The short answer to this question is, sadly, yes. By yes i mean if you do not wish to enter into a hugely convoluted situation between statute, policy and law, you MUST HAVE a TV License if you have the ABILITY to watch live TV.
If you would like to enter into a convoluted situation, read on.
TVL agents will always treat you as a liar if you do not have a license. Many will deny this but there is overwhelming evidence to support this claim. Most recently i had a period of 8 months where i did not need a license. I phoned the agency and was assured my explanation was accepted and that would be the end of it. In 8 months i have received 15 letters of increasingly threatening content and a demand that i allow a ENFORCEMENT OFFICER to enter my property.
1. They are not ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS as they hold no office, they are COMPLIANCE AGENTS as such they have no statutory right to caution you despite them doing so and you must state that you DO NOT ACCEPT the caution. At this point, if the police are not already attending, phone them and possibly your Solicitor.
2. If they do have a police officer with them do EVERYTHING the Police request of you, whilst under caution, and you are encouraged to ask questions about your rights, your rights and obligations under the caution and, if the caution proceeds to arrest (very rare if you are conducting yourself appropriately) make sure the offence is clearly stated for the record and that your property will not be searched/entered by the TVL agency without a warrant for such. I have experience of this step as whilst i was in the police car under arrest (an arrest which was "forgiven" later by a Sergeant), one of the TVL agents actually inserted a viewing card from my mantle into the media box in order to render the box capabl;e of receiving Live TV! Make sure your property will be secured and vacated until such a time as a warrant is obtained for search under the offence stated on record.
3. If you've been smart at this stage things will be progressing smoothly and there's been none of the afforementioned unpleasantness. The COMPLIANCE AGENTS will ask to view your TV equipment and any equipment you plug into it on a regular basis. They will ask you to hand them remotes etc. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO DO ANY OF THIS. If there are already Police present, politely ask them if THEY (the police) are compelling you by law and by what law to do as you are being asked. They will, in most cases if you've asked respctfully and they're good coppers, tell you you are not compelled by law to do anything except allow the TVL agents to go about their business. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO HELP THEM PLUG ANYTHING IN AND IF YOU DO YOU MAY WELL IMPLICATE YOURSELF. Another situation i have witnessed.
4. Finally, if you have completed this "visit" in accordance and you have been lucky enough to get a police officer who knows their remit, you will most likely be told by the COMPLIANCE AGENTS that you have obstructed them in their duties and they will be filing for obstruction. Simply restate that you do not understand or recognise their caution as it is not backed by law or the Police officers in attendence (if they're there), that you have complied with everything you are obligated to do under the 2003 Communications Act, and if there are no further matters you would ask them politely to leave. This last step is a bit of a sucker punch for people who have been found rightly not to require a license but have been harrassed and mistreated to the point of allowing these people into their homes. Its like saying, we might not have you for fee dodging but we're gonna get ya anyway. I have yet to hear of any case in which the TVL have successfully proven obstruction in cases where they have been allowed access but refused "help to switch on or plug in the tv".
Just to finish and outline how ridiculously oblique and opaque this organisation are, i recently had need to question their agency for overstepping their legal boundaries and was told emphatically that i had to follow policy regardless of whether or not it was written into statute law which is, of course, ridiculous. I was also lied to about a refund i never got of 18 pounds as, and i quote, "i never bothered to ask". Lastly, it was accidentally revealed to me by one such angry and heated agent that whilst you have proven that you do not lawfully require a license on your property your property will still accrue "arrears". Yes, thats right. They don't tell you you are in arrears so there are no arrears is their official line on the matter. When asked if these "not-arrears" that were live on their systems could potentially affect the credit rating of the property i was told that was something i'd have to take up with Experian, and believe me I AM!
