Can the BBC really tell if you've got a television licence? Can you get away without paying?
I heard that there is no way a van can detect whether someone has a TV in their house, what with all the other modern electrical equipment in the home. And that if they come to your door, you don't have to let them in. So why bother paying the licence fee? (I don't want to watch BBC, but I still have to pay them just to receive their competitors' services - it's a ridiculous system)
Answers:
yes they can tell if you haven't got a licence , but to confirm that you have a television set they need to see it working , and to see it working you need to let them into your house , which you DO NOT have to do and they have no rights of entry , mt dad refused for years to buy a TV and he was constantly harassed by TV licence people to pay for his TV , in the end he wrote them a letter saying he does not have a t.v. and if they want to come and check they need to make an appointment for which he will charge them £65 per hour for his time and he never heard anything again , don't know if it would work now though but it's worth a try
I had someone knock on my door saying i didn't have when when i've been paying it for years, i also said i was just babysitting for the owner once when i didn't have one.
i dont know, but when you get television equipment you have to provide them with your tv licence number
i hope not because i have not got a licence
Of course they can't. This is one big rip off
dont answer your door
It's not the BBC, but a government department. You are paying to have a reciever in your house, it's just that the Beeb gets the money. I think the detector vans are a con as well. When you buy a TV, or a digibox, the retailer has to forward your name and address, so you could give a false one. It think TV licencing now works on the basis that everyone has a TV, so they just check every address without a licence.
every time you buy a tv a form is sent to the BBC licencing dept. Everyone who buys a TV licence is on a computer. They have vans that can tell if your set is on and as vertualy every house has at least 1 TV all they have to do is look at the list of people who have bought licences, and knock on the doors of people who haven't.
dont be so daft course you cant get away without getting one u will get found out in the end
They can tell and people do get done.
They are too ashamed to tell you openly.
I would not risk it.
You have to give address when you buy a TV, so the BBC have a data base of folk with a TV.
They also know few people have no TV.
Many years ago they hassled an old bloke by where I live because he didn't have a license, he did not have a TV either but they kept sending the detector van round.
In the end we threatened the BBC with harassment charges.
Then we bought him a second hand TV and he watched it for years without any hassle until he died.
The BBC do not have any equipment to see if you have. It's a big con just because they assume everyone has a TV. If the BBC come a knocking ask the if they have a warrant they will not because they assume people will just let them in, the police don't even have right of entry without a warrant. So my advice is tell them where to get off they can do nothing and they won't be bothered to go to court to get a warrant. Hope this helps.
I thought it was ridiculous that I had to pay £120+ for a year for a T.V. licence. (We don't have those fees in North America). A week after I was able to borrow a TV, I was checking if it worked, had it on for only 30 min, and I got a knock at the door from the TV guy. Long story short, I paid for the licence but did not have to pay the £1000 fine. (With that amount, I could get caught littering 20 times and it would still be cheaper!)
Yes they can tell if you have a TV switched on and they can tell what channel you are watching.
For the technical, they detect the radiation from the TV local oscillator.
The vans don't really exist any more - legend has it that a man sat in the back turning a handle to make the 'radar' go round(!) However, if you are on any register (electoral, Council Tax etc) you are automatically cross referenced against your address and its license status. If you don't have one you WILL be fined. Personally, I support the license fee - Extras, The 10 O'clock news, live football on Radio 5 and the Today programme every day on radio 4 are well worth 150 odd quid a year to me.
what i do know is if you live in shared accomodation for example you can have as many second hand tellys in as many rooms as you like and they will never find out as long as you dont let them in.
No need for a van. All they need is a list of the addresses in the UK, a computer and some software.
They find out what addresses in the UK do not have a TV licence by using GIS (Geographic Information System). This system filters out those addresses with licences and highlights all the addresses without TV licences. So they will get around to your area eventually.
I don't know about not letting them in because surely they would take it further.
I'm certain they can look up whether you have a license. Determining whether you have a TV is another matter. My guess is they assume everyone does.
yes they can - almost every home has one therefore you dont need any fancy equipment - just knock on any door
It is impossible to detect receivers like a TV, but i bet you have a video, which is a transmitter.
