Until the repeal/replacement of Wireless Telegraphy Act of 1967 came through in 2013, the TV sellers were obliged by law to report any sale of TV equipment to anyone - and sooner or later the purchaser would get that impersonal note. [0]

Similar cooperation was since established with some streaming vendors (Now TV for sure, IIRC Sky as well...) as that change is pretty much what the 2013 changes were about.

Text of the notice would not be personalised, but it did use to come with _specific_ details from the purchase/account.

[0] https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/check-if-you-need-one/business...

The whole thing is just horrible and leaves such a poor taste in the mouth. Threatening letters with "You are under investigation" in bright red capitals and 'inspectors' who heavily imply you need to let them in to look at your TV despite that not being a legal requirement. The BBC act like thugs.

I lived in the house 5 years and never received one, only showed up about a week after I ordered a new TV on Amazon and IIRC specifically mentioned the purchase.

Funnily enough I had actually been paying a licence for those 5 years but for the address I moved out of, cancelled it after that and never paid since. The fact the BBC pretends to be a kind of official legal authority under a different brand and actually sends bayliff style thugs around to juicier targets like shared student housing is disgusting, I'll never pay again.