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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to call someone about the car parked outside my house?

89 replies

DuelingFanjo · 22/05/2015 09:51

A car has been parked outside my house for over three weeks, one of the tyres is looking a bit soft now and it hasn't moved an inch. I'm starting to wonder if it's been abandoned.

I want to report it but presume IABU to call the police.

WWYD?

OP posts:
splendide · 22/05/2015 15:26

I have a car that I use occasionally that I leave parked on a road round the corner for weeks at a time sometimes. I don't have any other choice, no parking on my road (single yellow).

NeedsAsockamnesty · 22/05/2015 15:27

If the car is legal and the space is legal then it's perfectly ok staying no matter how long for

tigerdog · 22/05/2015 15:37

I don't think you're being unreasonable. Sounds exactly like my situation so grateful for somewhere to rant about it - We've had a strange car parked outside our house for 4 weeks (narrow road in quiet area so only residents park there usually). It turns out that it belongs to friends of the people opposite and they've gone to China. Not sure how much longer it will be there but it is very annoying! Haven't been able to park outside my house for a month, and the way they have selfishly parked takes up two potential spaces, which makes it worse still.

niloufes I agree to a certain extent but
I think it is bit off to ditch your car outside someone else's house (their friends have a drive too) and go off for over a month. There is plenty of space on the wider adjoining roads where we are now parking. We've just had a skip delivered, and the only option was to put it nice and close to their car Smile

jeanswithatwist · 22/05/2015 15:42

neighbour in our street's son dumps his car regularly outside our house (he rarely uses it). pisses me off no end as he lives in a house with a drive that only he and his mum can park in/over. lazy bastard doesn't like having to share the drive with his mum/move his car to let her in or out so curtain twitches. dh will take dd to school really early, only gone for about ten minutes and yet when he comes back the twats car is there. it's not exactly a bentley either, just a small run of the mill car. lazy twat can't leave it at the top of the road which is normally where i leave mine. makes me rage at times as petty as it may sound as i actually do need to park outside sometimes Angry

knittingdad · 22/05/2015 15:53

Mean? Selfish? There's literally nowhere else to park the car!

Don't you think you're being a bit mean to have a go at me for not making my car disappear into thin air?

And the only reason it isn't used more often is that I cycle to work every day (which means there might be room in the car park for someone else).

ItsAllGoingToBeFine · 22/05/2015 15:59

Check the tax June 1st, if not renewed then report again Grin

Original poster
DuelingFanjo · 22/05/2015 16:13

"If there is nowhere else to park then it cannot be unreasonable to park there, people do not own the piece of road outside their house. If you live on a road with no driveways then this is something you just have to accept can happen."

oh absolutely, though how long would you leave a car that hasn't moved an inch? At the very worst it could be stolen.

As I said, my ire over this is worse because of the very rude way the people across the road police their resident parking space outside their own house; not allowing anyone else from the street to park there because they want to even though anyone with a permit can.

If it turns out that they return from holiday and the car suddenly disappears then I will assume it WAS them and will no longer give a stuff about parking outside their house. Up to now I have always avoided it as it seems to matter so much to them.

OP posts:
ButterflyUpSoHigh · 22/05/2015 20:12

Niloufes

The car wasn't parked in the disabled space at all. It was parked so the bumper was touching the line. The elderly neighbour couldn't get into the space as he is 85 and cannot reverse park so the police got it moved.

clearlyaplasticgonome · 22/05/2015 20:45

It's really annoying when people do this. Yes it's a public road but people commandeering a space outside someone's house are a PITA. It means the people living in the house can never park outside their house, have visitors park outside, or have oil delivered etc without major inconvenience.
Yes, we all occasionally park outside someone's home. But leaving your car there everyday while you get the train to work, or parking there while you go off on a 3 week holiday is annoying. Within your rights, but annoying.

Perfectlypurple · 22/05/2015 20:49

www.vehicleenquiry.service.gov.uk

Put the reg number and make of car into this website and it will tell you if the car is taxed and mot'd. If it isn't inform DVLA of where it is.

Fatmomma99 · 22/05/2015 20:53

Was going to post to tell you to contact the council, but I'm too late. There's some good advice here, though and some interesting similar experiences.

Let us know how it goes, Dueling. And good luck!

