always kept the licence handy just in case. I decided I wanted some 37" HD LCD goodness so popped down to the local Hydro Electric shop to spend some of my hard earned cash. They, of course, took my details and two weeks later I received a letter from TVL stating that they were aware that I'd recently purchased a television but there was no record of a licence in my name at that address. OK, thought I, that's fair enough even though it should have been relatively simple to check their database and discover that there was actually a valid licence for that address in a different name. There was a form on the back for the purpose of informing them of this in which I had to input the name on the existing licence and the licence number etc. which I filled in and dutifully posted to them.

Two weeks later I received another demand from them so I filled in the form again but added a comment that I had already done so and that if they could not manage to check their own system, I would no longer play their game.

I got another demand a few weeks later and decided I was just going to ignore them. I got several more letters similar to the guy in the link until I finally got a visit. The guy knocked on the door and asked my name which I told him, he then told me his detector had detected that I was watching telly which I admitted. He then proceeded to tell me that it was an offence to watch telly without a valid TV licence which I agreed with. I then showed him the licence with my employers name on it. He went very red and mumbled what I took to be an apology and scrpered rather quickly

Numpties.

I had a similar problem with the TV licence idiots. I bought a TV card for my PC and had it sent to my home address since it was going to be the Xmas hols. I had to put my address in, obviously to get the damned thing delivered. So you can imagine my fury when the silly boys sent me a letter at Easter saying I hadn't paid for a TV licence at my home address.

No because Mummy already pays for one morons. How they couldn't check the address on the database I don't know. I honestly believe the agency tasked with enforcing this doesn't care and wants to get money out of anyone it can regardless of whether they owe money or not.

[Stan_Lite]

Originally Posted by MarcLister

I honestly believe the agency tasked with enforcing this doesn't care and wants to get money out of anyone it can regardless of whether they owe money or not.

That's certainly what it looks like. Maybe they're banking on people not realising they only need one licence per property and paying up without checking - probably works with some poor sods too.

[MarcLister]

A bit unscupulous really. I had a TV licence in the first year of Uni, being a good boy and all that!

Don't have one now, why? No reception here.

Can't remember what we did about this demand for a payment, I think Mummy rang the pillocks up and told them off in only a way a Mummy can.

I know enough about IT and databases to say with almost 100% conviction (say 99.99% ) that the TV licence peeps should be able to cross-reference addresses. So if I put my home address in for getting a TV card delivered, they can check and see that it isn't a multi-occupancy address and that Mummy has already paid so lets not waste a few pennies on a letter to Mr Lister that is only going to get us a stern phone call from his Mummy saying how silly we are.