tv licensing visit

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TV licence: Can inspectors visit your house and what are their rights?

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The TV licence fee has been increased for 2021, meaning it now costs £159 a year to watch television in your home.

The fee pays for the BBC – so even if you just watch iPlayer or online shows via BBC Three , you’re not exempt from the fee.

While old-fashioned fears about mysterious figures in vans searching for errant households are a figment of the imagination, TV licence inspectors are a very real thing.

Find out what to expect if a visiting officer comes to your door.

Can TV licence inspectors visit your house?

Inspectors can visit your house, although you’re likely to receive a letter before this point.

You can refuse to let an inspector in, but this might lead to them getting a court order – which means they would be allowed to enter by law without your permission.

According to the TV Licensing service, letters are sent to all homes that don’t have a TV Licence , and may get ‘progressively stronger’ if no reply is received.

The service takes into account the possibility that people may have forgotten to pay, or simply don’t watch television .

However, if the letters are ignored, inspectors may come to investigate the situation.

What happens when a TV licence inspector visits your house?

If an inspector visits your home, expect them to look for evidence of a television set up – and ask you about whether you use catch-up services like iPlayer.

They will check for TV-receiving equipment, and ask for a signature from you, confirming their notes.

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Visiting officers may interview an individual they suspect to have committed an offence under the Communications Act 2003, but only after they have cautioned that person.

The visit is likely to be quick, and they should ‘avoid threatening or intimidating behaviour’.

What are the rights of a TV Licence inspector?

TV Licence inspectors can’t visit your house when you’re not present unless they have a warrant from a magistrate (or a sheriff in Scotland).

In these cases, the visiting officers will be accompanied by the police.

In most cases however, the inspectors will show you two forms of ID on your doorstep, and enter the property only when given permission.

They have to ‘respect people’s rights to privacy and confidentiality ’, but they may wear a body camera during the process.

MORE : How much is the TV licence fee in 2021 and what happens if you don’t pay?

MORE : Simon Cowell ‘working on a few TV projects’ as X Factor’s future remains uncertain

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What To Do When The TV License Inspector Calls

The rules around TV licensing are old-fashioned and more complicated than you might imagine; in some cases, you need a license even if you don't have a tv, and in other cases, you can have a TV and not need a license. The key to deciding which camp you fall into is whether or not you watch terrestrial content as it is broadcast. If you do, the chances are you need a license. But in this age of catch-up, on-demand and Netflix, it's more likely than ever before that you can stay in touch with civilisation without needing a tv license at all. The TV License, currently set at £145.50 for colour and £49 for black and white (we said it was quite an old-fashioned system), is there to fund the BBC.

The beeb outsources the collection of the fee to third-party companies, including Capita. This, combined with the fact that one historically doesn't have a choice about whether to pay for the BBC, is why a lot of people object to paying the license fee. To be fair to the BBC, that £145.50 does include all live, online and radio content, so all told, it's not a bad deal, especially if you attend any of the free events, such as performances by the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra.

However, you can consume all of that lovely, lovely content without necessarily requiring a license. If you have a television set but it cannot receive live broadcasts, you don't need a license. So, if your TV isn't connected to an aerial, digital or cable service, you don't need a license. You may wish to pay for one anyway since you are still using BBC content, but you don't need one. Similarly, if you don't own a TV but do use iPlayer, radio and online content, you don't need a license, provided you don't watch live broadcasts from any terrestrial broadcaster, not just the BBC.

You don't need to buy a TV License if...

• * You don't own a TV set and don't watch live terrestrial TV broadcasts.
• * Your TV is used solely for watching catch-up and on-demand content.
• * You are over 75. You still need a license, but it's free.

You do need to buy a TV License if...

• * You watch live broadcasts of any type on any device.
• * You record live broadcasts of any type on any device.
• * You pay to watch TV as it is broadcast, for example, pay-per-view boxing.

What to do if TV Licensing comes to your home

So you've double-checked and are sure you don't require a license, but you still get letters from TV Licensing. Some of the letters may threaten you with a visit from enforcement officers. You can safely ignore these letters if you are sure you don't require a license, or you can respond and advise TV Licensing that you don't require a license (there's a section on the enclosed form for that).

However, you may find that TV Licensing wishes to conduct an inspection. They make a big play out of their spy gadgets that let them check in on who is watching live tv. That's fine; they can do that all day long, but what they can't do is enter your home. Under no circumstances (even if you are illegally watching TV, not that we'd ever condone that) do you have to let inspectors into your home. A number of people have taken to recording enforcement office visits and posting the footage online to instruct others on how to handle similar situations.

The easiest way to get rid of a TV Licensing inspector is to tell them that you revoked their implied right of access. The implied right of access is there so that people with legitimate reasons to enter your property, such as delivery men or milkmen, can do so without fear of prosecution. Withdrawing this implied right confirms that you are not prepared to allow them into your home or to call at your door and that you've done your homework on your rights as an occupier.

They know that if they continue to visit your property after you've revoked their implied right of access, you will be well placed to sue for trespass and/or harassment. You can also do this by writing a letter to TVL, but to do so, you'll need to confirm your own name and address, which is not something everyone is comfortable with.

TV Licence Home Visits Are Back, In Pursuit Of Fee Evaders

The TV licensing inspectors, whose job it is to catch fee evaders, are now visiting homes again – following the suspension of their visits during the last lockdown.

The TV Licensing body normally employs visiting officers who are tasked with finding people who are legally required to pay the fee.

These visiting officers, upon agreement from the person living in the house, “take a brief view of the main living areas to verify whether or not television receiving equipment is installed or in use” (though safety restrictions have now been made – see ahead).

Earlier this year, we reported that those visits were suspended due to lockdown and covid restrictions – but we have confirmed with the TV Licensing body that their officers are making house visits again, in line with Covid restrictions and safety measures.

