I\u2019ve not been a huge TV fan for a long time. So when I have to choose between paying around \u00a3150 or not watching television for a year, it\u2019s a pretty easy choice to make. I like to have money in my pocket, and I don\u2019t like watching television.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m sick and tired of TV Licensing presuming that I am a criminal because of this. In our previous house, we called up soon after moving in to say \u201cthis is who we are, this is not a student house, we don\u2019t watch television\u201d as they ask people to. They sent someone round to check, and we were told we were on a three-year block and wouldn\u2019t be bothered again in that time. One year later, more letters and having to explain on the phone (again, not being treated with a lot of respect \u2013 the assumption being that you have a licence or you\u2019re lying to them) that it\u2019s still not a student property but being told \u201cit used to be one.\u201d Yes, it used to be one, now it\u2019s not… so they sent someone round to check again and *gasp* \u2013 we\u2019re still not watching television. The following year, I just binned the letters unopened. We were moving house soon anyway.<\/p>\n
In the new house, I didn\u2019t bother to call and explain. It only annoys me when the reaction to \u201cI don\u2019t watch television, I don\u2019t need a licence\u201d is \u201cyeah, right\u201d and a repeat of the \u201cyou will be fined if you\u2019re caught watching television.\u201d If they believe I\u2019m a criminal, I dare them to press charges. I\u2019m innocent until proven guilty. Still, they sent someone round who told us that, again, we\u2019re on a three-year block in our new house (the block, apparently, is on a property rather than an individual).<\/p>\n
The block lasted only nine months. I bought a new television (for games and DVDs), and I received monthly reminders. They\u2019re more polite than they used to be \u2013 for example, they no longer threaten court action and fines right off the bat, but list all the ways you can pay for the television that you must be watching, because who doesn\u2019t watch television? But they still feel a little patronising to me. Since the phone number is not free to call and the envelope provided isn\u2019t Freepost (it says \u2018please attach a stamp\u2019, when they\u2019re already asking you to put \u00a3150 in it!) I do nothing. There\u2019s no reason for me to expend any money (however trivial) in telling someone I\u2019m not a criminal, especially when they won\u2019t even believe me (or at least have the decency to hide that fact behind a polite telephone manner).<\/p>\n
Now, I get home from work and there\u2019s a note pushed through with the time their \u2018Enforcement Officer\u2019 called round, but we weren\u2019t in. It is labelled \u201cWe told you we\u2019d call.\u201d It\u2019s a little bit menacing, and raises the irritation all over again. As you can tell, it\u2019s a subject I get pretty annoyed about. If I obey the law, I don\u2019t like people to treat me like I don\u2019t. It\u2019s like if the police stopped every single motorist to test them for drink-driving, no exceptions. Everyone who\u2019s been chugging along obeying the law quite happily is treated like a criminal.<\/p>\n
If I\u2019m home when they call again, I\u2019ll ask about the three-year block. I don\u2019t want I checked up, and unless they bring a search warrant from the police they have no right to come in my home. Since they\u2019ve already checked this home once, and my previous address twice, and found nothing to concern them, I don\u2019t really think they\u2019re being fair. The three year block from the first time they checked me, albeit in a previous address, only ran out a month ago. The second block was only put on last year, and so should be covering me till 2012.<\/p>\n
On the other hand, since most of the TV Licence fee goes to Capita (the company enforcing and administering the licence), it\u2019d be a shame to waste the money that my friends have paid for a licence by not making them run around chasing me, bothering me, harassing me and treating me like a criminal. If they didn\u2019t spend it on their patronising letters or bothersome enforcers, they\u2019d just pocket it. And who thinks that\u2019s value for money?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I\u2019ve not been a huge TV fan for a long time. So when I have to choose between paying around \u00a3150 or not watching television for a year, it\u2019s a pretty easy choice to make. I like to have money in my pocket, and I don\u2019t like watching television. I\u2019m sick and tired of TV … <\/p>\n