Man sitting outside of my house

[Whatnametochoose85]

Hello,
(Not so much as an AIBU but more of a what would you do type of situation)

So this morning at roughly 07:30am a car pulled up outside my house which is nothing unusual in itself as I live on quite a busy street where there is lots of on-street parking, not many houses have driveways so residents just park wherever they can. At that time of the morning there were quite a few empty spaces along the street, one being in front of our home. A man was sitting inside the car and looked like he was texting on his phone.
I didn't think anything of it, went to work at 8:30, returned for lunch to let the dog out and the car is still there with the man sitting with his phone in his hand as before. Went back to work and just returned to see he's still there!!

I've never seen him or the car before, he's not a resident on the street (as far as I know). I've lived here for 14 years and recognise the neighbours and their cars. I initially just brushed it off as he may be waiting for someone, or may be a relative of a neighbour or something like that but as time has gone on I am feeling a bit uneasy about it!
He's not harming anyone, seems to be minding his own business but I can't help feel it's a bit odd.
He's obviously seen me leave and return so has known when the house was empty. I think this is what has made me feel a bit creeped out. I'm probably overreacting, but what do you think ?

He could be an Uber driver parking up between jobs. Or a cop posing as an Uber driver parking up between jobs.

No If he stays for more than 12 hours he isn’t a cop. They’ve had overtime cut.

He doesn't really fit the description but then again who knows !! Without sounding rude he is wearing a grubby hi Viz tabard and is very unkempt looking. Vehicle is an older style people carrier (2006 reg)

Shouldn't attract too much attention? oh! but he has, so how would you not attarct attention anyone?

Give old bill a bell and say theres someone acting sus outside your gaff if he's gen then no problems if not then they might be intrested!

My first thought was that he's pretending he's at work but strange that he hasn't driven anywhere else, like McDonald's, and stayed in the same spot all day.

He could be homeless. Or he could be an undercover cop.

If he's still there when you return, I would call 101.

@NameChange84

Used to wave to them in the end

Mine started waving at me and looking very sheepish.

Haha glad it's not just me!! always in cheap but new bright white cars (how inconspicuous 😂). Sat there hours, sometimes left the cars there days with a camera in. The day I settled my claim they disappeared for good. Don't know what exciting things they were expecting, me cartwheeling down the steps or doing a rocky balboa workout montage 😂🙈.

Are you near a junction, and can you see a clipboard, as it could be a traffic survey. We had some cars/people like that recently at a junction.

I am afraid in this day and age you can’t be too careful.
Any of the other neighbours noticed

I wouldn't think it's anything to be worried about as he's sitting there quite openly.

When this happened outside my dads house he was robbed a few days later.

If you have a posh car they can also be waiting for you to use an electronic key fob in order to clone it remotely.

He's unlikely to be casing the joint while wearing High-vis. They normally go for low-vis for obvious reasons.

You'd be surprised how little attention and how much freedom/access you can get with just a high vis vest.

@Whatnametochoose85

I haven't called 101 as yet as I just wasn't sure what to do. I did think private investigator but just don't know. He doesn't really fit the description but then again who knows !! Without sounding rude he is wearing a grubby hi Viz tabard and is very unkempt looking. Vehicle is an older style people carrier (2006 reg). I know it's not relevant what he drives or how he looks. We live in a busy ,built-up area about a mile from the city centre so find it odd that he wouldn't pick a more remote area if he was trying to hide from someone? I do suffer from anxiety so am aware I'm probably magnifying this and jumping to conclusions

That's the whole point of being undercover. If he was smartly dressed in a black bmw it'd be obvious. Could be police, DWP, HMRC. I'd call and report it just to find out if it is the worlds crappest spy or not

I’d also be tempted to phone the police, it’s just weird he’s been sat in his car all day. And try and get a photo of the person too if you’ve got a decent camera it’s amazing how well you can zoom in from your window! That makes me sound like a bit of a weirdo 😂, I once got a companies details by zooming in an an envelope inside their van from my bedroom window. The company had damaged my property and i needed to contact them as the van driver was being an arse about it!

If it's any kind of undercover surveillance he's not very good at it, sitting in the same car all day!

Years ago, before all the phone tapping/News of the World stuff came to light, when I walked the dog round the cricket pitch I used to see a man sitting in his car all day every day with a sat dish on the car roof up near where someone important lived (forgotten who, sorry), ((gov/MP type, not celeb)). He looked pretty seedy too

I went out to ask if I could help some blokes in a car once who had been sitting outside my house all day. They were undercover police and told me I was very brave to ask. I took that to mean I was a twit who should mind my own business. Not very undercover though!

We were doing school pickup last month and a couple of very ordinary older cars pulled up nearby and then a bunch of scruffs got out. Turns out they were undercover cops.

From the way they looked, I would never have thought they were police in a million years. We only knew when we saw them produce handcuffs and arrest two guys.

Have any of your neighbours returned from a holiday in Benidorm today.

I worked a lot with Private Detectives as part of a previous job investigating claims for an Insurance company and trust me they would surprise you. However I would give the non emergency number and report it.

Here in Ireland we are having a huge spate in dog thefts at the moment with people casing out areas.

Every year I have someone camp outside my house, as my local council refuses to believe that somebody claiming single person council tax discount is actually living alone. It's very obvious as I live some distance from any other houses on a very quiet straight road so there is nowhere for them to hide. I did put a formal complaint last year as the lady doing it thought it was OK to come into the garden and look through the window. I find it quite mystifying as it must cost a fair bit to pay a PI to sit outside for a day.

Nah! Just take your dog, knock on the window and ask why he’s sitting outside your house. If he won’t tell you call 111.

I had a guy who used to sit outside my house everyday for a few hours and once my friend asked him what he was doing, said he always ate his lunch there. Felt sorry for him

Your one though is likely dwp, I doubt police as they will come in pairs

Something similar happened to me a few years ago. It turned out to be undercover police watching a house. I would ask - but take another adult with you.

Love these threads and all the speculation. A few years ago undercover police raided a house near me where a major drugs ring was operating. The police officers were disguised as workmen doing some work on my road (there were actual workmen there at one point). All in high-vis and hard hats etc and they were there for days. I only realised when the Gazette published a story about it. TBH I would never notice someone sitting outside my house in a car but then again I live in a very busy, high crime area where odd goings-on are par for the course.

I've been out with the dog and DS. He was still there when we left and looked like he was chatting in quite an animated fashion on his phone. Windows were up so I couldn't hear him. Didn't look towards us as we walked down garden path and onto the pavement. Seemed oblivious to us as he chatted away.
We were gone about 15 mins and as we came back into our road he pulled off.
I don't have a posh car, it's an Audi but a few years old now. House is absolutely nothing fancy whatsoever!! There are bigger and much fancier looking houses in the street than ours so can't think why someone might want to case it. It is worrying though!
No neighbours have been to Spain that I know of.
Registration logged and vehicle make and colour. Will definitely keep an eye out for it again!!

I did feel sorry for him in a way as he could have been hiding due to a job loss or something like that but I was cautious about approaching him as he didn't give off the vibe that he wanted to speak to anyone!