The TV Licence fee is used to fund the BBC, and currently stands at £159/year.  Anyone who watches the BBC live, or streams it via BBC iPlayer, has to pay the fee. 

Furthermore, if you watch any live TV from any broadcaster (even an international one) – you also need to pay the fee (See our full  guide on whether you need to pay the TV Licence fee  or not).

Failure to pay the TV licence fee is currently a criminal offence (though there have been ongoing talks about possible decriminalisation ), and evaders can end up paying a fine of up to £1,000 or even go to jail, in rare cases. 

What Are TV Licence Inspectors?

The TV Licensing body, along with Capita (a private contractor responsible for the enforcement of the TV licence fee), employ inspectors who are tasked with finding people who are trying to evade the fee.

In the past, they have also claimed to have sophisticated “detection” equipment, such as vans and handheld devices that, when in proximity to your house, can supposedly detect that you’re watching live TV (or the BBC via other means).

When an inspector visits your home, it’s up to the owner/tenant to allow the officer to enter the house, at which point the officer will take a look inside (searching for a TV), and will possibly interview the person who opened the door (depending on current pandemic restrictions).

The only case where an officer can enter your home without your permission, is when he is authorised to do so under a search warrant granted by a magistrate (or sheriff in Scotland). He will then also be accompanied by the police.

TV Licence Visit Safety Restrictions

As mentioned, these home visits were suspended during the UK lockdowns. Recently, however, they have returned – with some restrictions still in place.

A BBC spokesperson told Cord Busters that Visiting Officers have received comprehensive safety training, and are equipped with masks, gloves, sanitisers and wipes.

Additional new measures have been introduced to protect both staff and the customers, such as maintaining a 2-meter distance at all times and not entering people’s homes.

The BBC say they “will continue to follow government guidance to ensure that all visits are safe and Covid-secure”, which may also suggest in-home inspections will return at some point.

What About Home Visits For The Over-75s?

As we reported yesterday, there have also been enforcement changes with the Over-75s population, who are no longer exempt from paying the licence fee (unless they receive Pension Credit).

The BBC announced that the extended transition period is now over, and “reminder” letters will be sent to homes of those who haven’t settled their licence yet.

It remains unclear whether home visits for the over-75s will take place, and in what form exactly.

The BBC tells us that no visits have been authorised so far. However, in the autumn, the BBC will start implementing “customer care visits”, which are meant to “support older customers who require further assistance. 

“Customer care visits differ from enforcement visits, as they have been carefully designed for those who may require further assistance in making arrangements for their TV Licence, and they will be carried out by a specially trained customer care team.”

It remains to be seen how these visits will differ, in practice, from regular home enforcement visits.

You can find out more information about home visits on the official TV Licensing website .

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• Find a licence

You need a TV Licence to watch or record programmes on a TV, computer or other device as they're broadcast, and to watch on-demand BBC programmes on iPlayer

Apply for this licence

Start now on the TV Licensing website

You need a TV Licence if you:

• watch or record live TV on any channel or service
• use BBC iPlayer

You may be able to get a free or discounted TV Licence if you’re 75 or over and get Pension Credit, or if you’re blind or in residential care.

You do not need a TV Licence to watch:

• streaming services like Netflix and Disney Plus
• on-demand TV through services like All 4 and Amazon Prime Video
• videos on websites like YouTube
• videos or DVDs

How much it costs

A TV Licence costs £169.50 (£57 for black and white TV sets) for both homes and businesses.

If you live in a shared household

You need your own TV Licence if you have separate tenancy agreements and you watch TV in your own room.

You can have one TV Licence for the whole household if you either:

• watch TV in a single shared area
• have a joint tenancy agreement

If you’re living in university accommodation you’ll need a TV Licence to watch TV in your own room. Shared areas may already be covered by a TV Licence.

If you live at another address outside of term time, you can use its TV Licence while you’re at university on any device that’s:

• battery powered
• not plugged in
• not connected to an aerial

If your business offers overnight accommodation, for example a hotel, you need a TV licence for guests to watch TV in their room. A single TV Licence will cover up to 15 rooms or accommodation units.

Change or cancel your TV Licence

If you move home you can update your address on the TV Licencing website .

You can cancel your TV Licence or apply for a refund on the TV Licencing website.

Apply by phone

TV Licensing Telephone: 0300 790 6071 Minicom: 0300 709 6050 Find out about call charges

Fines and penalties

You can be fined up to £1,000 if you watch or record live TV without a TV Licence.

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TV Licensing Prosecution: Frequently Asked Questions

Despite being the most common offence for which women are prosecuted, many people have no idea what to expect when being investigated or prosecuted for the offence of TV Licence fee non-payment.

We have set out below the answers to some common questions you might ask about the process of a TV Licensing Prosecution.

Note that if you have been charged with non-payment of the TV Licence and/or are facing trial, you may consider using our ‘Navigating the Maze’ tool to obtain the appropriate template forms and letters that may assist you with defending yourself against the charge.

Do I need a TV Licence?

Under the Communications Act 2003, it is a criminal offence to install or use a television receiver without a licence. In practice, this means that you need a TV licence to:

• watch or record programmes as they’re being shown on TV
• watch or record programmes live on an online TV service (including programmes streamed over the internet and satellite programmes from outside the UK)
• watch or download BBC programmes on demand (including catch-up TV) on BBC iPlayer without having a TV Licence.

This means that if you do not have a TV licence, you cannot watch anything on the BBC. It does not matter whether it is on your television or through iPlayer, or whether it is being shown live or is an on-demand boxset.

If you do not have a licence, you can watch shows on Netflix or Amazon Prime or other subscription services that are not being streamed live.

You may also watch programmes on All4 or ITVHub, online or on a television set, so long as you are not watching it live: that is, when it is first being broadcast.

What is 'licensable content'?

“Licensable content” is the term used for programmes that you can only watch once you have paid for a TV Licence.

How much does a TV Licence cost?

