BBC TV Licensing
TVL Information
| The Letters |
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TVL's main method of communicating with the public is by post. Their letters are deliberately designed to be intimidatory, and to mislead you as to TVL's rights and your responsibilities to them. A typical letter, from January 2009, is: OFFICIAL WARNING
To the Legal Occupier. This is an official warning that the TV Licensing Enforcement Division will be proceeding with a full investigation of the above address. This is because there is still no record of a TV Licence at this property, despite our previous letters. By law, unless you have a valid TV Licence, it is a criminal offence for you or any member of your household to watch or record TV programmes as they are shown on TV, using any of the following equipment: colour or black and white TV set; DVD or video recorder; digital box; computer; or mobile phone. If you use any such equipment at this address, you need to buy a TV Licence now. Please visit www.tvlicensing.co.uk or call 0844 800 6720. If you do not use any such equipment at this address, please call 0844 800 6720 so we can update our records. However, if you do, please read the leaflet enclosed with this letter, which contains important information about the options available to you as our investigation proceeds. Should the outcome of this investigation be that you are found guilty of acting in contravention of The Communications Act 2003, you risk a fine of up to £1,000 in addition to legal costs.
Taking each part in turn: OFFICIAL WARNING
To the Legal Occupier. The letter starts with a red headline strap, and the implication that this letter is somehow similar to a police warning (however, unlike a police warning, a TVL warning has no legal weight).
This is an official warning that the TV Licensing Enforcement Division will be proceeding with a full investigation of the above address. This is because there is still no record of a TV Licence at this property, despite our previous letters.
TV Licensing's "Enforcement Division" is an internal group within TVL. Despite the imposing name, any department of TVL can perform a "full investigation" (presumably as opposed to a half-hearted one) of anything they like. TVL may well not have a record of a TV Licence at your property, however this may be for several reasons - their database may be incorrect, or you may not actually require a TV Licence. You are under no obligation to reply to or acknowledge any of their previous letters, even assuming such letters were received.
By law, unless you have a valid TV Licence, it is a criminal offence for you or any member of your household to watch or record TV programmes as they are shown on TV, using any of the following equipment: colour or black and white TV set; DVD or video recorded; digital box; computer; or mobile phone.
A TV licence is required for exactly one situation, as described in this paragraph - to receive live television programmes. A device such as a television set or a mobile phone requires a TV licence if, and only if, it is used to watch or record live television programmes. If it is not, it does not.
If you use any such equipment at this address, you need to buy a TV Licence now. Please visit www.tvlicensing.co.uk or call 0844 800 6720.
TVL are deliberately failing to mention that simply owning a device capable of receiving live television does not require a licence, and saying "use" whey they should have said "use to receive live television". If you simply use your television to watch DVDs or play video games, you will of course be "using" it (but not in a way that requires a licence). Unfortunately TVL will always choose to quote a 5p/min number (either 0844 or 0870) in their letters, rather than their freephone number (0800-551-550).
If you do not use any such equipment at this address, please call 0844 800 6720 so we can update our records. However, if you do, please read the leaflet enclosed with this letter, which contains important information about the options available to you as our investigation proceeds.
If you do not require a licence, you are under no obligation to inform TVL of anything. Many people have found that attempting to convince TVL that you do not require a licence is counter-productive since they appear to assume that any unlicenced property requires a licence.
Should the outcome of this investigation be that you are found guilty of acting in contravention of The Communications Act 2003, you risk a fine of up to £1,000 in addition to legal costs.
Although switching to bold emphasizes "found guilty", "contravention", "risk a fine", and "legal costs", this paragraph can also be ignored. If you are found guilty of anything, it will be as a result of a court decision - not a "TVL investigation". Although their statement is technically correct, it makes no attempt to explain that if you do not require a licence you can not be found guilty of anything. It is worth noting that you may also be at risk of a criminal prosecution for not having a fishing licence - unless of course you do not require one, in which case you are not.
Sarah Armstrong
Regional Enforcement Manager In the course of five months we received four letters from Sarah Armstrong - each of which used a different job title:
Although it is possible that Ms Armstrong changed job every 30 days, a more likely explanation is that her title is chosen to increase the sense that TVL have taken a special interest in your case (as you are contacted by a general manager, then the head of the department, a regional manager, and finally a manager for your local area). Alternatively, Ms Armstrong may simply be fictitious - an unfortunate anagram of her name is "Strongarm Haras", and her signature has also been seen to change from month to month. |