Never, ever talk to Capita BBC TV Licensing 2

August 23 was the first anniversary of the first TV Licensing Watch blogpost. Readers of the blog may have noticed that no blogpost has been published since March. The main reason is that the March blogpost generated so many hits it seemed a shame to bury it with another blogpost. However, fellow bloggers TV Licensing Blogspot and Watchkeeper have both been very active recently and have each in turn raised important issues which have inspired us at, TV Licensing Watch, to publish another instalment of “Never, ever talk to Capita BBC TV Licensing™”. So, here is, “Never, ever talk to Capita BBC TV Licensing™ 2”.

In the year since we published our first blogpost, Capita BBC TV Licensing™, have changed the way they “operate” in minor ways which have not gone unnoticed by those of us who monitor such things. TV Licensing™ Visiting Procedures approved, published and issued by the BBC for creative interpretation by Capita BBC TV Licensing™ has been amended. For people who are interested, the amended version is available as a large file in PDF format here. However, to echo an observation made by the, Duke of Wellington, they “came at us in the same old way and we dealt with them in the same old way”.

The primary source comes courtesy of, Watchkeeper, who, with characteristic diligence, did some research and number crunching which provided the inspiration for this blogpost. Unfortunately, not much has changed for well over 400,000 people in the past year. People who did not know their rights and in particular did not exercise their right to remain silent. They very unwisely granted Capita BBC TV Licensing™ door to door scum 400,000+ impromptu doorstep interviews under caution and ended up paying the price. For those unfortunate people, Capita BBC TV Licensing™ came at them in the same old way and dealt with them in the same old way. Consequently 400,000+ got milked of at least £145.50 for the “privilege” of granting those interviews. For the numerate among you, that’s £58,200,000 easy money which the BBC and Capita BBC TV Licensing™ may not have been entitled to in the first place had those 400,000+ people not made the fatal financial error by not talking to Capita BBC TV Licensing™ in the first place.

Not that the BBC and Capita BBC TV Licensing™ care in the slightest. The BBC and Capita BBC TV Licensing™ tv licence scam is about one thing and one thing only. Generating tons of gravy train revenue at other people’s expense for the unholy BBC Capita alliance of evil. Your compliance was gratefully accepted and we at, TV Licensing Watch, are certain that both, the BBC and Capita BBC TV Licensing™, are humbly and truly very grateful indeed . . . when they were not laughing at you all the way to the bank.

More troubling, of those 400,000+ people, 181,880 were summonsed and of those 181,880 people summonsed, 155,135 were found guilty and had to pay fines, costs and victim surcharges each or face imprisonment for non-payment. Of interest to us at, TV Licensing Watch, is the costs element levied by the petty judiciary at the behest of Capita BBC TV Licensing™ prosecutors on behalf of Capita BBC TV Licensing™ and, by the way, the BBC, who also benefit financially, thanks to murky clauses in the TV Licensing™ Service Provision Agreement between the BBC and Capita BBC TV Licensing™. The minimum amount of costs demanded by Capita BBC TV Licensing™ prosecutors is set at £90 apiece. Note, that £90 apiece rate is the minimum demanded. So, from 155,135 “successful” prosecutions at £90 apiece, Capita BBC TV Licensing™ stand a minimum take of £13,962,150 levied on their behalf by the petty judiciary. Nice easy money. Remember, those found guilty have to pay up or end up in prison for non-payment so doubly easy money. Once again, we at, TV Licensing Watch are doubly certain that the BBC and Capita BBC TV Licensing™ are more than doubly, humbly and truly very grateful indeed for those people’s enforced compliance. Especially Capita BBC TV Licensing™ door to door scum who get paid uncapped commissions for both BBC tv licence sales and successful prosecutions. A real world application of The MacDaniel Principle so lucidly explained by, Watchkeeper. Also, let us not forget the 100% post-prosecution follow-up much boasted about by “TV Licensing spokespeople” whereby approximately 30% of those summonsed in the previous 12 months are repeat summonsed. It is very likely that of the 181,880 people summonsed, some 54,560 have been repeat summonsed and of the 155,135 found guilty, some 46,540 have been found guilty within the previous 12 months.

However, as far as we at TV Licensing Watch are concerned it’s all so unnecessary. Unnecessary multiplied by 400,000+ because all people have to do when they open their door to Capita BBC TV Licensing™ is apply the precautionary principle by exercising their right to remain silent. If people exercise their right to remain silent then Capita BBC TV Licensing™ have to produce the evidence that people watch and record live television programme services unlicensed. Then let’s see them do that: prosecute and produce the evidence without people incriminating themselves. Yet seemingly in 2012 Capita BBC TV Licensing™ door to door scum found 400,000+ people willing to frame themselves by the mere act of talking to them rather than invoke their ineluctable right to remain silent. We at TV Licensing Watch reckon that during 2012, Capita BBC TV Licensing™’s door to door scum could hardly believe their luck or their uncapped commission payments at such a torrent of compliant self-incriminatory docility. Seemingly all their Christmases had come at once during 2012.

For people who have never seen one before, above is a blank TVL178 Record of Interview self-incrimination form. Like the Reverend Dr Martin Luther King, we have a dream. We at, TV Licensing Watch, have a dream that from now on every single blank TVL178 Record of Interview self-incrimination form should remain forever blank by virtue of people exercising their right to remain silent. There is no requirement to incriminate oneself or sign any TVL178 Record of Interview self-incrimination form that serves to incriminate. Had 400,000+ people not made the mistake of talking to Capita BBC TV Licensing™ in the first place they would not have incriminated themselves, the BBC and Capita BBC TV Licensing™ would not have been able, in essence, to blackmail them into paying up under judicial and extra-judicial duress and generated the possible £72,162,150 for themselves that they did. Think about it. What would the BBC and Capita BBC TV Licensing™ done about it if everyone had exercised their right to remain silent? Whatever they tried to do about it would have to have been multiplied by 400,000+.

The value of domestic cctv surveillance and handheld video camera can prove invaluable in gathering evidence of the serial abuses and misdemeanours perpetrated by employees of Capita Business Services under cover of the BBC TV Licensing™ contract. TV Licensing Watch advise anybody who has the misfortune to have face to face dealings with Capita Business Services TV Licensing™ to make an audio-visual record of those dealings in their entirety covertly or overtly with cctv and handheld video cameras.

For people who have not exercised their right to remain silent, TV Licensing Watch advise anybody who has had the misfortune to have face to face dealings with Capita Business Services TV Licensing™ and have received a summons as a consequence to contact a licensed law practitioner if: there is the slightest discrepancy between the actual situation regarding viewing habits and/or what actually happened during the interview compared with what has been written on the TVL178 Record of Interview self incrimination form.