Currently, the licence fee costs £157.50. Certain customers experiencing financial difficulties may be able to spread their payments over an extended period of time, making fortnightly or monthly payments, through a programme called the Simple Payment Plan .

Previously, if you were over the age of 75, you could obtain a licence for no cost. However, from 1 August 2020, over-75s will no longer qualify for a free licence, unless in receipt of Pension Credit. Age UK have been campaigning against this change, and you can find out more about their work here .

What happens when an enforcement officer working for TV Licensing calls to the door?

The below is based on individual accounts, TV Licensing Visiting Procedures (the handbook given to all Enforcement Officers) and TV Licensing’s Prosecution Code and Policy .

If you do not have a TV licence, TV Licensing can send an enforcement officer out to your house to ensure you are not watching licensable content. They can still send an officer out to your house even if you have informed them that you do not need a licence because you are not watching licensable content.

The purpose of their visit is to see if you are watching licensable content without a licence and, if so, to gather evidence of your breach of the law. A TV Licensing Enforcement Officer must verbally caution you that anything you say to them may be used in evidence against you in court. If you have not been cautioned, any evidence gathered from that visit may be inadmissible in court.

Enforcement Officers will aim to complete a document called a ‘Record of Interview’. On this document they will fill out:

• your personal details
• the type of TV you have (or the type of the device on which you are watching licensable content)
• the television programme you are watching.

The Enforcement Officer will ask you to sign this Record of Interview. By signing this document, you are acknowledging everything the TV Licensing Officer has written is correct.

You should not sign this document if there are sections which have not yet been filled out. It is not merely a document to acknowledge that TV Licensing has visited your house – if you are prosecuted for TV licence fee evasion, this is the primary piece of evidence that will be used against you. If the Record of Interview says that you were watching licensable content without a licence and you do not believe this to be true, you should not sign it.

The Record of Interview document contains a section at the end which asks whether there is ‘anything else you would like us to know about’. You should ensure that the officer fills out this section to include anything that is relevant to your situation – if you have any health or financial difficulties for example.

The TV Licensing Officer is also likely to offer to sell you a TV licence while they are visiting you. If you want to watch licensable content, then you should use this opportunity. However, it is important to note that even if you buy a licence at this point, TV Licensing can still prosecute you for the offence of TV licence fee evasion. If you do sign up for a TV Licence, you should ensure that you keep up to date with your payments, and inform TV Licensing as soon as possible if you are experiencing any difficulties. If you fail to keep up your payments without informing TV Licensing, they may decide to prosecute you.

What are my rights when dealing with Enforcement Officers?

If a TV Licensing officer calls to your house, you do not have to let them inside . They do have the power to go to the police and get a search warrant to get inside but without a warrant you do not have to allow entry.

You do not have to buy a TV Licence from the person visiting if you only watch programmes that do not require a licence.

What should I make sure the Enforcement Officer knows when they call to my house?

You should tell the officer visiting your house if you have any vulnerabilities that you think are relevant to your case. The officer is required to note this on the Record of Interview document.

Vulnerabilities include circumstances such as:

• You have been suffering from physical health problems
• You have been suffering from mental health conditions
• You have been a victim of domestic abuse
• You have been suffering from severe financial difficulty

This list does not cover all examples of vulnerability, and if there are any other circumstances you think might be relevant, you should make sure to tell the Enforcement Officer.

If your vulnerabilities are noted on Record of Interview, this may influence TV Licensing’s decision of whether or not to prosecute, although it is not guaranteed.

How do TV Licensing decide who to bring to court?

TV Licensing rely on their Prosecution Code and Prosecution Policy to decide who they should take to court for not paying their TV Licence.

TV Licensing will consider

• whether it is in the public interest to prosecute
• whether there is sufficient evidence to bring the case (that is, whether they think they will be able to prove the case against you in court).

The Prosecution Policy indicates that the following factors, among others, will be considered when deciding whether or not it is in the public interest to prosecute.

Factors making prosecution more likely:

• You have a previous conviction for non-payment of the licence fee or have previously been warned about not having a licence
• You had previously told TV Licensing that you did not need a licence when in fact you did
• A search warrant had to be obtained in order to access your home to inspect whether or not you needed a licence
• You were using a colour TV when you had only purchased a licence to watch a black and white TV
• You have publicly stated that you intend to watch TV without a licence and you are publicly encouraging others to do so too (for example, online through social media)

Factors making prosecution less likely:

• You are considered vulnerable due to personal circumstances (which may include physical or mental ill health, learning difficulties, domestic hostility or abuse, or exceptional and severe financial hardship)
• You are suffering from significant physical or mental ill health
• A licence was purchased in a timely fashion after your interview with an Enforcement Officer
• You did not have a licence because of a genuine mistake or misunderstanding
• You are under the age of 18
• You have evidence that it is the landlord’s responsibility to pay the licence
• The person watching TV without a licence in your home was a genuine visitor

How will I know if TV Licensing wants to take me to court?

The vast majority of TV licensing cases (96.4% in 2018) start off by being processed through a system called the Single Justice Procedure (SJP). In this system, it is possible for your case to be dealt with by not going to court at all.

• If TV Licensing decide to prosecute you, you should receive an SJP notice in the post.
• This notice will give you the option of pleading guilty or pleading not guilty to the offence.
• You can send back your plea online or by post by following the instructions on the letter.

Cases will generally proceed as follows. A Single Magistrate, aided by a ‘legal adviser’, will look at what you have sent back in addition to information sent by TV Licensing (including the Record of Interview) and decide whether or not to convict you of the offence of TV licence evasion. If convicted, this Magistrate will also impose a fine in line with guidelines up to a maximum of £1000, taking into account your financial circumstances if you have provided these.

If you decide to plead not guilty, you can go to court and argue before three Magistrates why you did not break the law by watching licensable content without a licence.

I received a letter saying I have already been convicted and fined, but I didn’t even know TV Licensing had decided to prosecute me – what do I do?

