To be concerned about a man sitting outside my house for the past 5 hours?

[Whitechocolatetoblerone]

As title.

I was making breakfast before I dashed out to work at 7.55 pm and a car with blacked out windows parks up on the pavement outside. A man sat there with an iPad.

I have just returned home for lunch 5.5 hours later and he is still here, still sat in the car with iPad. I am here on my own for the next few days as DP is away and it is freaking me out. It is a residential street but quiet as we are in the country.

Should I approach him?

"If he's within his rights to sit there all day, surely the OP is also within her rights to glare at him if she wishes? Fair's fair."

No. Because he was doing nothing wrong

And ffs to the tricoteuse with the ghoulish stories.

OP, why don't you post the car registration number on here.

Then if anything bad happens to you the Mumsnet vigilantes could track down the perpetrator and bring him to justice.

Or you could stop worrying and get professional advice about your anxiety issues.

Ive been living on my own for the past year - for the first time in my life. Im used to it now but i do feel much more vulnerable than i did when i lived with family / flatmates / exDP.

Yanbu at all OP, i'd be worried too. Can you try to talk to one of your neighbours? Thats what i would do. Will be good to share your worries and have someone else in the locality who's keeping an eye out too. Its probably nothing, but good to be vigilant IMO.

place marking. intriguing

vestandknickers sorry, wrong poster

TenForward82 sadly it's not at all intriguing, I'm a journalist!

The OP's post reminded me of what I do as I often turn up at the crack of dawn (before people go to work) and sometimes work on my laptop while watching a house.

Hope all goes ok OP.

He's a private investigator. My brother is one. This is what they do. It's a bit boring.

The thing is, for example if it's a false disability claim or infidelity or whatever, they literally have to sit there for hours. For heaven's sake, don't call the police. If he's acting strangely and wandering around, then yes. But the reason his windows are blacked out is so that it looks like a parked car... not obviously a manned one. Let him do his job.
Of course after that horrible Nicola Cross incidenet a couple of days ago, I can totally see why you are on your guard. It's properly freaked me out, that one. Horrible.

*incident

Hang on, I'm confused: if the car windows were blacked out, how was it apparent that he was on an iPad or writing in a notebook?

It all sounds a little weird since the number plate thing I'll admit but I think it's a rather arrogant attitude that he must be there because he's interested in you and that if he knows you are alone he's obviously going to come and get you.

The windscreen and front windows won't be blacked out, I assume OP means the rest of the windows.

I rang the police about an abandoned car recently and they quite happily discussed whether it was taxed and insured. Anyone can check that nowadays so hardly top secret.

I think it's totally reasonable to be concerned

Put the number plate into the DVLA website where you check the MOT. If it comes up with the details. That'll let you know of the plates are ok.

If its a new car maybe it isn't on their system yet?
I wonder if it is someone who has been sacked and is pretending to his wife that he still has a job.or someone who is in a bad place and just wants some time alone away from the house to think. How can you see he is on an Ipad if the windows are blacked out?

Any updates?

There was someone lurking outside my house at the weekend. I just assumed he wanted some peace & quiet so was camping out in his car.

The Halfords website is good for checking vehicles : put in the numberplate, it identifies the car and tells you which wiper blades you need.

As do 99% of car insurance sites

taking notes? so you could see what hes writing? maybe hes writing a book and wanted to do it in peace. maybe hes lost his job and is looking for another one.

Are you doing anything which might give you reason to suspect he'd be monitoring you? Do you, or your husband, involved in the military or work for a company that does business with them? Has your husband been hostile of late and he might suspect you'd be up to something whilst you are away?

If none of these things, why worry?

Did the police come out?

Watching someone or just using some ones free internet !!

How about doing a 'Home Alone' style montage to convince him that there's a full-blown Christmas party happening?

(Light-hearted!)

In the last house I lived in, we used to see this a lot. Turns out the next door neighbours had a lot of debt, as did the previous owners of my house, and it was bailiffs staking out both houses to check the comings and goings. I even had one bailiff knock on my door, asking if they could use my back garden to check if ndn was actually in. As there was a six foot fence in between the two gardens, to stop the ndn using my garden when ever they felt like it, there wasn't much point in me letting them in.

OP, YANBU to feel concerned about it.

I remember the thread Tamara mentioned. The poster of that ended up having coffee with the woman sat in the car, if I recall.

There was the one about the young man living in a car across the road too - anyone remember that one?

It's so clearly just a PI watching a neighbour's house, the note taking and blacked out windows, plus "mobile office" (iPad- probs with 3G) and plates/police discretion are a bit of a giveaway. I've had to instruct one a few times for work, the reports are often very dull because if you're not working you often spend a lot of time, well, in your house.

Chances are they'll only be watching whoever it is one day this week, then maybe a day at the weekend and possibly an evening. I'd only worry if they rocked up a few days in a row.