TVL inspectors are employees of Capita, and are paid a basic salary with commission for each licence evader they catch or licence that they sell. The job description is available here.

A TVL employee has no additional legal rights beyond that of any member of the public - they have no more right to enter your home or question you about your television than your postman or dentist.

If you do not feel comfortable letting them into your home, or even speaking to them, you are under absolutely no obligation to do so.

A TVL employee has no right to demand entry, unless they are in possession of a valid search warrant.

When are they used?

If an address has failed to respond to TVL's letters for a prolonged period, a TVL inspector may call in person.

This is typically reserved for areas where licence rates are below average, and which fit the expected social profile (such as a high concentration of students, lower incomes, or single parents).

Most visits are performed during the day, and around 70% of prosecutions are against women (this paper found that in 1994, 57% of all female convictions in England and Wales related to television licence evasion).

An interesting statistic is that only 12% of visits discover that a licence is needed, while 8% of visits are unwarranted (as they find the household does not need a licence). In addition, 80% of all visits fail to make any contact with the householder at all.

What do they do?

A TVL inspector will attempt to determine if a TV licence is available for the property. If no licence is available, they will attempt to sell one to the householder or obtain enough evidence to bring a prosecution.

As a result of a FOI request, the BBC have released the Visiting Procedures handbook issued to all inspectors. This documents the procedures they are required to follow on each visit:

1. Always prove their identity by showing their identity card and, on request, provide a telephone number so that this can be confirmed.
2. Always state why they are visiting.
3. Be polite and courteous at all times (this extends to any notes written about the customer/interviewee on the Visit Request).
4. Conduct enquiries firmly and fairly and in the least intrusive way possible.
5. Never threaten or intimidate, and to stop the enquiry if asked to leave.
6. Only enter a property when given permission.

If you feel that an inspector has breached any of these guidelines, you may wish to lodge a complaint with TV Licensing.

What does "questioned under caution" mean?

A TVL employee may attempt to "administer a caution" to you. Although this sounds intimidating, it is quite different from a police caution.

To "administer a caution" to someone, in the general sense, simply means to inform them of their rights.

It does not mean that you are under arrest, or that the person reading the caution has the power to arrest you (unless of course they are a police officer).

A TVL employee is entitled to administer a caution to you, however you are perfectly entitled to administer a caution to them simply by repeating their words back to them.

What is the Police and Criminal Evidence Act?

The Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE) is a body of legislation which describes how the police should carry out some of their duties (particularly with respect to interviews).

For example, it ensures that if you are interviewed by the police then two copies of the interview must be made and one of those copies must be given to you so that the interview record can not be changed afterwards.

As with administering a caution, anyone is free to interview anyone else in accordance with PACE. To do so simply means that you are following the same rules that a police officer would, and does not give you any additional authority.

Refusing an interview

As a TVL employee is not a police officer, you are under no obligation to comply with their requests.

According to the TVL's own service guidelines, TVL Inspectors must "stop the enquiry if asked to leave" and "will only enter a property when given permission". You are perfectly entitled to ask a TVL employee to leave, and to refuse permission for them to enter your home (you do not need to state a reason).

If presented with a caution by a TVL employee, and informed that you will be questioned in accordance with PACE, you may wish to request your "free and independent legal advice".

Access to this is required under PACE, although as a TVL employee is not a police officer they have no requirement to provide it (however if they do not, they are no longer questioning you in accordance with PACE).

You may wish to record your own copy of the interview with a camera. The TVL employee may request that you turn it off, however if they are standing on public property (or your private property) then you are perfectly entitled to film them to ensure their inteview notes are accurate.