Through our research, we have discovered that in 80% of TV Licensing cases, TV Licensing receives no response from the person to whom they sent the SJP notice.

While it is not possible to know precisely why all these people have not responded, from speaking with individuals in TV Licensing court, we have heard many stories of letters being sent to the wrong address or post routinely going missing in housing estates or blocks of flats. When no response is received by HMCTS, the Single Magistrate will still decide the case, but they will only have the evidence supplied by TV Licensing. This frequently results in the Magistrate finding the defendant guilty.

When you are convicted under the Single Justice Procedure, you receive a notice by post and details of the fine that has been imposed. If you received this letter but did not receive the original SJP notice giving you the option of how you wanted to plead, you should contact the court as soon as possible. The letter outlining the fine amount should provide contact details of the relevant court, but if it does not, you should use the Court and Tribunal Finder to contact your local Magistrates’ Court and explain the situation. As each Magistrates’ Court deals with different matters, it may be the case that your local court is unable to help you. If this is the case, they should be able to direct you as to whom to contact instead.

In order to quash (overturn) the conviction, you have to go to Magistrates’ Court to make what is called a Statutory Declaration. You will be called before the magistrates and asked to go into the witness box. The usher will ask you to read a statement that swears that you did not receive the individual SJP notice and that you were convicted without your knowledge. The magistrates may ask you about your situation and how you did not receive the original notice. They will then decide whether to accept your explanation. If they do, the conviction will be quashed and it will be as if you were never convicted in the first place.

It is then up to TV Licensing whether or not they want to prosecute the case again now that you are aware of the charge against you. They may say that they do not wish to do so, in which case you may go home. If they do decide to continue with the prosecution, you may have to attend a different court on a different day.

What happens in court?

TV Licensing schedules all of its hearings for a particular area on the same day at the same time. You will be asked to come to the morning or afternoon session of the court and will generally be asked to arrive half an hour before the magistrates are scheduled to begin hearing cases. During this waiting period you will give your name to the court usher to let them know you are there. They will usually give you a ‘ means form ’ where you fill out information about your financial situation in order to assist the magistrates in setting any fine amount you may receive.

There will be a person from TV Licensing there who is known as a ‘Court Presenter’. This is the representative of TV Licensing who is prosecuting the case. Their job in court is to argue on behalf of TV Licensing and present any evidence they have that they believe shows you were watching licensable content without a licence.

The Court Presenter will generally speak to each defendant separately in private before arguing the case in court. We have been unable to observe one of these private meetings but have spoken with women shortly after they finished their conversations. According to them, the Court Presenter goes through the information they have and gives you an idea of what will happen in court. If you have a lawyer with you, you should ensure your lawyer is present during this conversation to advise you on what to say.

The Court Presenter may have a long list of people to speak to so you may have to wait for some time before you are called. Sometimes there are two Court Presenters in court, one having conversations with the defendants waiting outside of court and one in court presenting cases before the Magistrates. It is important to note that neither of these people are your legal representatives . They represent TV Licensing and its interests, not yours.

If you decide to plead guilty, you will be called before the magistrates and the charge against you will be read (that is, that you were watching licensable content without a licence on the relevant date) and you will be asked for your plea.

The Court Presenter may provide additional information to the court to help them in sentencing you. For example, they may provide information about how many times you have been convicted of watching a TV without a licence, or what you said to the Enforcement Officer who came out to your house. They will also usually ask for their ‘prosecution costs’, which means they are asking the Court to order you to pay the costs of taking the case against you (the amount of this is usually £120). The magistrates will then ask you if there is anything you would like them to consider when they are deciding your sentence. You should let them know if you are experiencing any financial, health or other personal difficulties that will affect your ability to pay a fine. They should adjust your fine accordingly.

What if TV Licensing have gotten it wrong and I was not breaking the law?

If you plead not guilty, you will have the opportunity to explain to the magistrates why you believe TV Licensing has gotten it wrong and that you are innocent. TV Licensing may bring along the Enforcement Officer who called to your house to give evidence as a witness. TV Licensing’s Court Presenter will ask the Officer questions. You will also be given the opportunity to ask questions in order to show the magistrates the full picture of what happened while the Enforcement Officer was at your house. You should bring other evidence (such as receipts from paying for your TV Licence or other records showing you were not watching licensable content) and show this to the magistrates to explain that you were not breaking the law.

If, despite your explanations, the magistrates still find you guilty, TV Licensing can ask you to pay the costs of taking the trial. From our observations in court, if the Enforcement Officer is called, TV Licensing will ask for £255 in costs. If the Enforcement Officer is not called, they will ask for £205. It is up to the Magistrates whether or not they will award the full costs.

Do I have a right to legal advice or legal aid?

In order to be eligible for legal aid (legal representation that is paid for by the state), your case has to be one where it is ‘ in the interests of justice ’ to grant you legal aid. As TV Licensing offences are generally seen as a particularly low-level offence, which does not involve complex areas of law, and where you are not immediately at risk of going to prison, you are unlikely to qualify for legal aid for your TV Licensing case. You are still allowed to consult with and bring a lawyer with you to court, paid for at your own expense.

What if I cannot afford to pay?

While it can be difficult to discuss financial hardships or personal issues with strangers, it is important that both TV Licensing and the Court are aware of any issues you may be having that could affect your ability to pay for your TV Licence or any fine that you may get in court. It may affect their decision about whether or not to prosecute you at all, or it can be something they would consider when setting a fine amount if you are convicted.

You should tell the Enforcement Officer who calls to your house about any difficulties you may be having and make sure s/he writes this down on the Record of Interview document. You should also be sure to communicate this to the Court Presenter when you have a conversation with them while you are waiting to be called. You should also tell the Magistrates if you are convicted and don’t think you will be able to pay.

If you are struggling to pay your TV Licence or the fine you receive in court, you should contact a debt and budgeting advice charity such as National Debtline , StepChange , the Money Advice Service or Christians Against Poverty .

