How did TV licence inspector get my name .

reddanmm

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I got a letter today with my name but wrong address from the TV licence inspector saying he called to my house but did not get the opportunity to speak with me and that the house is not covered by a licence .
The question is the house he is talking about is next door to me and has never being occupied . The only way i can think of how they got my name is that i park my car there
do the TV licence people have access to the vehicle registration dept and get non payers names from government databases.
I rang the office and they do not know how they got my name they said to tell him the next time i see him that the house is empty . I have a licence so my name would not have being on his list .
Am i being paranoid ?
 
Doubt they have access to motor system. AFAIK once you sign up to sky/UPC etc they have your name that way.
 
I understand An Post is now responsible for this... ie postmen know what houses they drop licences to etc and they blow the whistle. Not sure if this is true but makes sense if you think about it
 
Ok i dont live in that house no one lives there. . I have a licence for my own address which is next door . So how did he attach my name to that address . The reason i got the letter in the first place is that the postman knows me and dropped it in to my house .
 
from rte.ie

Who collects the TV Licence Fee?
An Post, appointed by the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, is the sole agent for the sale of TV Licences to the public. An Post maintains a database of both licenced and unlicenced addresses which is checked and updated regularly.
The Department of Social Protection (DSP) pays for TV Licences for a percentage of its clients who qualify for the "Free" TV Licence.

Licence revenue from both of these bodies is paid to the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (DCENR). DCENR then makes a grant-in-aid of the appropriate amount to RTÉ.



I think you got it in one when you said the postman knows you??
 
It still does not answer the question of how my name is attached to this house . I dont live there. I have my own licence. I am not claiming any social welfare payments . And the reason i got this letter is the postman prob just looked at my name on the envelope and put it in my letter box
 
I would have thought they work on the assumption that all homes have a TV.

But I do remember those adverts from the 70's that featured the detector vans. I have always liked the idea a crack team of TV licence agents in their radar vans prowling the neighbourhood in the search for the "evil" evaders. It gave me an Orwellian warmth.
 
I would suggest emailing the An Post TV licence section, [email protected], and if you do not get a satisfactory explanation then you could make a complaint to the Data Protection Commissioner on their website, dataprotection.ie (can't post full link), or email your complaint to [email protected].

Hope this helps.
 
Write to the tv licence people requesting all data held on you under the Freedom of Information Act.
 
I think you got it in one when you said the postman knows you??

Maybe i am missing something but what has the postman got to do with it . Why would he tell the inspector i live there when he knows i dont. I dont like the thought of my name being attached to a property that has nothing to do with me .
 
Maybe it's a clerical error, these things happen you know. It doesn't all have to be a conspiracy.
 
Thanks for the replies i will keep an eye out him and ask him how he got my name apparently he is stalking the area . Could not understand why they could not remove my name from this address when i rang them.
They said i had to speak with him myself
 
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I completely understand that you don't want your name associated with the next door property.

There is obviously no way you are liable for the licence fee. I would let An Post and the TV licence dept. know this as other posters have indicated. Also I would point out to the local sorting office/postman that the postman has delivered next door's post to your address. The postman has to deliver to the address on the envelope.

Let the tv licence inspector merrily waste his time with it all.
 
Hope i dont get a property tax bill for that house as well . Thanks again for the replies .
 
It was a mistery to me when a few years ago I moved house, and within 2 weeks the TV license inspector called to check, it could only come from the post office.
 
When i moved in to my house first he was around after a couple of weeks looking for my licence . The licence was for my old address he hounded us till we got it changed to the new address
 
The postman is the link here. They are given a few bob extra to supply these details to the licence people.
 
nothing to do with TV licences, but I had an amusing address mix-up experience ten years ago. In my renting days I moved house once and I was waiting on a deposit cheque to arrive from the letting agency. After a week of waiting, I rang the agency to see where my cheque was. They had sent it out to the wrong address.

These are not my actual details, just to illustrate that my name is quite uncommon.

Sebastian Dunne
34 Cedarwood Road

they sent the cheque to Sebastian Dunne, 34 Cedarwood Park which was just beside my road. I called around there and the guy there gave me my letter. He had the same name as me, Sebastian Dunne!
 
The postman is the link here. They are given a few bob extra to supply these details to the licence people.

Is this for real? Are they on commission for catching people? I find it hard to believe the postman gets extra for passing on info to anyone else. I do accept that An Post have a tv license role and indeed a few years ago after moving house to a rural area I did see the tv license guy travelling around with the postman, clearing checking names and addresses as he paid us a visit shortly after... But I can't imagine the postman got anything extra for it!
 
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