<h1 id="cancelling-my-tv-licence">Cancelling my TV licence</h1>
<h2 id="i-get-a-letter">I get a letter</h2>
<p>In July 2017 I received a letter from the <a href="https://tvlicensing.co.uk" title="TV Licensing">TV Licensing</a> organisation telling me they'd be taking £147 from my account on the 1st of August. I had set up a &quot;<em>Direct Debit</em>&quot; arrangement with my bank many years before which allowed them to do this, and had forgotten all about it.</p>
<p>When my kids were small, and later in their teens, a lot of TV was watched in my house. We used to watch all the over the air channels, and when things started to move towards digital in the UK I bought a PVR (aka <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_video_recorder" title="Digital Video Recorder">DVR</a>) which converted the <a href="https://www.freeview.co.uk/" title="Freeview">Freeview</a> channels into a signal for my analogue TV, and also recorded stuff on demand.</p>
<p>I watched some TV after I retired in 2009, but by 2013 with my kids having left home (to all intents and purposes), and the quality of what was available having fallen to a record low, I stopped.</p>
<p>When this letter arrived I realised I'd been paying for this licence to watch TV for several years without using it.</p>
<h2 id="i-throw-out-my-tv">I throw out my TV</h2>
<p>The old analogue, CRT TV sitting in the corner of my room (and the associated Freeview PVR) had not been turned on for 4 years, so it was time for them to go. So I took my TV to the recycling centre with the help of my son. The PVR will be hacked for useful components.</p>
<h2 id="i-cancel-my-licence">I cancel my licence</h2>
<p>Next step was to stop paying this annual licence. The letter told me what to do. I discovered I fulfilled all the requirements listed there:</p>
<ul>
<li>I never watch or record programmes as they are being shown on TV</li>
<li>I never download or watch BBC programmes on demand</li>
<li>I don't do this on a TV, desktop computer, laptop, mobile phone, tablet, games console, digital box or DVD/VHS recorder.</li>
</ul>
<p>I called the number on the back of the letter and cancelled.</p>
<p>The guy I spoke to said I'd get a letter of confirmation soon. I asked if they'd cancel the Direct Debit or whether I should. He advised me to cancel myself, so I did it immediately.</p>
<h2 id="i-get-my-confirmation-letter">I get my confirmation letter</h2>
<p>A number of days later I received a letter entitled (rather oddly) &quot;Your No Licence Needed confirmation&quot;. It told me my <em>no licence</em> was valid from July 2017 and expired July 2019.</p>
<p>The letter did point out that I might receive a visit to &quot;confirm that a licence isn't needed&quot;.</p>
<p>A friendly leaflet accompanying the letter contained the question and answer:</p>
<p><b><em>Can I be prosecuted for watching BBC programmes on BBC iPlayer without a licence?</em></b></p>
<blockquote>
<p><em>Yes. From 1 September 2016, you risk prosecution and a fine of up to £1,000 plus any legal costs and/or compensation you may be ordered to pay.</em></p>
</blockquote>
<h2 id="i-get-an-urgent-letter-from-tv-licensing">I get an urgent letter from TV Licensing</h2>
<p>On the 12th August I received a letter from TV Licensing which asked me to call them urgently because my bank had declined a Direct Debit payment request.</p>
<p>I called on the 14th August and was told that this was a mistake and the letter could be ignored.</p>
<p>However, to get this answer I had to navigate 4 menus and give my details to a robot. Of course the person I eventually contacted asked for the details all over again! This made me wonder if the robot is there for any purpose other than to be a deterrent to callers. The same goes for the 4 menus.</p>
<h2 id="i-get-a-phone-call-from-tv-licensing">I get a phone call from TV Licensing</h2>
<p>On 17th August I found a message on my answering machine asking me to call TV Licensing. I did so, and navigated the 4 menus again. This time the robot asked for my licence number, but since I reasoned I didn't have one I gave it the reference number of my <em>no licence</em>. That didn't work.</p>
<p>It then asked for my postcode, street name, house number and payment details. It confirmed the address stuff but when I said I didn't pay for a licence it passed me to a human.</p>
<p>The lady I was speaking to then asked for my name, address, postcode, etc. I asked why I was being asked for this again having just given it to a robot. Apparently these weren't passed through because I &quot;failed&quot; to answer all the questions properly. That's odd because the same happened last time when I got the questions &quot;right&quot;!</p>
<p>This time it turned out that the problem was that my <em>no licence</em> had been cancelled. No reason was given.</p>
<p>I asked why, if a thing I had carefully set up with the expectation of it remaining in place for 2 years had been cancelled, I hadn't been notified. I didn't get an answer.</p>
<h2 id="conclusion">Conclusion</h2>
<p>It seems that TV Licensing has one of the worst systems for managing its &quot;customers&quot; on the planet. I told the representative that this was my opinion while I was on the phone.</p>
<p>I'm wondering what's next in the saga. Will it be the &quot;heavies&quot; at the door (I'm not obliged to let them in without a warrant, I discovered), a legendary TV Detector van outside my house (I'd like to see one and take a picture of it), another spurious money demand or unexplained loss of my details?</p>
<p>However, although it has been bad, this story did give me something to write and talk about for HPR so it's not all bad!</p>
<h2 id="links">Links</h2>
<ul>
<li>Web site of the <a href="https://www.freeview.co.uk/">Freeview</a> service</li>
<li>Wikipedia page on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freeview_(UK)">Freeview</a></li>
<li>Wikipedia page on the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_video_recorder">Digital Video Recorder</a></li>
<li><a href="https://tvlicensing.co.uk">TV Licensing</a> website</li>
<li>Wikipedia page &quot;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television_licensing_in_the_United_Kingdom"><em>TV Licensing in the United Kingdom</em></a>&quot;</li>
</ul>