TV Licence

[angel afloat]

Hi

 

I know this will have been covered somewhere in the past but can anyone tell me what to do about a tv licence for our boat.

 

Occasional cruisers only and have one for the house.

 

Do I need a seperate one for NB?

 

Thanks

 

 

 

hi, when we moved from bricks and mortar, i contacted tv licence peeps and said we moving from land to water .. what about tv licence, they were very helpfull and as long as i could give them a contact address, ie family or a relative who has a tv licence at their address, then we were covered by that address.

And as luck has it my partners parents address was given, and because they are at that pensionable age... they get a free tv licence anyway!

so a friend or family member landside with tv licence will cover you.

julie

Edited March 29, 2008 by angel afloat

[Ex- Member]

hi, when we moved from bricks and mortar, i contacted tv licence peeps and said we moving from land to water .. what about tv licence, they were very helpfull and as long as i could give them a contact address, ie family or a relative who has a tv licence at their address, then we were covered by that address.

And as luck has it my partners parents address was given, and because they are at that pensionable age... they get a free tv licence anyway!

so a friend or family member landside with tv licence will cover you.

julie

 

Nice bit of info being able to register an address to cover your arse. I would have used it as a get out clause anyway if required, as stated earlier, but knowing you can register an address is helpfull for those who like to be fully compliant with "the law"

 

There's an anomoly about a TV licence where you don't actually pay for a tv licence, you actually pay to licence the property your tv is located in, I really wonder if a television on a boat can actually be licenced, and thats why they suggest registerring it with a family member.

 

I'll stick to not paying and doing nothing though

[angel afloat]

To be honest i dont see how/why we need a tv licence cos c.c's how can they catch you unless your by a built up area?

Haven't spotted any detecter vans having lunch by a canal pub or on a deserted towpath!

Have they even thought of wandering into a marina? now theres a thought.!!! unless someone moors their boat on marina and they happen to work for licence peeps!!

[carlt]

I don't think boaters are exclusive in their dislike of taxation. One could just as well argue that people in houses & flats should have to display council tax discs?

It wasn't the dislike of taxation I was commenting on.

 

If someone comes on the forum and says "Oh I never pay BW for my licence because they won't catch me." or "why get a mooring? BW don't enforce bridgehopping." They are cast as evil personified but, if they come up with a dodge to avoid the tv tax, or the looming diesel hike, it is discussed as a legitimate money saving measure.

[FadeToScarlet]

From my point of view, the TV licensing people just have a list of all addresses, and just hastle the people who don't have a license according to their list.

 

A case in point is my (and most if not all) the student hall of residence rooms here. The TV licensing people have sent literally thousands of letters to people in my college alone, just because none of the addresses have a TV license- because no-one (or, rather, only one or two) people have TVs.

 

I've heard that there's no such thing as a detector van; all they do is hastle the people who don't have a license. They automatically assume that you've got a TV and you're watching it without a license, and send automatic computer generated letters to everyone.

 

It's an interesting point as to whether you'd need a TV licence on a boat. Televisions powered soley by their own internal batteries are exempt. Putting a TV card into a laptop and running that- which I'm planning on doing- would probably count. They've no way of proving that I didn't have the laptop plugged in, and with no Mains power would have to prove that the laptop was plugged in and the engine/generator and inverter were also on at the time. Plus I doubt a generator/engine and inverter counts as mains power anyway...

 

A big benefit of living aboard that I'm lookign forward to is not having so much junk mail! (and, even if we did, well... kindling for the stove!)

Edited March 29, 2008 by FadeToScarlet

[blackrose]

It wasn't the dislike of taxation I was commenting on.

 

If someone comes on the forum and says "Oh I never pay BW for my licence because they won't catch me." or "why get a mooring? BW don't enforce bridgehopping." They are cast as evil personified but, if they come up with a dodge to avoid the tv tax, or the looming diesel hike, it is discussed as a legitimate money saving measure.