Remember, if you want to get a TV Licence but are worried about your ability to make the large payment, you should check if you are eligible for the Simple Payment Plan . This would allow you to spread the payment out, making a smaller payment every second week or every month.

What does a TV Licensing conviction mean for me?

The punishment for a TV Licensing conviction is usually a fine, calculated by the Magistrates based on your financial situation .

You must pay this fine to the Court as if you do not, you risk being sent to prison.

This fine goes to the Court, not to TV Licensing, so if you are experiencing difficulties with payment, you should contact the Court, not TV Licensing.

Sometimes, based on your personal circumstances, the magistrates may decide to give you what is known as a conditional discharge. This means that you do not have to pay a fine on the condition that you do not break the law for a set period of time. If you do, your TV Licensing conviction will be taken into account when the hearing for your subsequent offence arises, often resulting in a higher fine.

While a TV Licensing conviction will not appear on regular DBS checks when you are applying for a job for example, it can appear on an enhanced check required for some jobs that require more in-depth vetting.

How do I appeal a TV licence conviction?

HMCTS provide guidance on how to appeal a magistrates’ court conviction or sentence here .

It is important to note that if you pleaded ‘guilty’ to the offence of TV Licence fee evasion in Magistrates’ Court, you can only appeal your sentence . There are limited circumstances where you can appeal if you pleaded ‘guilty’ originally, generally only if your plea was ‘equivocal’, meaning it was unclear at trial whether or not you were in fact pleading guilty or not guilty. If you pleaded ‘not guilty’ you can appeal both your conviction and sentence .

If you want to appeal, you should fill out send out this form to the Magistrates Court where you were convicted and to TV Licensing within 21 days of your conviction.

If you are looking for further information on appealing a TV Licensing conviction, please contact us at [email protected] .

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The TV licence fee scandal: why are 1,000 people a week being casually criminalised?

Each year, tens of thousands of UK citizens are charged with non-payment of their TV licence fee – from the man who missed payments while in hospital, to a woman with a brain injury who forgot to pay

I t was autumn 2020 when someone from TV Licensing knocked on Josiane’s door. She was on maternity leave with her daughter, who was born that January, and had recently moved into a flat of her own, having previously lived in shared accommodation. Her first thought was: “I don’t want to get Covid,” she remembers. “I was terrified of getting ill. I was a single parent, I didn’t have family around, what would happen to my baby?”

She had bought a TV two weeks earlier, but was unaware that she needed a licence for it. “It had always been in my rental agreement,” she says. I meet her in a cafe in Basildon, near her home, with her daughter, who has just turned four, and her boyfriend, Giuseppe. “Maybe people who were born here know these things,” she says, and Giuseppe chips in, “it’s not something they teach you when you move to the UK.”

TV Licensing’s prosecutions have targeted some shockingly vulnerable people. One man’s licence ran out while he was in hospital for 11 weeks, and despite renewing it as soon as he was discharged, he was prosecuted six days later. One woman with a brain injury was prosecuted when she forgot to pay. Many of the most egregious cases have been collated by the Evening Standard’s courts correspondent, Tristan Kirk , the Alan Bates of, not just TV licensing, but the entire Ministry of Justice, who refuses to let “conveyor belt justice” go. Kirk refers to the Single Justice Procedure (SJP), which was brought in for minor criminal offences in 2015 and replaces the open court – consisting of two or three magistrates, a legal adviser and a prosecutor – with one magistrate, often working from home, and one legal adviser. You cannot watch these proceedings, and often a magistrate will hand out identical fines for quite different offences. TV licence offences are just one area of injustice: campaigners against the procedure are also very sceptical about the punishments that were handed out during Covid.

Kirk describes cases that, honestly, if you’re a person who believes themselves to be living under the rule of law, will put hairs on your chest. “The one that always comes to mind was a woman with Down’s syndrome,” he says. “Greenwich council pleaded guilty on her behalf, because it manages her finances. Any prosecutor looking at that would think: ‘Hang on a minute, this woman doesn’t have control over her own finances. At the very least, we need to investigate more.’ But a prosecutor wasn’t involved. They can, as I understand it, log on to the system and look at the mitigation. But they don’t.”

Since the prosecutor is no longer at the hearing, all those mitigating circumstances – the mental health problems, the learning disabilities, the illness, which TV Licensing might once have heard, and maybe responded to with an application to adjourn – are now only seen by the magistrate, who can’t withdraw the case. “They could refer it to open court, but by and large they don’t,” Kirk says. “That’s where I see the big flaw in the system, you’ve got no prosecutor in the room or involved at all, and magistrates who don’t think they can do anything about it.”

A TV Licensing spokesperson said: “We will not prosecute anyone if we receive evidence that shows us there are significant reasons – such as mental health issues or severe financial hardship – why they could not obtain a licence.” You can sympathise with their predicament, even. By the time the mitigating circumstances come to light, if they ever do, under the SJP, the prosecutor is no longer involved.

I realise when I meet Josiane how sick I am of words such as “victim” and “vulnerable”, which seem to distribute responsibility evenly across unjust situations. Yes, she was the victim of a faceless and unresponsive bureaucracy, and technically, yes, as a migrant single parent, she was also vulnerable. But she is a robust and competent person and none of this situation was of her making.

The man who came to visit her from TV Licensing was reassuring, and advised her to use PayPoint, a system where you pay bills at a corner shop. It wasn’t convenient in the middle of a pandemic with a baby. “I told the BBC I wanted to set up a direct debit, and I got a confirmation email.” Only one payment was ever taken. “It’s one of those small bills, you don’t think too much about it. So I didn’t check after that.” Then in March 2021, she received a letter. It read “How do I appeal?” She thought: “Appeal what?”

