A BRIT has shared her hilarious creative response to the TV Licensing company after receiving a pestering letter – despite not having a TV.
TikTok user Sophie shared how she and her boyfriend had just moved into their new home earlier this month when they were immediately met with a “threatening” letter for not having a TV license.
The 24-year-old revealed how the company demanded proof that she didn’t own a TV, despite the duo not even owning a couch yet.
As such, Sophie, from the West Midlands, decided to get her own back with a tongue-in-cheek email accompanied by a series of hilarious snaps of her near-empty house as “proof”.
Hilarious footage shows an old letter which was sent late last month, arriving right after the pair had received the keys to their new home.
It reads: “Please act before 13 September. There is currently no TV License at this address.”
The letter adds with underlined lettering “Get a TV License now.”
The video then shows an email from Sophie which hilariously reads: “Dear British TV Licensing, I have received your letter through the post.
“Unfortunately, we will not be paying a TV license because we do not own a TV as of yet (we have just got the keys and [are] renovating).
“If you would be so kind to send us a TV, we would be very grateful and happy to consider paying for a TV license.”
She added: “Please see attached for evidence. Unless an enforcement officer wants to help sand down the stairs, I would not recommend sending someone round because it’s a building site.”
The video then cuts to Sophie’s “evidence” – a series of photos, the first of which shows Sophie’s outstretched hand gesturing towards their kitchen.
Sophie cheekily wrote on the photo, above the microwave “This is not a TV, it’s a microwave” and even added above the oven: “This is not a TV, it’s an oven.”
A further photo shows an empty dining room with Sophie’s hand framing the room as text reads: “No TV.”
A third photo shows a living room containing just a pair of trainers, bags and two camping chairs, as text reads: “Bruh, we don’t even have a sofa, let alone a TV.”
Another image shows Sophie stood on the living room stairs as just a square of wallpaper can be seen stuck against a wall, which Sophie – just to be sure – assures: “This is a wallpaper swatch, not a TV.”
She continues, showing a bedroom with a wallpaper swatch, before moving on to a bathroom filled with just the basic amenities.
The on-screen text reads: “No TV in the bathroom (but to be fair, you’d think there is by the time my boyfriend spends on the loo).”
The camera then shows a bedroom decked out with just a large wardrobe with a mirrored door, which Sophie helpfully clarifies with text reading: “This is not a TV, it’s a mirror.”
A final image shows a small bedroom with an electric fan, a wallpaper swatch and a mattress on the ground, as Sophie’s text jokingly reads: “Still no TV, just temporary poverty.”
Sophie took to social media last week to share the hilarious video, with the caption: “British TV Licensing wanted proof we don’t have a TV. Well, here you go.”
The clip received over 72,400 likes, and more than 2,200 comments from users left in stitches by Sophie’s creative response.
One person wrote: “Paying to use a TV you already bought is the most redcoat thing I’ve ever seen.”
Another said: “I only know one person who pays their TV license and they’re regularly made fun of for it.”
A third commented: “I’ve just stopped replying. I tell them I don’t need a TV license. The letters stop for a bit and then start coming through again.”
A fourth added: “We receive the same letter at my coffee shop. It’s a coffee shop.”
Speaking to Sophie today, she said: “The letter came the day after we got the keys, on the 2 September, I believe.
“We didn’t move in any furniture, just sleeping on a mattress for when we have late nights, decorating.
“Neither me or my boyfriend watch TV (we’re more film people). So, we have Netflix and Amazon Prime. Besides, I’m more of a reader and I play the piano in my spare time.
“I just think the whole thing is kind of dystopian, and initially, I was so tired from decorating I wanted to have a bit of fun with it.
“I was so tired, I literally typed the email out all in one go from my exhausted thoughts and I was also watching a lot of Zoe Bread’s content, which is hilarious.
“No reply to the email, I imagine they were too stunned to think of a comeback.”
A TV Licence currently costs £159 for colour televisions in both homes and businesses.
A license is only required if the home or business owner watches live streams but catches many Brits out every year.
