I received a threatening letter from the TV licence people. Which is interesting as I have a TV license. The top of the letter stated that a visit had been authorised. Authorised by whom, I wonder? Certainly not me and I have no intention of letting them in if they do call. They can try to prosecute if they so wish. I’ll see them in court along with a print-out of my TV license.
It would be nice, wouldn’t it, if they could just check their own database before hitting the send button – it’s not like the license post dates the letter or anything…
At one house where we lived for about 5 years, we received a rude and threatening letter every couple of months saying they were coming to get us. As it happened we had a TV license, but it was clearly a waste of money since they never did turn up.
Just invite them to break your door in if they come and visit. Then enjoy billing them for the pleasure.
They can’t do anything if you don’t let them into your house. They have to get a court order for that and have to be escorted by the Police.
Just expect to be bombarded with increasingly dire warnings.
It’s all bluster and bullying.
Don’t reply, keep a copy of the licence close by, and wait for them to call. Should be good sport.
Richard, yeah, that’s what I was thinking 😉
A lass I know got the knock at the door many years ago.
“Oh!” she exclaimed, “I haven’t got one!”
“Right” said our trainee Fuhrer, licking the tip of his pencil and opening his note book, “No TV at this address. Sorry to have bothered you Luv”.
If you want a bit of fun, as the legal occupier you could write to them and tell them that you have withdrawn their ‘implied right of access’. This will deny them any access to your property. You could also tell them that any further letters will be considered as harassment. If they still call don’t speak to them, just close the door.
Google it, there are plenty of amusing anecdotes about this.
Let them take it all the way to court. Produce your licence in court then claim your expenses. Kerching!
The same think happened to me so I blackmailed them…and they paid up.
A couple of years ago it occurred to me that I should have kept all the threatening letters I’d received (and still do) and put them together into some kind of Turner Prize-type installation… but I didn’t.
If my experience is anything to go by, you get one visit every five years, during working hours, so I’m still not sure they actually exist.
I don’t have a TV; when I first moved into my place I kept getting the increasingly threatening letters – and kept ignoring them.
Eventually the letters said that they had passed the case to their Enforcement Division (oooooh!)
One evening their was a knock at the door…
-“Hello, I’m from TV Licensing; it’s nothing to be worried about, we noticed you haven’t got a TV Licence.”
-“I don’t have a TV.”
-“Oh, how long has this been for?”
-“Ever since I moved here.”
-“Are you planning to get one?”
-“No.”
-“Okay.”
With that he was gone.
No TV, no licence
They keep sending letters demanding that I do something – buy a licence in large font and in a much smaller font on the back if I don’t have a TV, demand I write to them or phone them or go online and tell them I haven’t got one.
Then they’ll send someone round to check that I’m not lying.
Our last apology for a government had a new anti-slavery bill drafted to ‘protect’ ‘vulnerable’ people from being abused by less vulnerable people.
The bill seems to have been quietly dropped: I am sure that someone somewhere in our labyrinthine government twigged that where government is concerned we are all ‘vulnerable’. Those nice TV licensing people telling us to do something is a petty form of slavery, but then every tax is too.
Winston
Why has that scene from “The Young Ones” just pooped into my head?
“Ah! That old trick eh? Eat the telly”.
Well I must be unlucky as hell.
No TV licence registered at ‘this address’ letters and ‘authorised for inspection’ letters arrive every month and the local Crapita Stasi salesman calls every two months.
Twice I quietly shut the door in his face the last time I ignored his knock.
At first it was funny shutting the door in his face. He would write out a ‘we said we would call’ invitation to cough up, stick it in the letterbox and retire to his car to find out where his next cash cow is but now it’s just an annoyance so it will have to be a legal occupier letter withdrawing their presumed right of access.
we are being harrassed by threatening letters from tv licensing.I have rung them several times and the last time they said yes you have a license and will not hear any more from us ha ha .Another two letters saying the enforcement officers will be calling if I do not buy a licence. i am a pensioner with heart problems and this is very upsetting