Like nearly 1,000 people a week, 70% of them women, Josiane had been prosecuted for TV licence fee evasion. It is the most common crime in the country, apart from driving offences. A fifth of all criminal prosecutions brought against women are by TV Licensing, which has extraordinary explicit powers – it can apply for a warrant to search a property, for instance. It also has inferred powers: people generally accept their doorstep interrogation, even while legally licence-free people (those who only watch streaming services to which they’re subscribed, for instance) are under no obligation to do so.

Tara Casey, a lawyer for the Women’s Justice Initiative at charitable law practice Appeal was working on an ultimately successful campaign to prevent imprisonment for non-payment of council tax when she first became interested in TV licence prosecutions. Even though numbers dipped a little during Covid, “we are still looking at tens of thousands of women each year facing criminal charges for not paying their licence fee.” The gender disparity was so obvious that the BBC conducted reviews in 2017 and 2023; and now, “the disproportionality is getting worse,” says Casey.

Peter Jones, 43, is based in Tyne and Wear and is the lead author of a TV Licensing blog , which aims to “highlight the unjust persecution of legitimate non-TV users”. Accidentally or not, he says it’s built into the system that those with the least will be caught in the net. “Those on lower incomes – generally unemployed people, single-parent households, elderly people, those suffering illness or disability – are more likely to be at home during the day if a TV Licensing officer arrives to make inquiries. For that reason they are more likely to be interviewed under caution and face prosecution for alleged TV licence evasion.” Ninety per cent of single parents are women , which might go part of the way to explain the very pronounced gender bias. In another case, one submission of evidence for the prosecution of a woman in Bristol read: “I am suffering from severe depression, since the loss of my daughter in 2022. I have no family or friends.”

The BBC told a select committee in 2017 that every 1% reduction in licence fee evasion raised £40.5m in revenue, so there is an obvious financial motive to prosecute as a deterrent. The evasion rate has been steadily climbing since Covid and is now at 10.3%; the cost-of-living crisis can’t have helped. Jones points out that BBC revenue has actually increased despite this, because of a £1.50 rise in the licence fee in 2021. It might be an idea to ask the people who can afford it to pay more, rather than hound and make examples of those who can’t.

This is more or less what TV producer Peter Bazalgette suggested last month , replacing the “regressive” flat fee with a tax in which the wealthier paid more, whether they had a TV or not. Bazalgette and broadcaster Greg Dyke recently had a debate in which Bazalgette also floated the idea of a German system, in which businesses paid towards the public broadcaster, as a contribution to civic society.

The situation as it stands has that unmistakable tang of a public-private partnership where civic values have fallen through the cracks. Whatever you think of the BBC, it takes its responsibility as a public service pretty seriously. It’s hard to imagine, if it were drawing up a system from scratch, that it would want to be the Sheriff of Nottingham, flexing its might by prosecuting a woman with learning disabilities who sometimes forgets what she is meant to pay (as detailed in one SJP evidence submission from County Durham).

The government scrapped plans to decriminalise licence fee non-payment in 2021 and TV licensing has been outsourced to Capita for more than 20 years, which has targets on reducing the evasion rate in its contract. The contract, worth £456m, was renewed in July 2022 to run until 2027. Jones also notes that individual TV Licensing officers “receive bonuses for any TV licence sales they generate during their visits. They can only generate a sale, and thus earn a bonus, if they take a statement from the occupier of an unlicensed property. This means that there is a pecuniary advantage for individual officers to gather evidence of evasion whenever they can – be that by hook or by crook.”

TV Licensing denies that it has any incentive to prosecute: “Neither TV Licensing as a whole, nor individual visiting officers have any incentives to achieve a certain number of sales or prosecutions, take a certain number of records of interview, nor generate court income.”

None of that means the BBC is forced to prosecute. Dennis Reed is director of Silver Voices , a non-profit campaign group for the over-60s. In July 2020, free TV licences for the over-75s were scrapped. “We had lengthy negotiations with the BBC director-general and his top team,” Reed says, but “so far, no success.” As a result of a Silver Voices campaign, “loads of over-75s refused to pay,” he says. He estimates that between 200,000 and 250,000 over-75s have not paid their fees since the free licences were abolished – and as yet there have been no prosecutions. Reed thinks part of that is about optics. “What would that look like, if they took an 85-year-old with dementia to court?”, he says, but adds: “If they’ve brought in an unofficial amnesty, without asking who else is struggling, how ethical is that?”

Josiane’s experience distils a Kafkaesque facelessness, once the gears of justice have been set in motion: “I was talking to the BBC, saying I was happy to pay, happy to pay a penalty. Money was a problem, but going to court would be more expensive, so I was prepared to borrow the money. I got through to people, but they constantly said: ‘I’m sorry I can’t help you. Maybe you could raise this with your lawyer.’ I didn’t understand why we couldn’t solve it. I thought, maybe it’s my accent. Am I not assertive enough? Am I not clear enough? It makes you feel sad, if you can’t reason with people. Maybe speaking to a machine would have been better.”

Penelope Gibbs is director of Transform Justice , and says there are two clear criteria for any prosecution: “That it is in the public interest, and that there is evidence of a crime having been committed. You can’t determine the public interest without having information about the person who is suspected of the crime.” This is where the SJP comes in, and it’s catching hundreds of thousands of people, most of whom don’t respond. It varies according to the crime, but in some offences, non-response rates are as high as 75%, all of whom will then be found guilty. “It’s ludicrous,” Gibbs says. “They don’t even know if the person received the prosecution notice, it’s not even sent via registered post. They don’t know if that person has mental health problems, doesn’t speak English as a first language, whether they are homeless. They don’t know any of those things.”

Kirk has taken this up as a cause, and explains: “The system was set up in 2015, the numbers have ramped up over the past five years and they are vast. There were three-quarters of a million cases in 2019, and this year looks like it’s also running at that speed.”

Josiane, with the help of Appeal, eventually got the charges against her dropped. “Everything comes with a blessing,” she says, with a baffling focus on the bright side. “I have learned a lot from it. I have met a lot of good people.” Her boyfriend, Giuseppe, is more sceptical. “She can set up a direct debit but she doesn’t trust it. So every month, she has this PTSD response: ‘Have I paid my TV licence?’” It’s slightly more than every month, Josiane admits, ruefully. “Every time I see the logo I get a flashback.”

