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Hi,
Sorry if this is in the wrong part of the forum but couldn't find where to put it. I live just with my 23 year old son who has just finished uni. I always had a tv licence up until around a year ago when I realised I hadn't watched live tv in months and was just 'when i was watching anything' using youtube, netflix, prime etc'. Money was tight and so i contacted tv licensing and looked online and found I didn't have to have a license if I wasn't watching live tv. So i let them know online and went through the correct steps. I no longer had a license. I still had a package with virgin of internet, phone and tv. I have the package simply because once a year when my contract is up for renewal I negotiate a deal with them and the package for all three is always cheaper than getting internet and phone separately. I am rarely downstairs in my living room and am usually in my bedroom. The next part will sound odd to some but it brings me comfort. My daughter died three years ago and her ashes and small personal belongings are in a corner of my living room. She used to love a show called Judge Judy (Which is ironic). So from time to time I will go into the living room and put the show on the tiv only ever on catchup. It then plays for an hour or so. It brings me comfort and yes I know its weird to some that i'm putting on a tv show in the hopes my daughter is there and can see it. But it is what it is.
Anyway, I got a knock on the door from a tv licensing man last week. Very young man in his 20's. He was very polite but has confused me and made me very nervous and not knowing what to do. He wanted to come in and double check that my virgin box was disconnected from the television. I had just gotten out of the bath and wasn't dressed properly and I also have a severe anxiety disorder which with a sudden visit from someone I didn't know demanding to be let in, left me really anxious.
I told him i never watched live tv and never watched the tv downstairs but kept the box screwed in so i could very rarely watch something on catchup but also so that now and again I could put my daughters show on in the living room for her. Obviously he thought I was lying but it is the absolute truth that I never ever watch live tv. He said 'and when i called them later they confirmed' that it didn't matter whether I watched live tv or not, that although i was allowed to watch catchup from virgin, that to watch catchup i would have to turn the tv on and that live tv would flick on even if only for a second before i could click the button for catch up. This just sounded ridiculous to me and of them trying to find any way of making someone pay. He said well we have no proof that you're not watching live tv if you have it attached to the tv. I always thought they had to prove me guilty but it seems with tv licensing I have to prove my innocence.
Anyway he said he would put me through the system again so someone would turn up out of the blue and i would have to let them in to check that i have now disconnected the box from the tv. He left and i went in and pulled out the scart lead and unplugged the box. I can't removed the white screwed in lead because it is just to tightly on and i can't get it off. So i can't put catch up on at all any more either for my daughter or upstairs on my pc because i am not allowed to have the box on. Is any of this right? I'll go by what you all say but it just seems strange that the law says i can have catchup but tv licensing say i can't have the box plugged in. I don't know what to do. It is unplugged etc for now but on the phone they said not only do i have to do that i have to remove the box totally. that even if they see the unplugged unconnected box anywhere near the tv i could be in trouble. If anyone can advise me as to my exact rights and what they have to prove or not prove etc i would be very grateful. sorry for the long post. Do I have to let them in? Do i have to totally remove the box?
Sorry if this is in the wrong part of the forum but couldn't find where to put it. I live just with my 23 year old son who has just finished uni. I always had a tv licence up until around a year ago when I realised I hadn't watched live tv in months and was just 'when i was watching anything' using youtube, netflix, prime etc'. Money was tight and so i contacted tv licensing and looked online and found I didn't have to have a license if I wasn't watching live tv. So i let them know online and went through the correct steps. I no longer had a license. I still had a package with virgin of internet, phone and tv. I have the package simply because once a year when my contract is up for renewal I negotiate a deal with them and the package for all three is always cheaper than getting internet and phone separately. I am rarely downstairs in my living room and am usually in my bedroom. The next part will sound odd to some but it brings me comfort. My daughter died three years ago and her ashes and small personal belongings are in a corner of my living room. She used to love a show called Judge Judy (Which is ironic). So from time to time I will go into the living room and put the show on the tiv only ever on catchup. It then plays for an hour or so. It brings me comfort and yes I know its weird to some that i'm putting on a tv show in the hopes my daughter is there and can see it. But it is what it is.
Anyway, I got a knock on the door from a tv licensing man last week. Very young man in his 20's. He was very polite but has confused me and made me very nervous and not knowing what to do. He wanted to come in and double check that my virgin box was disconnected from the television. I had just gotten out of the bath and wasn't dressed properly and I also have a severe anxiety disorder which with a sudden visit from someone I didn't know demanding to be let in, left me really anxious.
I told him i never watched live tv and never watched the tv downstairs but kept the box screwed in so i could very rarely watch something on catchup but also so that now and again I could put my daughters show on in the living room for her. Obviously he thought I was lying but it is the absolute truth that I never ever watch live tv. He said 'and when i called them later they confirmed' that it didn't matter whether I watched live tv or not, that although i was allowed to watch catchup from virgin, that to watch catchup i would have to turn the tv on and that live tv would flick on even if only for a second before i could click the button for catch up. This just sounded ridiculous to me and of them trying to find any way of making someone pay. He said well we have no proof that you're not watching live tv if you have it attached to the tv. I always thought they had to prove me guilty but it seems with tv licensing I have to prove my innocence.
Anyway he said he would put me through the system again so someone would turn up out of the blue and i would have to let them in to check that i have now disconnected the box from the tv. He left and i went in and pulled out the scart lead and unplugged the box. I can't removed the white screwed in lead because it is just to tightly on and i can't get it off. So i can't put catch up on at all any more either for my daughter or upstairs on my pc because i am not allowed to have the box on. Is any of this right? I'll go by what you all say but it just seems strange that the law says i can have catchup but tv licensing say i can't have the box plugged in. I don't know what to do. It is unplugged etc for now but on the phone they said not only do i have to do that i have to remove the box totally. that even if they see the unplugged unconnected box anywhere near the tv i could be in trouble. If anyone can advise me as to my exact rights and what they have to prove or not prove etc i would be very grateful. sorry for the long post. Do I have to let them in? Do i have to totally remove the box?
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