Now they just check the council lists against their computers.
Even if your TV does not receive the BBC. you can be fined for owning a radio instead.
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Answers:
yes they can tell if you haven't got a licence , but to confirm that you have a television set they need to see it working , and to see it working you need to let them into your house , which you DO NOT have to do and they have no rights of entry , mt dad refused for years to buy a TV and he was constantly harassed by TV licence people to pay for his TV , in the end he wrote them a letter saying he does not have a t.v. and if they want to come and check they need to make an appointment for which he will charge them £65 per hour for his time and he never heard anything again , don't know if it would work now though but it's worth a try
I had someone knock on my door saying i didn't have when when i've been paying it for years, i also said i was just babysitting for the owner once when i didn't have one.
i dont know, but when you get television equipment you have to provide them with your tv licence number
i hope not because i have not got a licence
Of course they can't. This is one big rip off
dont answer your door
It's not the BBC, but a government department. You are paying to have a reciever in your house, it's just that the Beeb gets the money. I think the detector vans are a con as well. When you buy a TV, or a digibox, the retailer has to forward your name and address, so you could give a false one. It think TV licencing now works on the basis that everyone has a TV, so they just check every address without a licence.
every time you buy a tv a form is sent to the BBC licencing dept. Everyone who buys a TV licence is on a computer. They have vans that can tell if your set is on and as vertualy every house has at least 1 TV all they have to do is look at the list of people who have bought licences, and knock on the doors of people who haven't.
dont be so daft course you cant get away without getting one u will get found out in the end
They can tell and people do get done.
They are too ashamed to tell you openly.
I would not risk it.
You have to give address when you buy a TV, so the BBC have a data base of folk with a TV.
They also know few people have no TV.
Many years ago they hassled an old bloke by where I live because he didn't have a license, he did not have a TV either but they kept sending the detector van round.
In the end we threatened the BBC with harassment charges.
Then we bought him a second hand TV and he watched it for years without any hassle until he died.
The BBC do not have any equipment to see if you have. It's a big con just because they assume everyone has a TV. If the BBC come a knocking ask the if they have a warrant they will not because they assume people will just let them in, the police don't even have right of entry without a warrant. So my advice is tell them where to get off they can do nothing and they won't be bothered to go to court to get a warrant. Hope this helps.
I thought it was ridiculous that I had to pay £120+ for a year for a T.V. licence. (We don't have those fees in North America). A week after I was able to borrow a TV, I was checking if it worked, had it on for only 30 min, and I got a knock at the door from the TV guy. Long story short, I paid for the licence but did not have to pay the £1000 fine. (With that amount, I could get caught littering 20 times and it would still be cheaper!)
Yes they can tell if you have a TV switched on and they can tell what channel you are watching.
For the technical, they detect the radiation from the TV local oscillator.
The vans don't really exist any more - legend has it that a man sat in the back turning a handle to make the 'radar' go round(!) However, if you are on any register (electoral, Council Tax etc) you are automatically cross referenced against your address and its license status. If you don't have one you WILL be fined. Personally, I support the license fee - Extras, The 10 O'clock news, live football on Radio 5 and the Today programme every day on radio 4 are well worth 150 odd quid a year to me.
what i do know is if you live in shared accomodation for example you can have as many second hand tellys in as many rooms as you like and they will never find out as long as you dont let them in.
No need for a van. All they need is a list of the addresses in the UK, a computer and some software.
They find out what addresses in the UK do not have a TV licence by using GIS (Geographic Information System). This system filters out those addresses with licences and highlights all the addresses without TV licences. So they will get around to your area eventually.
I don't know about not letting them in because surely they would take it further.
I'm certain they can look up whether you have a license. Determining whether you have a TV is another matter. My guess is they assume everyone does.
yes they can - almost every home has one therefore you dont need any fancy equipment - just knock on any door
It is impossible to detect receivers like a TV, but i bet you have a video, which is a transmitter.
Now they just check the council lists against their computers.
Even if your TV does not receive the BBC. you can be fined for owning a radio instead.
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