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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Neighbours car!!! - PLEASE HELP

161 replies

Namechanged2812 · 20/06/2017 04:36

not really AIBU but need advice please
My neighbour goes to work at 10pm each night and comes home at 4am. His car wakes me up at both times EVERY NIGHT. It sounds like it's going to explode - not well at all.
I mentioned this to a friend about 3 weeks ago and said how I think it doesn't sound fit for purpose. Friend told me about how you can check online for MOT etc - I did, and the car has no tax or MOT thus no insurance.
I reported this to 101 and the dvla and nothing has been done about it! Furthermore - this neighbour has 3 DC who he looks after at the weekend, and drives them about in said death-trap.
I called 101 again yesterday with my concerns and they said contact dvla, I called them again and they said they have a "process" and write to the person first, then if not heard back in 'X' amount of days they escalate it.
I don't understand how this can go ignored for so long - the MOT expired last AUGUST!!!
I am at my wits end with being woken up each morning at this time, and also majorly concerned this person is on the road in a dangerous vehicle.
A friend suggested I write on the car in permanent marker - "this car has no tax or MOT". The friend said it in jest, but maybe that would actually work?! Obviously I don't want to be done for criminal damage though but I really am at a loss and frankly pissed off with the police and dvla!
What can I do?!?!

OP posts:

Original poster

Namechanged2812 · 20/06/2017 08:41

Norma - but my whole point is that the car is making such a noise because it's clearly not been serviced or MOT'd. It's not a normal 'car sound'. It was the noise from it that made me check cos it's clearly not roadworthy.

OP posts:

Lostwithinthehills · 20/06/2017 08:44

But if you don't have an up-to-date MOT, it could invalidate your car insurance. - confused.com

Titty I found it online but I can't think why an insurance company would make it up.

Interestingly this was also on confused.com:

"New research published by the garage chain Kwik Fit suggests that 9% of drivers do not realise that they are obliged by law to have car insurance.
Meanwhile, the same proportion do not know that an annual MOT check is a legal requirement for vehicles which are more than three years old.
One in 10 of those questioned thought that having a valid car tax disc was also optional."

They summarise it as such:
"Millions of drivers are facing fines and even court action because they don't realise that insurance, car tax and regular MOTs are required by law."

That's a lot for the police to work their way through. The only way the police can realistically deal with uninsured/untaxed/no mot drivers is when the drivers bring themselves to notice by speeding, being involved in a serious accident or similar. There is just not the staff available for the police to visit millions of people to check if everything is valid.

mothertruck3r · 20/06/2017 08:47

Love the way some people on this thread are more concerned with the legality of OP checking if other car is insured on an online database than the actual fact that someone is driving around without MOT or insurance. Only on Mumsnet...

C4pinkwheels · 20/06/2017 08:52

Yes you can insure a car that is SORN, It is against the law to drive a car on a public road without a valid MOT, TAX or Insurance.

By stating that he could have been insured without MOT and tax it gives the impression that it's somehow ok for this person to drive around let alone with DC in a car that may well be unroadworthy. In the event of an accident that could kill, injure or leave someone with life changing injuries there would be no compensation.

Even if he had been insured by driving on a public road without MOT and tax he would have invalidated any insurance.

OP report it to your local community police officer, parish council, parish councillor and local neighbourhood watch.

I would be tempted to phone the police a 9:45 every day and tell them your neighbour is about to drive a car with no tax, MOT or insurance, keep a log and say this is the 8th, 9th, 10th etc time I'm reporting this. Don't feel guilty about it, you could be saving him or someone else far more misery than having to pay a hefty fine.

How would any of you feel if he crashed into your car?

deffoncforthis · 20/06/2017 08:54

I don't think people should be advising the OP to lie to the police. Discussing the best way to do it with the intention of it actually being done potentially puts you on thin ice so I would consider putting your 'clever way of getting the police out' back in its box ASAP if I were you.

@OP I wonder if you ought to take the police's ination on this as meaning that your complaint is without merit, perhaps because he has dealt with it or for some other reason we don't know about.

deffoncforthis · 20/06/2017 08:55

inaction*

Original poster

Namechanged2812 · 20/06/2017 08:57

C4 - exactly, I'm going to do that! If when they call me back later I'll be sure to emphasise that it's the 6th time I've expressed concerns. I absolutely appreciate that the police are busy at the moment and have very serious things to deal with, but if he killed someone, I'm sure people would ask why he was allowed to drive around for months with no tax, MOT or insurance!

OP posts:

Thiscantreallybehappening · 20/06/2017 08:59

OP - this is a serious offence and there probably is a process the DVLA are going through. At the end of the day he shouldn't have that vehicle on the road.

I haven't read the whole thread so this may have been suggested but can you go into your local police station and report it that way, when the traffic police are out they can drive past, see the vehicle and hopefully take the vehicle off the road. I'm just thinking instead of going through a call centre you would be giving the information directly to the police in the area to deal with it. I think it might be worth a try.

