TV LICENCE DETECTION 2

You do NOT need a TV Licence for owning any kind of TV receiver/VCR/Satellite receiver/PC with TV-TCard (PC/TV) etc. Whenever the TVLA tells you that you must buy a TV Licence when you have a TV they are misleading you. To make their life less complicated the TVLA simply assumes that any TV will be used for watching TV broadcasts from British soil. You are under no obligation to allow an Enquiry Officer to enter your home ... UNLESS ... he/she can show a search warrant. If an Enquiry Officer without a search warrant does attempt to enter your home without your permission, this would be unlawful under English law, as it would constitute trespass.

In order to enter and search your house a search warrant is applied for by the TVLA. As a private organisation the TVLA have to book court time and give evidence to the Magistrate(s) that the household is using a TV as a receiver without the appropriate licence and that a normal request to enter the premises was denied. The warrant will almost certainly then be granted. No evidence that you use a TV as a receiver means no warrant. It's administratively expensive for them to get warrants and then to execute them so they are used much less frequently than people think. If they have the evidence to get a warrant and they also have your name, then they will usually go straight to issuing you with a summons to bring you to court.

This is administratively far more cost-effective as in each Magistrates Court region they prosecute approx 50 cases in a 2 hour court session every 4-6 weeks and if they don't win a few of these they don't mind as long as the deterrent effect on the local population is achieved. Now suppose the warrant is granted; an Enquiry Officer can then execute a search without being accompanied by police, however, a visit is usually conducted in the presence of a police officer to prevent a possible breach of the peace. Entry and search must be within one month from the date of the warrant's issue. You have the right to see the warrant and to be supplied with a copy.

If the police accompanies the Enquiry officer you are also entitled to see the police officer's warrant card as a means of identification and in any case, the police officer should identify him or herself. The Police must keep a record of the search, noting whether they needed to use force to get in and if they caused any damage. You or a friend should be allowed to be present during the search but this right can be refused if it is thought it might hinder investigations. If the search caused damage and you were not connected to the crime they were investigating, you can apply for compensation.

The warrant must be endorsed afterwards by the police to show the following:

* Whether articles or persons specified in the warrant were found
* Whether any other articles were seized
* The date and time of the search's execution
* The names of the officers who executed it
* Whether a copy of the warrant, together with a notice of powers and rights, was handed to the occupier or left at the premises

The occupier of the premises that have been searched has a right to inspect the search warrant, which should have been returned to the Magistrates' Court, within twelve months.

A few years ago, I got enormous grief from them. I don't even have a TV. To explain: when I moved into my flat, I had a long-term plan to (eventually) get a TV and video, and subscribe to NTL. But my parents' VCR suddenly died on them, and there were a couple of programmes I really wanted them to tape for me. So I decided to buy a VCR early and lend it to the parents until such time as they could afford to replace theirs, but I took out extra cover using my name and address, since I was going to be the one using it eventually.

If I'd known what was going to happen next I'd have had second thoughts about that. I was very surprised to receive a letter, plus a licence form, from TVL; I just sent it back with a note saying I didn't have a TV. They sent another, plus notification that an inspector would call on such a date. He didn't turn up, not that I waited in for him.

A third letter, suggesting I might have a PC (true, although there's no possible way they could know that for sure, since I built it myself) with a TV card (most definitely false - the non-TV version of my graphics card was cheaper). I wrote back an extremely snotty letter asking them "What part of 'I don't have a TV' don't you morons get? Did I perhaps write in Greek, or did I use too many one-syllable words?". By now I'd realised why they'd latched onto me like a damn lamprey (ever seen one? All those teeth? ), and explained what had happened, i.e. the VCR business; I invited them to check with my parents (they didn't).

As for the possibility of the TV-enabled graphics card, I said that Windows was quite unstable enough without trying to watch TV drivel on it, thank you very much. As for 'any other member of my household' who might have had a licence at some point, I explained that the only other member was my 9-month-old kitten, who wouldn't watch TV even if I had one. She certainly didn't have a licence, and still doesn't.

The inspector did turn up eventually, and I showed him the aerial lead, which doesn't even have a co-ax plug on the end, hasn't had since I moved in (in 1999), and now probably never will. Thankfully I haven't heard anything since from these gorts. I still don't have a TV, and now, purely on principle, I have no intention whatsoever of getting one until the licence fee is abolished. I told 'em so, too. Besides, given the utter crap that's apparently on these days, what the hell do I want a TV for? I get all the entertainment I want from DVDs, reading and playing with my cat!

There are a couple of programmes I watch, but the mother tapes them for me so I can watch them (on their licensed TV) when I visit at the weekend. But that's it. On delving further, I now discover you do not need a TV licence for a TV card. Interesting. Anonymouse

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