• BBC licence fee
• UK criminal justice

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TV Licensing - Enforcement

Who is responsible for tv licence enforcement.

TV Licensing is responsible for enforcing the TV licence in the UK. The job of investigation and collection has been contracted out to Capita PLC .

TVL enforces the law through a combination of letters containing escalating threats of legal action and home visits by Capita TV Inspectors.

Visiting officers are engaged by Capita Business Services Ltd (“Capita”), a company contracted by the BBC to administer the television licensing system under the BBC trade mark 'TV Licensing'.

Citizen’s rights

This website was published in support of honest people who genuinely believe they do not require a TV licence and wish to remain within the law.

If a householder is following the rules for viewing and setting up their TV equipment without a TV licence, they should have no need to worry too much about TVL letters or visits. However, even when obeying the law, citizens are entitled to know the rules on TV Licensing and also their rights if they are visited by TV Licence Inspectors.

TV Licensing letters

TVL sends out thousands of letters every week to homes and business premises that are shown on their database as not having a TV licence.

Quite often, legal letters are also sent to people who have already declared that they do not require a TV licence, requesting that they purchase a new one.

Where a formal declaration has been made to TVL that a TV licence is not required then these letters can either be ignored or a complaint made to TVL requesting that they stop sending them.

More Info: TVL Website: Administering the licence fee: Mailings/letters and electronic communications

TVL home visits

TV Licence Inspectors make random house calls on addresses that are shown on the TVL database as not having a TV licence. This sometimes includes householders who have formally declared themselves to TVL as not requiring a TV licence.

According to the TVL website, TV Licence Inspectors must immediately identify themselves, prove their identity by showing their card and state the purpose of their visit. They must also provide a telephone number when requested so that the person being visited can confirm the the identity of the inspector.

TVL appears to pursue a general policy of guilty until proven innocent and will not regard a property as being legally unlicensed until an inspector has visited and physically checked TV equipment for compliance with the law.

When a TV Licence Inspector is sent to an address, the householder will be regarded as a potential suspect until proven otherwise. In such circumstances, the householder is effectively the subject of a criminal investigation and it pays to bear this in mind should an inspector ever call.

See the extract below, drawn directly from the TVL website.

Visiting officers may interview an individual they suspect to have committed an offence under the Communications Act 2003 but only after they have cautioned that person i.e. informed them of their legal rights, including that they have the right not to answer any of the questions. This is in accordance with the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 or the Scottish criminal law. An officer is obliged to make a written record of that interview and an individual has the right to refuse to sign the record or to ask for corrections to be made if they believe that it is not an accurate record of the interview.

TVL interviews and powers of entry

Householders are not obliged to say anything when questioned by a TV Licence Inspector. There is no law that requires a householder to make a verbal or written statement in relation to an enquiry about a TV licence.

TV Licence Inspectors have no right of entry into a person’s home without a search warrant issued by a magistrate. Warrants are rarely issued to TVL, so unless an inspector claims to be in possession a warrant and can produce the genuine article, they have no power of entry.

The law states that if a TV License Inspector suspects a householder of a having committed a criminal offence then they should immediately caution the householder in a manner similar to that stated below:-

“You do not have to say anything. But, it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence.”

When a TV Licence Inspector questions a householder, they generally complete a form 178 which is a record of what was found at the address and what was said by the householder. A householder is under no legal obligation to sign a Form 178 or any other form presented by TVL.

You have no obligation to grant entry to a visiting officer if you don’t wish to do so. If refused entry by the occupier, the visiting officer will leave the property.

Dealing with TVL

A householder is under no lawful obligation whatsoever to voluntarily answer any questions, sign any documents or allow TVL entry into their home without a search warrant.

The question of whether or not a householder voluntarily offers a verbal statement, signs a document or consents to TVL entering their home is purely a matter for them, based on their own views on the matter and possibly also the information we have provided on this website.

Here are some of the reasons we have heard householders give for declining to voluntarily cooperate with TV Licence Inspectors who are not in possession of a search warrant:-

They object to being interviewed on their doorstep or in their home without formal audio recording equipment or a legal representative present.

They object to what they regard as an unwarranted invasion of the privacy of their homes.

They feel they are being unfairly accused of dishonesty after formally declaring themselves not requiring a TV licence.

They are concerned that they might be tricked into a false or unfair admission of guilt.

They fear signing any documents that they don’t fully understand and which might be used to unfairly incriminate them.

They fear that legally unlicensed TV equipment will be tampered with in order to secure an unfair prosecution against them.

We are not claiming any of the above to be true, simply repeating some the responses we have seen and heard from householders online and in emails as a result of running this website.

Be sure to read the section below on search warrants as a search warrant changes matters significantly.

What evidence does TVL generally look for?

Here are some of the things that TVL inspectors might look for and some of the ways they might attempt to discover if any offences have been committed in the absence of a TV Licence:-

Questioning of householders at the door or in their homes in order to obtain a verbal admission of any offences committed.

Filling out a Form 178 record of interview, which is then offered to the householder to voluntarily sign in confirmation of what has been said. This can be later be used as evidence against the householder in any subsequent court proceedings.

Requesting the householder’s consent to enter their home to inspect television equipment for evidence of any offences committed. Or, alternatively, gaining access with a legitimate search warrant.

Inspecting television equipment for any connected TV aerial or satellite cables as evidence that a TV receiver is “installed” for viewing or recording live TV.

Inspecting television equipment to see if the TV is still programmed with a list of live TV channels.

Powering on television equipment and attempting to receive a live broadcast signal from the TV aerial or satellite dish.

Checking a Smart TV to see if it has any apps installed and activated with an online account that deliver “exclusively” live broadcast content.

