Legal proceedings no TV licence

Z

Zippy

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Should I be worried ? A TV licence inspector called to my home recently, I assured him that I had a TV licence but could not find it at the time. I do in fact have an up to date licence renewed in February but apparently his records did not show this. He assured me he would check this and amend his records, problem solved. Today I received notice of legal proceedings, should I just let this run until I am presented with a fine or court date, then demand an apology (this would be my chosen option, wipe their noses in it), or should I contact The TV licence records office and prove my innocence now?
 
so would I,

ps you never said you had found the tv licence, just check again its in your name and current address, ie where tv licence was requested


edited to say : sorry if stupid question but is it dated prior to visit by tv licence inspector
 
Thanks for reply, inspector called in May, and yes I have since found my TV licence and all details address etc are correct.
 
Is the TV license inspector empowered to enter your home and verify if you have no TV ? Can a person claim to have no TV set/broken TV set but refuse entry to him or her ? How does that work ?
 
sign said:
Is the TV license inspector empowered to enter your home and verify if you have no TV ? Can a person claim to have no TV set/broken TV set but refuse entry to him or her ? How does that work ?
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A tuner gives off a signal they can detect from outside. They can even tell which station you are watching.
 
ClubMan said:
I doubt that the inspector can enter your home without permission.
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Nope, they cannot enter without permission, they need to obtain a search warrant and then return with the Gardai to enter. This could take a few days. Plenty of time in between to obtain a licence.
 
ClubMan said:
I doubt that the inspector can enter your home without permission.
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I doubted that while the guards need warrants to enter the homes of criminals involved in serious crime that they would conversely have draconian powers regarding TV sets.


aircobra19 said:
A tuner gives off a signal they can detect from outside. They can even tell which station you are watching.
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But how can they prove that any signal comes from my house and not from behind it or beside it etc? In many houses I can think of , in particular my own, the neighbours TV set is on the opposite side of the party wall from mine.

And in lots of houses in particular my mothers old Georgian house, the TV set is at the back and there is a huge barrier at the front and back between where the public street meets the door.
No signal could get through. Can you explain some more about the science involved in this ?

bond-007 said:
Nope, they cannot enter without permission, they need to obtain a search warrant and then return with the Gardai to enter. This could take a few days. Plenty of time in between to obtain a licence.
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I would think plenty of time to be rid of my TV set or to buy a licence and a TV set.



If they cant physically prove I have a TV set then how can they enforce the law :confused:
 
(Clubman, Wipe their noses in it - see original post)

The licence inspectors follow a set procedure. There is a flow chart on the internet somewhere that details it. Interestingly, it assumes that the occupant has a television.
 
To clarify a few points re above (1) Inspectors work from a database which tells them houses/apartments which have/haven't licences. This database is not always accurate e.g the slightest error in spelling will cause problems. (2) Inspectors do not have any kind of apparatus to detect a TV in a house. (3) They do not have permission to enter a house. They request permission. (4) Once an aerial is detected they can prosecute, an aerial is part of a TV apparatus under the Act. (5) They give plenty of time for a licence to be purchased and/or a licence holder to produce a current licence, or if cannot be found, give details of where purchased, when etc. Going to Court is a very last resort. As a general rule this is how it works. I know individuals will have different stories which have been covered on this forum before.
 
I'm surprised the TV inspector has never called round to my house given I haven't had a licence for well over a year. I'm on the NTL database too - or certainly they keep sending out letters either asking me to rejoin or claiming I still owe them money. As far as I'm aware, NTL pass on details of their customers for licence inspection purposes.

I certainly won't be giving the inspector permission to go poking around my house!
 
oldtimer said:
To clarify a few points re above (1) Inspectors work from a database which tells them houses/apartments which have/haven't licences. This database is not always accurate e.g the slightest error in spelling will cause problems. (2) Inspectors do not have any kind of apparatus to detect a TV in a house. (3) They do not have permission to enter a house. They request permission. (4) Once an aerial is detected they can prosecute, an aerial is part of a TV apparatus under the Act. (5) They give plenty of time for a licence to be purchased and/or a licence holder to produce a current licence, or if cannot be found, give details of where purchased, when etc. Going to Court is a very last resort. As a general rule this is how it works. I know individuals will have different stories which have been covered on this forum before.
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How do they detect an aerial? A lot of places have no visible aerial.
 
sign said:
....But how can they prove that any signal comes from my house and not from behind it or beside it etc? In many houses I can think of , in particular my own, the neighbours TV set is on the opposite side of the party wall from mine.

And in lots of houses in particular my mothers old Georgian house, the TV set is at the back and there is a huge barrier at the front and back between where the public street meets the door.
No signal could get through. Can you explain some more about the science involved in this ?....
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I found links before about this, but can't at the moment.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/notesandqueries/query/0,5753,-22440,00.html
[broken link removed]

I'm sure it would it easy to work out if they were bothered to try. That said I've never a detector van and am inclinded to believe that one doesn't exist, as you'd see one if they did in fact have them. They just send a letter to people not on their database, 9 time out of 10 the person will have a TV.
 
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