TV licence summons

Poncherello

Received one this morning. TBO Have always ignored the letters. Have lived in current address for 3 years which I own. I am wondering could the fine be hefty due to this ? If I go and buy the license now will that make any difference ??

Thx

Our man in Havana

Buying a licence now will mitigate the punishment as you are still guilty of the offence. Max fine is €500 for a first offence but you will get nowhere near that. If you buy a licence now and produce it in court, you will only be fined around €100.

CantGetNoSleep

We've heard all the excuses

Duiske

CantGetNoSleep wrote: »

We've heard all the excuses

But the op is not offering excuses. He readily admits ignoring the letters.

Poncherello, have you bought a licence before at that address ?

Poppy Cock

CantGetNoSleep wrote: »

We've heard all the excuses

And? The OP never gave an excuse, so what's you point?

Poncherello

Thanks for the advice Bond, bought one yesterday - somebody else told me to call up An Post TV license Dept and tell them this(which they can verify) and the proceeding could be cancelled ??
No never had one at this address
Perhaps Cantgetnosleep could offer a few good excuses in case things go awry down at the District Court next month

Shinners23

Poppy Cock wrote: »

And? The OP never gave an excuse, so what's you point?

I think you will find... that is the slogan for the ad's on tv ....."we've heard all the excuses!!!"

I have been there, done that..... had my day in court..... it was quite a funny experience..... thrown out of court which was great for me..

theleprechaun

do they have to give you time to get a licence or can they just summon you without any notice that you need to get one?

Our man in Havana

They generally give you about 10 days to comply.

DonJose

Bond-007 wrote: »

They generally give you about 10 days to comply.

Surely if this was the case then nobody would buy a TV licence until the inspector called or they received a summons.

cormie

What's to say you even have a tv?

Cabaal

cormie wrote: »

What's to say you even have a tv?

sky dish on his house/flat?

betty boo 1992

I received a summons yesterday had just bought my licence literally hours before hand. am wondering if there is any way to settle out of court. would gladly pay the fine and avoid day in court help!!!!!!!!!! some one told me that by calling them up i could have it quashed there and then...

Our man in Havana

Cabaal wrote: »

sky dish on his house/flat?

Doesn't prove a person has a TV, could be used to listen to radio or sat internet.

nuac

If you have got the licence and summons on the same day, it may help to write to the solicitor who issued the summons - usually the local state solicitor - with copy of the licence. They may decide not to enter the summons in the court list.

Even if they do, it is likely that the court would reduce the fine.

kiffer

I was living in a house in a house with no cablelink / ntl / sky connection and the inspector man called round. We'd just moved in maybe a month before and weren't missing the tv at all.

So I tell the inspector that we have just moved in and have no tele and we don't miss it cause we spend most of the evening playing round on the internet...

He looked really confused, and said something about letting him know if we'd changed our minds by the end of next month.

Then a month later we got a letter saying that the we had disclosed the presence of an unlicence television and we'd be fined if we didn't pay.

Apparently not having a tv is also one of the excuses that they've heard.

Bren1609

I'm also curious as to how that works. I live in an apt and dont own a tv, however I got a letter from an post asking me to disclose how many tv's I owned. How did an post get my details?

CantGetNoSleep

I think the post man has to compile a list of all addresses he delivers to, this is then used to figure out who lives where

Our man in Havana

+1

That is exactly how it is done. If you get post your name is on their list. Also data from the electoral register is also used.