 

Well, we're obviously a bunch of no-good hypocrites then. It's interesting when you go to Scandinavian countries where they pay quite high taxes yet they don't seem to mind. Most people you talk to seem to think they get good value for money - perhaps that's part of the problem in this country (we don't).

[NB Alnwick]

It wasn't the dislike of taxation I was commenting on.

 

If someone comes on the forum and says "Oh I never pay BW for my licence because they won't catch me." or "why get a mooring? BW don't enforce bridgehopping." They are cast as evil personified but, if they come up with a dodge to avoid the tv tax, or the looming diesel hike, it is discussed as a legitimate money saving measure.

 

I suppose it could be argued that the money paid to BW generally helps to keep the canals open which is what we all really want - but you are quite right in what you say Carl, because a proportion of the taxes we all pay also helps to keep our canals open - unfortunately, it would be nice if that proportion was just a little more obvious.

[Machpoint005]

If the bureaucrat cannot provide CCers with a way of paying for a TV licence, it's a bit much to expect the CCer to go to great lengths to get one. If you try to pay, and the powers-that-be cannot take the money because of how the rules work, that's where he matter ends. Not immoral, just pragmatic.

 

BW licencing, VED, income tax, Council tax, etc are a different matter because the powers-that-be have mechanisms in place to get the taxes that are rightfully theirs.

 

Ian

[NB Alnwick]

If you try to pay, and the powers-that-be cannot take the money because of how the rules work, that's where he matter ends. Not immoral, just pragmatic.

 

Ian is quite right - this is not 'tax' evasion or 'tax' avoidance because the 'tax' in question simply does not apply unless you live on a houseboat that the authorities can recognise as a permanent address.

[Yoda]

Unless you have an address, you wont be on the computer.

 

I think that it's good to pay for PSB ie the BBC so that we have independant programmes, news and radio. Although BBC World is paid for by the Foreign Office, all else is paid by subscription, the receiving license.

[Tusses]

Unless you have an address, you wont be on the computer.

 

I think that it's good to pay for PSB ie the BBC so that we have independant programmes, news and radio. Although BBC World is paid for by the Foreign Office, all else is paid by subscription, the receiving license.

 

I dont think it is in any way fair - and there should be a choice not to receive BBC channels rather than pay the license . that would soon sort out how people feel about it !

 

I hardly ever watch BBC and the TV license rials me !!!!!

[blackrose]

I hardly ever watch BBC and the TV license rials me !!!!!

 

Unlike myself who watches loads of BBC and couldn't give a crap about the licence...

[Tusses]

Unlike myself who watches loads of BBC and couldn't give a crap about the licence...

 

 

[honey ryder]

I dont have a tv, but if I did have one on my boat, i wouldnt bother with a tv licence. whats the point in spending money on something for the sake of it? its not tax, its a licence, since you live outside the confines of regular household society, you have mobile dwellings and live as a minority in society, I dont think the BBC is really going to miss the few quid from boaters not paying.

[blackrose]

I dont have a tv, but if I did have one on my boat, i wouldnt bother with a tv licence. whats the point in spending money on something for the sake of it? its not tax, its a licence, since you live outside the confines of regular household society, you have mobile dwellings and live as a minority in society, I dont think the BBC is really going to miss the few quid from boaters not paying.

 

Careful, Carl will be on your case in a minute!

 

By the way, what's happening with your liveaboard sailing dream?

[pagan witch]

Its pobably doubtful that the detector vans will catch CC'ers but you never know, and as we all know, ignorance of the law is not a defence

 

They haven't used detector vans for decades - quite simply when you buy a TV the shop will insist on you giving them your address and this is passed on to the licensing bods. When I was in the TV trade we were exempted from a licence of our own (so we could look at the TVs we were repairing and show customers etc.) so long as we promised to report who we had sold TVs to.

 

Of course, the shop doesn't actually care if the address you give is valid - just make sure you pay with cash else you will have defeated the whole object.

 

We are resi, were told by the licencing bods that we must have a licence because it is our main residence.