Search warrant for tv licence

A

alexandra123

Registered User
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Hello,

I am just enquiring. I am about to get rid of my TV as I am sick of watching it and I want to do without it for a couple of months. My licence expires at the end of this month.

I contacted the tv licence department today by mail who confirmed that I only need a TV licence if I possess a TV and not if I dont.

Code: 
If there is no TV set at a premises, you do not need a TV Licence.
You also don't need a licence just for having an aerial.

There are no radio licences anymore.

When the inspector calls - I don't feel overly comfortable letting them into my home especially when I live on my own. Does anyone know how long it normally takes for them to come back with a search warrant ? When it is proved that I do not own a TV anymore will the mails and calls still keep coming or do they stop after the 1st visit that shows no TV at the specified address ?

A guard can only produce a search warrant - is this correct and he should be in uniform ?
 
Normally a uniformed Garda will execute the search warrant with the inspector.

It usually takes them a few days to get a warrant, it is not major crime.

They may stop the letters for a while but expect hassle once a year from them.
 
Where are you putting your TV? a few years ago I ended in court because I tried the same thing, the TV was store out of site behind wardrobe, and they said that they viewed a TV on my premises, when the justice ask for more details, they said they could view it through a crack between wardrobes; I was also told by the postmaster that I had to take my aerial down also
 
I used to get letters years ago addressed to "the occupant" .I wrote back a few times signing myself "the occupant" saying I had no tv. Eventually a young licence inspector called and I told him I had no tv and invited him in to have a look, but he accepted my word and declined to come in. I never got any more letters since.
 
Instead of putting TV's in sheds, why not put it out the front of the house on a dry day and write 'FREE' on it.

Alexandra, why on earth would you be waiting for a summons. Invite the inspector in and prove you have no TV. Simple solution.
 
Having a TV on your premises, wherever it is (including a locked shed), means you have to have a license.

The only way around it is to get someone else to store it or to sell it or give it away.
 
I too do not have a TV however I am so sick of them sending letters and calling to my apartment. I did fill out one of the declarations that I do not have a TV licence however only the other day the licence inspector called again. I was not in and he left a card.

Previously I invited him in too and he has accepted that I do not have a TV but does not stop the written communication arriving.
I really feel harassed by them...
 
10amwalker said:
I too do not have a TV however I am so sick of them sending letters and calling to my apartment. I did fill out one of the declarations that I do not have a TV licence however only the other day the licence inspector called again.
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Maybe you should do what the guy in England did, and write to them telling them you're going to charge for your time in answering them if they don't stop. He won his case.
 
Let's dispel the myths here. Believe it or not I worked as a TV Licence Inspector for years.
1. I have never heard of anybody prosecuting anybody for a tv set abandoned behind a wardrobe.
2. Nobody was ever prosecuted either for having just a tv aerial.
3. Search Warrants are not easy to obtain. There are certain criteria which must be kept before you can even think of getting a search warrant. When a warrant is obtained, a member of An Garda Siochána must accompany the TV Licence Inspector.
4. TV Licence Inspectors by nature have only to concentrate of premises that have no TV Licence whether there is a TV set or not. Such is the nature of the business.
5. You have to live with the letters. If you dont have a TV set just bin them. If a TV licence Inspector calls just inform him/her that you have not TV set. You dont have to leave anybody into your house/apartment unless they have a search warrant.
6. Believe it or not, TV Licence Inspectors are human and dont want hassle.
 
Maybe Leper's post should be a key post on TV licences, it never ceases to amaze me the amount of people who don't watch TV on AAM.

In relationt to point 5 Leper, wouldn't it be better to let the inspector in to stop the constant visits?
 
I'm not renewing my TV license this month. I e-mailed them to say I would not have a TV set from the renewal date, and they are sending out a statutory declaration for me to sign. I have a Sky dish which I will not be taking down (no reason to). I'll be getting rid of the Sky box and three TVs and replacing with computer monitors.

I don't know what happens next, but I can tell you I won't be the slightest bit disturbed if I get letters (which will just go in the bin) or calls from an inspector. There is an e-mail address for your local TV licencing office on the An Post TV licence website, which is where I notified them I wasn't renewing. I'll do them the courtesy of mailing them each time I ever get a letter -- if they want to add to my administrative burden, I am happy to repay them in kind, and an e-mail is free.
 
Btw, OP, if you only get rid of your TV for a couple of months and then try to buy a license under the same name/address, I am pretty sure they will try to backdate it to the end of your current licence. It might be different if you make a statutory declaration (not sure).
 
I could not received digital TV when my landlord contractors did not connect me back to it correctly. I contacted the licensed people to get refund as I paid a year in advance. I was told by them that there was no need to get rid of my TV as and I use it for games such as Wii etc. I was also told that I could not watch live TV on my my laptop, but could watch any programm on it 3 minutes after the programm has finished live on the air. I never miss a program now as I watch catchup on my laptop anywhere in my home 3 minutes after it has finished live on TV. No more TV license for me again. This is in the UK BTW.
 
2. Nobody was ever prosecuted either for having just a tv aerial.
Click to expand...
Thanks for confirming that. The nay sayers on many other sites swear that people have been successfully prosecuted in the past on this point alone.
 
Leper; I was taken to court in Cobh for having my TV set behind the wardrobe, I was also told to taken down my aerial by the postmaster
 
roker said:
Leper; I was taken to court in Cobh for having my TV set behind the wardrobe, I was also told to taken down my aerial by the postmaster
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Weird. Can't see how the postmaster even has the authority to tell you to take down an aerial, quite apart from he's wrong on the law.
 
Kev said:
I could not received digital TV when my landlord contractors did not connect me back to it correctly. I contacted the licensed people to get refund as I paid a year in advance. I was told by them that there was no need to get rid of my TV as and I use it for games such as Wii etc. I was also told that I could not watch live TV on my my laptop, but could watch any programm on it 3 minutes after the programm has finished live on the air. I never miss a program now as I watch catchup on my laptop anywhere in my home 3 minutes after it has finished live on TV. No more TV license for me again. This is in the UK BTW.
Click to expand...

Got to be careful here. The law in the UK is quite different. There you are allowed to have a TV as long as you don't use it for live TV. Here, TV on the premises = TV license needed. Also, in the UK you can get a refund for a part year used, here the instalment option is a convenience -- you are always liable for a full year.

My plan here in Ireland is to watch my chosen programs on a high quality computer monitor via a media player. Programs are downloaded from Irish and UK broadcasters' "players" using various entirely legal techniques. Oh, and they're advertising free, even the Irish ones. I won't miss live TV at all.
 
The law refers to 'an apparatus capable of receiving a television signal'. I worked in An POst, and a colleague of mine who did exactly what you are proposing was prosecuted.
 
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