Hundreds dodging TV licence fee in Southampton

7:00am Saturday 5th January 2013 in News Photograph of the Author By Michael Carr, Reporter

Hundreds dodging TV licence fee Hundreds dodging TV licence fee

MORE than 1,100 people in Southampton were caught watching TV without a licence in the first six months of 2012.

The number was twice as many as in Portsmouth, where 480 people were caught.

Across Hampshire the total was more than 3,700 people, including 100 in Fareham and 70 in Eastleigh. Across the country 204,000 people were caught in the first six months, meaning the national rate of evasion remains at five per cent – with 19 out of 20 households correctly licensed.

A spokesman from the TV Licensing Agency said: “These figures paint a very positive picture as the vast majority of people in the UK continue to pay their licence fee. Unfortunately a minority of people do not pay for their licence, which is unfair to the law-abiding majority who do pay.”

Anyone who is caught watching TV without a licence faces a fine of up to £1,000.

Comments(19)

Linesman says...
10:14am Sat 5 Jan 13

Just another example of Southampton beating Portsmouth.

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nedscrumpo says...
10:46am Sat 5 Jan 13

confiscate their 50" HD 3D tv'ss as well

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dango says...
11:25am Sat 5 Jan 13

can't blame 'em after the crap that was on over Christmas.

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derek james says...
11:53am Sat 5 Jan 13

got to pay for chris evans fleet of aston martins somehow

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Sao Paulo says...
12:27pm Sat 5 Jan 13

Why is this "newspaper" accepting money for adverts and then putting them across as legitimate news articles.

Just google "Hundreds dodging TV licence fee" and you'll see the amount of newspapers BBC TV Licensing has paid to push this threatening, intimidating and harassing adverts designed to scare you into funding the...........or else!

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Sao Paulo says...
12:27pm Sat 5 Jan 13

Why is this "newspaper" accepting money for adverts and then putting them across as legitimate news articles.

Just google "Hundreds dodging TV licence fee" and you'll see the amount of newspapers BBC TV Licensing has paid to push this threatening, intimidating and harassing adverts designed to scare you into funding the...........or else!

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Ozmosis says...
12:50pm Sat 5 Jan 13

I'm surprised that one of the major providers has not thought of doing a digital package that excludes the licenced BBC channels. I bet it would be popular!

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pob says...
1:20pm Sat 5 Jan 13

It's all very well saying that TV licence dodgers can be fined up to £1000, but in reality I suspect that most, if not all, are fined less than the licence fee itself. The law's excuse is no doubt that these people should be let off because they are suffering 'hardship' or some other pathetic excuse. There's just no real deterrent.

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good-gosh says...
1:42pm Sat 5 Jan 13

Ozmosis wrote:
I'm surprised that one of the major providers has not thought of doing a digital package that excludes the licenced BBC channels. I bet it would be popular!
It could be called ReallyTrulyFreeView.

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Linesman says...
1:45pm Sat 5 Jan 13

Ozmosis wrote:
I'm surprised that one of the major providers has not thought of doing a digital package that excludes the licenced BBC channels. I bet it would be popular!
If they did, you would still require a TV licence.

The fee is paid to permit you to operate reception of TV programmes, be they BBC, ITV or foreign.

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jazzi says...
1:46pm Sat 5 Jan 13

Try asking them for a refund as you do not watch TV. They just ignore you and do nothing.
They send threatening letters , then visit to find out I do not watch TV, but their callers state its the law to have a licence. IT is not a law it is a parliamentary act.
But I have the capability to watch tv as I have an internet connection , I-phone.
Seriously Im not in need of watching live TV. My EX partners life was dominated by TV, its pathetic sitting in the same place day after day watching the same crap. So please stop wasting fee payers money by knocking on my door.

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WHATNOW! says...
2:23pm Sat 5 Jan 13

Goooood and I hope thoes who don't pay continue not to pay. Unfair on thoes who do? No! fair play to thoes who can get away with not paying! First it was telling us to have a licence for tv, then they had the cheek to tell us we needed a licence to watch tv on our laptops and phones! I say get F###t! Tv is already running and paid for, a licence is a bit of paper made from money which is also paper just like so many other unnecessary things we have to pay for.

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userds5050 says...
8:05pm Sat 5 Jan 13

Just use catch up services like iplayer. As long as you're not watching it live you're ok and don't need a license.
I remember I didn't have a tv for like a year, and got all sorts of menacing letters with ingenious threats like Polygraph charts, on almost a weekly basis. This is just another example of the BBC's intimidation of the poor. Break it up. NOW.

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Pikey-Biker says...
11:59pm Sat 5 Jan 13

The amount of squirming and wriggling just to avoid paying £145.50; less than £3 a week

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cliffwalker says...
12:10pm Sun 6 Jan 13

Whether it's just or not to charge a licence fee, it is interesting that people who will not pay the TV licence (required by law) will volunteer to pay 2, 3 or 4 times as much for programmes that are, for the most part, inferior to the "free" to air channels.

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Subject48 says...
4:23pm Mon 7 Jan 13

I dont watch TV. Why should I have to pay for a TV license?

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Pikey-Biker says...
10:54pm Wed 9 Jan 13

dont then!

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Watchkeeper says...
2:08pm Thu 10 Jan 13

TV Licensing AGENCY??!!

Dear me, people - here's why you shouldn't trust what you read without doing your own research.

There is NO "TV Licensing Agency". The TV Licensing AUTHORITY is the BBC. But the BBC wants to keep its role as quiet as possible so it has registered the trademark "TV Licensing" and allows other firms to do its dirty work. Prime amongst these is Capita Business Services Ltd. It and the BBC are rogue organisations unfit for purpose.
http://watchkeepersl
og.blogspot.co.uk/20
12/12/capita-and-bbc
-rogue-organisations
.html

Did you know you can watch catch-up TV without paying for a TV licence? Yes, a TV licence is only for watching programmes as they are transmitted, so catch-up is free - and you can even use a TV to watch.

Fo the full low-down please see this free PDF e-book:

http://tv-licensing.
blogspot.co.uk/p/fre
e-book.html

Report this post »

Watchkeeper says...
2:08pm Thu 10 Jan 13

TV Licensing AGENCY??!!

Dear me, people - here's why you shouldn't trust what you read without doing your own research.

There is NO "TV Licensing Agency". The TV Licensing AUTHORITY is the BBC. But the BBC wants to keep its role as quiet as possible so it has registered the trademark "TV Licensing" and allows other firms to do its dirty work. Prime amongst these is Capita Business Services Ltd. It and the BBC are rogue organisations unfit for purpose.
http://watchkeepersl
og.blogspot.co.uk/20
12/12/capita-and-bbc
-rogue-organisations
.html

Did you know you can watch catch-up TV without paying for a TV licence? Yes, a TV licence is only for watching programmes as they are transmitted, so catch-up is free - and you can even use a TV to watch.

For the full low-down please see this free PDF e-book:

http://tv-licensing.
blogspot.co.uk/p/fre
e-book.html

Report this post »

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