TooBusyByHalf · 22/05/2015 20:59

We have two of these in front of our house at the moment. Obviously dumped. Neither are stolen so the police can't do anything. Neither are insured either but apparently that doesn't mean they can tow. One is unlocked and that is good apparently - the police can tow if they can be bothered. The council can in theory tow the other because it is half on the pavement but they haven't bothered yet. The two cars are taking up 3 spaced in a road which is really chokker - which means we often can't park even in our road. Bloody annoying.
It's been nearly 3 months now Angry

morethanpotatoprints · 22/05/2015 21:03

We have them left by the Police on our street.
Then our neighbourhood watch ring them, although they don't know the Police have left it.
Then sometime later an ununiformed PC will come and move it.
It's quite funny, but sad the Police will try to trap criminals like this. They usually leave door unopen and lap top on the seat. The car has cameras all over it.

morethanpotatoprints · 22/05/2015 21:05

Call the Police and see if it mysteriously vanishes over the next few hours or tomorrow. you'll know if its a plant then Grin

chaletdays · 22/05/2015 21:09

Seriously knitteddad and others, there's rights etc and there's common sense and cop on. Maybe use a bit of the latter.

knittingdad · 22/05/2015 21:20

chaletdays - It's not about rights, it's about practicality. There isn't a drive here. My landlady parks in front of her house. Where else does the car go?

I agree that it's annoying, and I agree that people are unreasonable when they do it because they've gone off on holiday, or because they're too lazy to park in a drive, as in the other examples in this thread.

But, really, honestly, there is not a magic place I can put my car. Where is your common sense? Where would you have me put my car?

Icimoi · 22/05/2015 21:22

Knitting, where would you put the car if you found after taking it out that the space you have been using was occupied?

karatekimmi · 22/05/2015 21:29

My DSis was houseridden for a couple of months and the people across the road phoned the police about her car moving as it was in "their" space. If it is taxed and legally parked then they are doing nothing wrong.

itsmeitscathy · 22/05/2015 21:33

if it's taxed then nothing will be done. the council can put stickers on threatening to tow it as an abandoned car but if someone claims it each time they won't move it

honeysucklejasmine · 22/05/2015 21:34

Someone parks on my road every morning, about 10m from a very busy roundabout which is on a blind corner. It's a nightmare, you have to pull on to other side of road to get round it, and hope no one comes tearing off the roundabout and hits you.

One morning I saw them arrive, park... And then jump in to someone else's car and drive off.. Obviously its a dumping point as part of a car share. Whilst there are no restrictions on the road (new estate, still a bit of a building site) it is inconvenient and dangerous. There is always plenty of room further down the road too. I am forever tempted to leave a note asking them to park further from the roundabout.

marshmallowpies · 22/05/2015 21:50

We had an abandoned van opposite us for weeks which was also taxed & legit - but the engine had been removed & it was up on bricks.

One of my neighbours I think managed to convince the council it was a health hazard & it was removed this week. It was big enough that it was becoming an obstruction, eg when rubbish lorries or other big vehicles were coming the other way.

It seems someone on the neighbouring street is doing a job repairing and respraying vans & it's started to end up spilling onto our street. Clearly they can't and shouldn't treat the road like a mechanics yard so I hope this is an end to it.

MissDuke · 22/05/2015 22:02

I think its incredibly selfish to leave a car outside someone else's house for weeks at a time, without moving it at all. I struggle to believe there isn't somewhere you could leave it knit that isn't right outside someones house. I also cycle to work, but drive part of the journey and would never, ever leave my car outside a house, given it will be there for 8 hours a day. Weeks is unacceptable imo.

TedAndLola · 22/05/2015 22:08

I think its incredibly selfish to leave a car outside someone else's house for weeks at a time, without moving it at all.

Why?? Where do people get this ludicrous idea that home ownership extends onto the street outside?

You do not have the right, moral OR legal, to park as close as possible to your house. Get over it.

BoneyBackJefferson · 22/05/2015 22:29

"TedandLola"

Its attitudes like that that allow people to park over drive ways and in marked/owned parking bays.

Chaletdays · 22/05/2015 22:38

There's rights and there's consideration and common sense. Leaving your car parked for long periods outside someone's house is annoying, as is treating the front of their house like your permanent parking space while you catch the train/bus to work.

Likewise it is rude and knobbish to go charging out of your house and having a go at anyone who dares to park there as if you own the road.

People just need to use a bit of sense and understand the meaning of the word 'compromise'.