TV Licensing Rights of Access
TV Licensing employees do not have any legal automatic right of access to any property.
From previous posts you'll be aware that a television licence is only required when television equipment is used to receive or record television signals as they are broadcast to the wider public.
If you don't use equipment as described above then you don't require a television licence.
Unlicensed properties are flagged by TV Licensing's database and will be subject to further investigation. This usually involves sending regular licence reminder letters (referred to as "
threatograms") to the property, which are eventually followed up by a visit by one of TV Licensing's doorstep salespeople. TV Licensing refer to their salespeople as "visiting officers", but members of the legally-licence-free community generally refer to them as "goons".
Even if the legal occupier has replied saying they have no television receiving equipment TV Licensing will attempt visit the property to confirm that is the case.
For this reason an increasing number of people who don't require a licence are making a stand against TV Licensing on a point of principle.
The law:
Unless the goon has a search warrant for your property you do not have to let them in. Without that warrant they have no more rights of access than anyone else visiting - in fact you can even withdraw their implied right of access by writing to TV Licensing (see later).
Goons, who earn commission on every licence they sell, are notoriously economical with the truth and may try to con their way into your home using legal jargon or threats. Unless they have that search warrant it's all bluff and, for reasons that will become apparent below, they're very unlikely have a warrant if it's their first visit.
Search warrants:
A search warrant is a legal document signed by a Magistrate (England, Wales and Northern Ireland) or a Sheriff (Scotland). There is no standard prescribed format for the warrant but it must include the address of the property and the reason for the search. The warrant must be executed within one calendar month (England, Wales and Northern Ireland) or 28 days (Scotland) of the date of issue.
TV Licensing can only obtain a warrant by making representations to a Magistrate, under oath, that they have reasonable suspicion (e.g. some evidence) that television receiving equipment is being used illegally within a property. There is an onus on the Magistrate to only issue a warrant when the evidence justifies it. In theory the Magistrate should refuse to authorise the search if the evidence is too weak. In practice,
as experience shows, Magistrates often take TV Licensing's word as sacrosanct and grant warrant applications made on the basis of questionable evidence.
In practical terms there are only two forms of evidence that TV Licensing can offer when requesting a search warrant:
- That the legal occupant has admitted that they are using television receiving equipment without a licence.
- That a goon has observed or heard television receiving equipment being used in an unlicensed property.
Some people have voiced concerns that TV Licensing don't tell the whole truth when applying for warrants. There's a train of thought that they sometimes exaggerate their evidence to secure a search warrant. This is supported by the fact that they have searched properties and found no evidence whatsoever of television receiving equipment.
The following are not usually considered sufficient grounds for the issue of a search warrant:
- The fact that the property is unlicensed.
- Ownership a television.
- Non co-operation with TV Licensing.
- The presence of a television aerial or satellite dish on the exterior of the property.
If a goon turns up with a search warrant then it is an offence to refuse them access. We are aware of two recent cases where the occupiers, who had previously been listening to "Freeman of the Land" mumbo jumbo, thought they were immune from prosecution if they refused to consent to a search warrant execution. Both of those occupiers were subsequently convicted of search warrant obstruction.
The warrant will allow them to search for and inspect television receiving equipment - it does not give them carte blanche to search through personal documentation or anything like that.
In theory the warrant permits TV Licensing to force entry to conduct their search if the property is unoccupied or the occupant refuses to answer the door. In practice it is TV Licensing policy not to force entry in these circumstances, but to return later and make further attempts to execute the warrant.
They will usually be accompanied by the police, who are only there to prevent a breach of the peace. However, be aware that search warrants are granted to TV Licensing and there is no legal requirement for the police to be present when they are executed. The police should not provide any assistance to TV Licensing with the actual search.
TV Licensing search warrants are exceptionally rare. Information obtained by the
TV Licensing Blog confirms that NO search warrants have been granted at all in Scotland between 1st January 2011 and 21st July 2014 (more info
here). If you're legally licence free, as we hope all our readers are, then you should never need to worry about the threat of a search warrant. If TV Licensing ever do turn up with a warrant then you are well within your rights to film them and we strongly recommend you do.
Implied rights of access:
There is an implied right of access for certain visitors to your property. For example, having a letterbox means that you accept people will deliver things and the presence of a door bell indicates you're open to callers.
You can withdraw TV Licensing's implied right of access by writing to them and saying so. If they ignore your request they'd be trespassing on your property and liable to civil prosecution and negative publicity.
The BBC has previously indicated that TV Licensing will comply with any
Withdrawal of Implied Rights of Access (WOIRA), but we are aware that TV Licensing often ignore WOIRA instructions and single out those properties for special attention.
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