The thirty-year-old disabled mother Claire (not her real name) never thought she would be charged with a crime. But that’s exactly what happened earlier this year since she neglected to pay for her TV license.
It is difficult to explain why non-payment is still regarded as serious enough to warrant criminal prosecution, according to critics of the present license fee model, as the attempts to forge a new financial agreement with the government within the next three years.
At £169.50, the cost is currently a flat rate; the wealthiest and poorest households pay the same amount.
Claire, who was fined £750 for failing to pay, told us, in confidence, about her encounters with the expedited case processing system.
She describes the entire process as “terrifying.” Her partner had taken control of her finances and was serving a recent jail sentence for domestic abuse when the law enforcement officer knocked on her door. “All my money was in his account and I wasn’t getting access… from what I was aware he was paying the bills but it turned out he wasn’t,” she says.