Fluffyears · 20/06/2017 09:03

I knew someone who was beth stupid as a teenager and drove her mothers car without being insured. A car hit her from behind but due to her lack of insurance she became liable for all costs and also got 7 points added to her licence and a massive fine so it is quite a serious offence. Even if he did have insurance the fact that he was driving untaxed with no MOT would surely invalidate his policy. Plus after having invalid insurance you would end up never being able to get insurance again.

Original poster

Namechanged2812 · 20/06/2017 09:03

Thanks thiscant - unfortunately all our local stations have closed down in recent years. The nearest one now would be city centre and I don't think it'd be that easy there, as they'd have a lot of other things to deal with!

OP posts:

HundredMilesAnHour · 20/06/2017 09:04

No MOT or tax doesn't invalidate insurance.

No MOT automatically invalidates car insurance.

Not having a valid MOT certificate is illegal under Section 47 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 and you run the risk of facing a £1,000 fine and a charge of six to eight penalty points on your licence by driving without one.

LIZS · 20/06/2017 09:05

There should be a local pcso who you can contact direct.

Lostwithinthehills · 20/06/2017 09:05

This - traffic police numbers have been cut by over 70% in my area. The op would be lucky to get one of them down her road!

Original poster

Namechanged2812 · 20/06/2017 09:11

I wouldn't expect traffic police to see him, I don't think I've ever seen traffic police in my local area, we have no local Bobbys or anything which is a real shame.
And I wouldn't expect any officers to have to trawl the street for him - I can tell them when he's in and exactly where to find the car, the reg number, make and model etc.
If I can check all those details from my house then they'll be able to from the station / call centre.

OP posts:

Thiscantreallybehappening · 20/06/2017 09:13

That is a shame. If you don't get anywhere after your call this afternoon, I would try ringing the city centre station. In my area, they are really keen to get drivers like this off the road and regularly have days where they are out on the roadside checking vehicles and pulling them over. The other initiative they are doing around here is where a car drives around streets, checking the cars are taxed etc.

Hopefully, if they were aware at the city centre station they would get one of their traffic police patrols to drive out there.

I would feel exactly the same as you. It is illegal, driving that car is putting his own children in danger and putting other people in danger.

TittyGolightly · 20/06/2017 09:15

my whole point is that the car is making such a noise because it's clearly not been serviced or MOT'd

Servicing isn't a legal requirement. An mot doesn't do anything for performance. My car is perfectly legal, serviced every 5k miles and has a 100dB exhaust. I put a baffle in for neighbourly relations. Noise doesn't equal unroadworthy.

Original poster

Namechanged2812 · 20/06/2017 09:16

Thanks Thiscant - if I don't hear back this afternoon I'll definitely call the city centre office, that's a good idea!

OP posts:

Original poster

Namechanged2812 · 20/06/2017 09:17

Titty - the sound isn't the exhaust, it sounds like the clutch is near enough dead, the whole engine rattles and the break squeaks at full throttle. You can hear it chugging down the road a mile off.

OP posts:

TittyGolightly · 20/06/2017 09:19

hundred

No. It. Doesn't.

And there are no point penalties for no mot - it's just a fine (and one that's rarely given due to the system not reminding people when their mot is due.)

mothertruck3r · 20/06/2017 09:19

www.gov.uk/report-untaxed-vehicle

7461Mary18 · 20/06/2017 09:19

My son when postman always left very quietly on his bike but very very early. I always did hear him leave and get up between 5 and 6am but it's slightly different if it's your own family member.

Don't write on the car however as that would be criminal damage.

Our car has a squeak by the way but has passed MOT, fully insured and has car tax. No one can solve the squeak noise but it is not unsafe.

Original poster

Namechanged2812 · 20/06/2017 09:22

Its not just a squeak though. To be fair I really can't be bothered going into the ins and outs of the sounds it makes - it sounds like it's going to blow up any second. It was enough to make me check and it confirmed that the car has no tax, MOT OR insurance. That's all I need to know.

OP posts:

Thiscantreallybehappening · 20/06/2017 09:26

Mary - op has described the noise this car is making and it is clearly not a squeak. It is very clear that this car is not road worthy. No tax, MOT or insurance. The car needs to be taken off the road and op is right to pursue it and to be persistent until action is taken.

Redsippycup · 20/06/2017 09:35

The trouble is, it's only an offence for it to be on the road, so if the Police see it when it is parked on private land (i.e. at home or work) then they won't be able to do anything. They would probably talk to him, he will lie and say he isn't driving it, that will be it.

They need to see him driving / parking it on the road. I don't know if videoing it would help? Maybe with something to prove the date?

Original poster

Namechanged2812 · 20/06/2017 09:39

Redsippy - ahh I hadn't even thought about that! I'll try and record him driving it. I'm off all day today so as soon as I hear that horrendous sound I'll whip my camera out!

OP posts:

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