TV License Prosecution?

JenniFurr

TL;DR: Read Bold.

So, at the start of the year I didn't pay my TV License because I read the conditions and found out that I actually don't need to have one. I don't own a TV at the moment because I watch pretty much everything on my laptop.

When I first moved into my home my parents gave me one of their old TVs and set up a satellite dish, which I never used. This is why I did hold a TV license at one point. The TV was pretty small and out of date so I gave it to a friend who needed a monitor.

About a month or two after my renewal date I got a notice that I'd missed a TV License Inspector. The notice said they'd come back in a week or so (I can't exactly remember) and I figured I'd catch them some other time to prove I didn't have a TV. The notice showed that they'd observed a satellite dish.

A few days ago I got a letter saying that if I didn't pay soon, I'd be fined €1000. I freaked out and downloaded a form and filled it out to pay monthly. I posted it today but when I got home, there's another notice from an inspector. This one is pretty much Identical but it has "(For Prosecution)" written on it.

So as you can guess I'm a little freaked out and also pissed off. I've just sent a form to pay for a license I don't need and I'm being threatened with prosecution. Can they really prosecute me if they've never verified that I don't have a TV? Is this a guarantee that they're going to prosecute me?

Sorry for the long explanation.

dev100

Email them with your old license number and inform them you no longer need a license as you don't own or use a TV . End of story

JenniFurr

dev100 wrote: »

Email them with your old license number and inform them you no longer need a license as you don't own or use a TV . End of story

Thanks for the concise answers to my questions. :rolleyes:

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

Why would you pay for a TV licence if you don't have a TV?
Or maybe you do have one

Victor

The satellite dish may be an issue.

njs030

If you have equipment capable of receiving a signal you need a TV licence so because you have the satellite dish you'll have to get one.

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/consumer_affairs/media/tv_licences.html

Paulownia

notjustsweet wrote: »

If you have equipment capable of receiving a signal you need a TV licence so because you have the satellite dish you'll have to get one.

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/consumer_affairs/media/tv_licences.html

I wonder why you would go to all the trouble of putting up a satellite dish if you weren't having a television. I can see if you moved into a house and it was there already that you might not have a television but the fact that you installed it tells a lot.
Also the size and age of the television is irrelevant

brian_t

notjustsweet wrote: »

If you have equipment capable of receiving a signal you need a TV licence so because you have the satellite dish you'll have to get one.

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/consumer_affairs/media/tv_licences.html

A satellite dish is not a television. You don't need a licence to have a satellite dish (if you have no Television).

njs030

brian_t wrote: »

A satellite dish is not a television. You don't need a licence to have a satellite dish (if you have no Television).

You didn't read the link then

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

noel100

When I first got married 20yrs ago the house had an Ariel on the roof, we had no TV and we had to pay for a TV licence.

Discodog

notjustsweet wrote: »

You didn't read the link then

This has been covered so many times. You do not need a license for a satellite dish because it is not an apparatus capable of receiving a signal without additional equipment. An inspector will say that a dish is evidence of a tv but a dish on it's own isn't enough to prosecute.

Peregrinus

notjustsweet wrote: »

If you have equipment capable of receiving a signal you need a TV licence so because you have the satellite dish you'll have to get one.

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/consumer_affairs/media/tv_licences.html

In summarising the legislation (Pt 9 of the Broadcasting Act 2009), the Citizens Information website condenses it just a bit to much, and leaves out some important details. One of the omitted details is that the what the legislation actually talks about is "apparatus capable of receiving and exhibiting television broadcasting services". A satellite dish or ariel alone is not enough.

njs030

Discodog wrote: »

This has been covered so many times. You do not need a license for a satellite dish because it is not an apparatus capable of receiving a signal without additional equipment. An inspector will say that a dish is evidence of a tv but a dish on it's own isn't enough to prosecute.

Okk....not everyone reads the forum enough to know what's covered on a regular basis. I think every forum has those posts and it's hard not to get exasperated...but good to try.
Sorry

Thanks poster above, I appreciate the detailed explanation