Are there such thing as TV licence dector vans, do they really exsist?

Question

I have a full colour licence so no smart answers please, just asking out of curiosity.

Answer 1

They certainly do! If you dont have a licence registered to your address they can sit outside your house and pick up if you are receiving tv signals! They knocked on my door once to remind me that i hadnt renewed my licence!.............I explained it worked just as good without one!

Answer 2

Hi >
I admire your curiosity on this.
Yup, there is a small fleet of vans with spinning roof-racks dotted around. Complete with incoming info such as "has Mrs.Thingy at No. 32 got a licence?"
They of course focus on inner City areas, especially blocks of flats, as that is where they will get the most "hits" per day to justify their existance. Great fun.
I personaly am fully paid up in this department, so my only concern is that now we all need to go digital, which Iv'e done, I now have 100 channels of mainly nonesense on the box, yet am still obliged to pay the BBC for a slack handful of them.
It is not fiscally worth it to target remote rural areas, so if you are on a remote farm, well need I say more, and anyway, the TV claim that "we know of every address without a bit of paper is untrue. What about the little set on my narrowboat ? It could be anywhere. It is covered by my home licence, but dear me,
Another thing, while I'm on, I was asked in the USA if I also needed a certificate of use for other domestic appliances.
"You can't have an operative washing machine without a government ticket." sort of thing.
All a bit daft, really.

Bob.

Answer 3

Yes there are TV Licence Dector Vans going about the country. The Post Office used to run them for the TV Licence office & my Uncle was one of the drivers.
When I became unemployed back in the early 1990's I had a visit from the dector van & they were most helpfull and arranged my payments at that time.

Answer 4

Yes there are such things as TV Licence detector vans - but most detections are now secured by computer record. I don't think they even need to catch you in the act of watching a BBC channel anymore - if you have equipment capable of receiving BBC channels - even if it'snot on - they can still prosecute.

Answer 5

Its all on computer now I think - when you buy a new tv, they notify the TV licence people and you receive a letter a few weeks later, if the system doesn't show a TV licence at your address.

Do they still sell B&W licences??

Answer 6

they have a record of every household in the uk. As near enough 99% of house have colour tvs they just look at the house that exist but dont have a tv licence, and send the detector vans there.

Answer 7

think they have long gone due to more technology. My niece has to knock on doors to warn people that they do not have a licence and tells me of some of the excuses that are given. I think the best was a lady denied watching the TV, saying she only put it on for the dog to watch................

Answer 8

yes there are,but they are not as obvious as they used to be,with
a big directional aerial on the roof, when they are in the area,they
are constantly scanning,the computer tells them if a residence etc
has a current licence or not,they know what you are watching,and
in which room the tv is.

Answer 9

Yes, they do exist but they can't detect anything. They always were/are simply a visual method of scaring people into buying a TV license.

Answer 10

I can remember them coming round the streets when I was kid and everyone used to run round knocking on neighbours doors to let them know so they could hide their tellies, I think they can do it others ways today without the van coming round.