Note that the BBC iPlayer app cannot be removed from some Smart TVs and on-demand devices. The presence of this app does not of itself constitute an offence, so long as it has not been primed with an active online BBC iPlayer account in preparation for viewing.

TVL search warrants and obstruction

TVL can apply for a search warrant from a magistrate if it has evidence that a householder is watching or recording live TV or BBC iPlayer without a licence.

TVL states on its website that TV Inspectors will be accompanied by local police officers when executing a search warrant and that in certain circumstances TVL may require the police to force entry. In practise forced entry is rarely, if ever, actually carried out.

If you refuse your name, the police have the power to arrest you to establish your identity.

It is an offence to wilfully obstruct a TVL search warrant. A householder refusing entry to their home, refusing to identify themselves or refusing access for checking TV equipment might also face a charge of obstructing a search warrant.

A householder is not obliged in law to answer any questions or sign any document during the execution of a TVL search warrant.

It is advisable for a householder to briefly answer any questions directly related to the checking of TV equipment. This is mainly to avoid any charges of obstruction.

TV Licensing is only allowed to physically check your TV and TV recording equipment, not any computers or mobile phones but they will take note if any computers are attached to a live TV feed such as a TV aerial.

You may be requested to turn on your television. If you refuse then TVL will likely attempt it themselves.

If the householder feels so inclined, there is no law that prevents the filming of a search warrant being executed using a video camera or smartphone, so long as any filming does not materially obstruct TV Licence Inspectors in the execution of their duty.

If a householder has strictly followed the recommendations on this website regarding viewing habits and television equipment and has not obstructed the search warrant then no offences will have been committed, hence no prosecution either.

An application to a magistrate (or sheriff in Scotland) for a search warrant may only be made when there is good reason to believe that an offence has been committed, evidence of the commission of that offence is likely to be found, and conditions regarding access to the property warrant the granting of a search warrant.

Reasons for conviction

TV licence related convictions generally occur because of one or more of the reasons below:-

A householder voluntarily provides a verbal admission of illegal activity on the doorstep or inside the property being visited.

A TV Licence Inspector has detected evidence of illegal activity through a window or open door, such as observing that a TV aerial or satellite cable is connected to the television set

A TV Licence Inspector has physically seen or heard that a householder is viewing or recording live TV or BBC iPlayer.

TVL is granted voluntary access and TV equipment is found to be illegally installed.

TVL obtains a search warrant and TV equipment is found to be illegally installed.

One of the main ways that TVL establishes guilt is to check the TV equipment for any live TV that has been recorded. This is why it’s so important to remove any TV aerial and satellite connector cables and any live TV or satellite boxes from your TV unit and place them well beyond use.

People who fail to observe the rules on viewing TV and setting up TV equipment correctly when not in possession of a TV licence are placing themselves at risk of prosecution.

Play by the rules, then you can never be prosecuted for TV licence evasion.

Innocence and good intentions

If a householder has acted with good intentions and has followed the rules on viewing TV without a licence, they will be innocent of any offence and should have nothing to fear from TVL. Even in the highly unlikely event of a search warrant being taken out against them.

Ideally, a householder would have done the following prior to any visits from TVL:-

• Cancelled their TV licence and declared themselves not requiring a TV licence.
• Removed their TV aerial and satellite connector cables and placed them beyond use.
• Removed any satellite boxes or other live TV equipment and placed it beyond use.
• Avoided viewing or recording any live TV or accessing BBC iPlayer.
• Viewed only on-demand TV.

TV detector vans and tools

For many years, TVL has claimed to run a fleet of detector vans.

There is not one case so far known where TV detector van evidence has been presented by the prosecution in a court of law in the UK. TVL claims this is because detector van evidence is only ever presented in order to obtain a search warrant.

TVL also claims that necessary evidence to secure a conviction is subsequently obtained via a search warrant, removing the need to offer detector van evidence during a court case.

There many accusations laid against TVL that detector vans do not and never have worked and are in fact no more than a scare tactic. TVL claims it has advanced detection technology but many question the validity of the science behind it and the likelihood that such TV detection technology could actually work with modern television designs.

In the absence of hard scientific evidence either way, only the individual can decide what to think and believe about the effectiveness of TV detector vans and technology.

Most importantly, if householders stick to the recommendations on this website in relation to legal TV viewing habits then any detection technology that might exist should offer them nothing to fear.

Source: TVL Website: Administering the licence fee: Detection

Withdrawal of implied right of access

There has been a trend in recent years for a minority of householders to remove TV Licensing’s “implied right of access” onto the grounds their property.

This method is otherwise known as W.O.I.R.A. for short and can simply be carried out by writing to TVL, telling them that consensual access to the property in questions has been lawfully withdrawn.

This is a legally effective solution in lawfully preventing routine visits from TVL, however, sometimes TV Licence Inspectors simply disregard it.

In some parts of the country TVL has successfully used the existence of a W.O.I.R.A. notice as a reason for a magistrate to issue a search warrant in order to gain access to a property. In this sense, a W.O.I.R.A. would appear to be more or less a self-defeating exercise.

Much is written about this on the internet and a W.O.I.R.A. should only ever be considered in extreme cases of harassment. Such a notice may be best taken out with the help of a qualified solicitor to advise on and oversee any such procedure.

Court proceedings

This website provides useful information on the TV licence for UK citizens but we cannot comment or offer advice to citizens on individual court cases.

Where a householder has been prosecuted for a TV licence related offence, they should seek the services of a qualified solicitor immediately. This is particularly so where a householder believes themselves to be innocent of any offence. An alternative first port of call might be the Citizen’s Advice Bureaux and this should also be done without delay.

Further reading

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TV Licensing

• Introduction
• Enforcement
• Cancellation
• Statute Law

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We are a voluntary group set up to provide information on TV Licensing law and procedure. We are do not provide legal advice to individuals but the information we provide is aimed is to assist the public in remaining within the law.

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