TV Licensing send threatening letters

Best bit of advice I can give is that if you can be bothered to write back to them. Send them a letter stating that you are revoking their "implied right of access" and anybody entering your property, which include coming up your drive, is trespassing and you will have them charged. Also that any further letters will be used as evidence of harrasment which is causing you distress and will be seeikng both a conviction and compesnsation.

I say, stick it to the man!

Just ignore the letters, let them spend their resources on fluff.

And just deny them access to your house. Don't let them in!

Stay on your rights. Its your home, and you shouldn't be bullied in it.

Hear hear! TV Licensing are scum. I do get a little satisfaction, though, transferring their threatening letters directly from the letterbox to the bin. I don't have a TV - I have something else more valuable - It's called 'a life'.

I lived in England for a few years in the mid to late nineties, and TV licensing gave us a hard time because we didn't have a license. However, there was a very valid reason for this: our television was a 525 line NTSC set (the programing standard in North America) and was used only for watching VHS tapes we brought with us and playing video games. The set was technically incapable of receiving 625 line PAL broadcasts and therefore the BBC, so we saw no reason why we should shell out £85 (at the time) a year for a service we couldn't even receive. Eventually TVL gave up and left us alone, but only after several letters such as the one above.

I used to live in a converted house, that was turned into three flats, the bottom of which was unoccupied. You could tell just by looking through the curtainless window. It was being renovated, it didn;t even have floorboards. We got several angry letters regarding the lack of TV license in this flat, and the non existent flat 4. Eventually some enforcement officers came over, and after eventually believing me that nobody lived in the converted flat, demanded entrance into the building for proof that there was no flat 4.

Idiots.

I also get these letters all the time but I simply chuck them in the bin, I used to be scared about the letters but now I guess am used to seeing them, They appear very threatening in deed but its all just a farce from the BBC, its funny the amount of money they spend on making these junk mails for every household in the country, One can only wonder how much money is actually spent by the BBC on these letters.

I too get these letters. About once every 18mths, though sometimes I get two or more at the same time and dated the same too. Now I have a TV but do not receive a signal. Nor is the area in which I live, even capable of receiving a signal. I've enough trouble getting a half decent radio signal, (only watching TV, if I go to visit someone). Instead I view DVDs. The last time I got one of the letters, was after I'd purchased a DVD player. Note the word 'player' and not recorder. But I get the letter anyway. "We have been informed that you recently purchased a DVD/Video recorder. And since we have no record, etc,etc." I blame the retailer, as much as the the TV Licensing organisation. Evidently they'd informed this illustrious body, that I now had something with which I was capable of receiving a signal. And since with these people, 2+2=5. This being wrong, so must I be. Hardly had I got the thing out of the box and the letter had arrived. "I should get a licence." I should have got a licence before even thinking I had the right to breath air. And if I didn't contact them immediately to pay them £s, then I'd be getting a visit from some of their staff in a few days. I felt like suggesting they come round on Thursday for breakfast and I'd pour them some tea.

I'm still watching DVDs and not receiving a signal. Still not parted with their demand of £s. And since I didn't see a 4x4 or Unimog struggling along the only access track, I'll assume they've not come for breakfast yet. I wish they'd hurry up. There's mold growing in the tea mugs and I'd like to get them washed and put away.

You echo my sentiments exactly. I am in the same situation and despite two and a half years of telephoning these idiots to tell them that I do not have a TV on the premises, I receive a letter almost monthly on average. As for 'Nikki hater' below - grow up and get a life!!

We have got a tv and also a current tv license, but still we keep getting these threatening letters.Can't wait for a visit from them just to show them our up to date license

the state has been spending our money threatening us for ages on the radio in an orwell type manner . im suprised no one has noticed

When a TV licence is required [See Wikipedia]

According to Act of Parliament, a TV licence must be obtained for any device that is "installed or used"[26] for "receiving a television programme at the same time (or virtually the same time) as it is received by members of the public"[27].

According to TV Licensing, "You need a TV Licence to use any television receiving equipment such as a TV set, digital box, DVD or video recorder, PC, laptop or mobile phone to watch or record television programmes as they're being shown on TV"[28].
Specific exclusions not requiring a TV licence are:
digital box used with a hi-fi system or another device that can only be used to produce sounds[28]
television set installed and used solely for some purpose other than watching or recording television programmes (e.g. closed-circuit TV monitor, DVD or video player or games console)

If you are only watching on-demand services, after programmes have already been broadcast, you will not need a TV licence. (This includes the BBC iPlayer service.)

The BBC have stated that a licence is not needed simply because a television receiver is owned.

Handy (also Nikki Hater), in the wonderfully fluid world of the web... do you think that there's a vague possibility that website owners may decide to shuffle things around a little bit from time to time? Has it ever crossed your mind that things may change? Idiot!