Really shaken up. Did I do anything wrong here?

[seventymodules]

For past two years I have done the school run, I park on a street near the school. There is a detached house with a driveway and a patch of grass next to the driveway. I park in front of the patch of grass, not blocking the driveway whatsoever.

Once I drop my child at school I get collected by my workmate (we are cleaners so have company car) and then work till 3 until I have to return for school run and car.

This morning as I was getting out of the car the lady in the house came charging out, she said 'can you stop parking your car in front of my house?' I said 'it's a public road' and she said 'you park out here 5 days a week, if you refuse to move it I should make you aware that I will be cutting my grass today and any damage to your car is not my responsibility' said with a sarcastic smile on her face, she then walked back into the house shaking her head.

I've left the car but worried now she is going to damage it.

Am I being unreasonable parking it there? It's a public road and not on her property at all.

She sounds like my in laws who get themselves all would up about cars parking outside their house totally legally.

She's only going to get worse so I would find an alternative spot for the sake of your sanity.

May I add she has a four car drive way also

I'd like a diagram.

She's in the wrong, it's a public road, anyone can park there. Even a lorry.
I would take pics of the car every time you leave though.

That's a bit of a dripfeed!

I think it is a bit cheeky to use a residential street as a free all day car park tbh.

@Fairyliz

Someone does this outside my dads house and whilst it is legal it’s also bloody annoying. I visit several times a week as he is elderly and cannot walk. I park on his drive but it makes it really difficult to reverse out as the road is very narrow. I have to shuffle the car backwards and forwards a few times and end up with a line of traffic behind me. Perhaps sometimes park elsewhere?

Well you shouldn't be reversing out into a road anyway, you should reverse in.

Regards insurance it would only invalidate it if you say you park on a drive, I always say I park on the street, it didn't affect my premium when I queried the difference.

If your taxed and insured and its a public road you have as much rights as her to park there.

@seventymodules

May I add she has a four car drive way also

Oh wow.

She is clearly BU in my book. Although I'd wager a guess her visitors don't want to reverse on or off her driveway, so they want to draw up nice and easy to the very spot of kerb outside her house, and somehow everyone who visits that street should know that without fail.

It is barking mad that people think it's somehow "taking the piss" for people to park on roads which have no parking restrictions!

I intensely disliked not being able to park outside my house when I lived in a semi-detached with no drive, only on-street parking. It was close to a train station, so often used for daily parking. Sometimes I would have to park a couple of streets away, and walk back to my house with two small children, bags etc in the pouring rain. But I knew that when we bought the house, the parking wasn't restricted, that's just the way it was. It wasn't the fault of the people parking there.

It’s annoying because she can NEVER have visitors park outside her house, or deliveries stop there, or if she has work being done, the contractors can never park there.

Sometimes would be one thing, but have the same car there all day ever day, as though it belonged to that person in some way, would irritate me.

I’m surprised she hasn’t started parking there just so you can’t
I would 😂

I get annoyed at people doing the same thing in front of my house but purely because I have to reverse my car off the drive at an angle due to a badly placed lamp post and struggle to get past if there is a car parked out the front. Delivery drivers and emergency vehicles have the same issue and complaints have been raised in the past. In fact the police have been out a few times due to the road being blocked and cars/emergency vehicles unable to get out

@Horehound

That's a bit of a dripfeed!

Well not really.

I can see how the OP has now posted this fact due to lots of people mentioning whether visitors could park on their drive.

Yes it's perfectly ok as long as it doesn't inconvenience anyone else (simply not liking it isn't being inconvenienced).

But as we only have one side of the story, we have no idea how much it inconveniences the woman, do we? As someone has mentioned, carers could use the spot, there could be disabled people on the street, maybe the householder has deliveries or wants to order a skip, all of which would probably be solved by the OP using some head and switching it up a bit.

In my old house, we used to have people park outside our house for weeks on end to access Gatwick airport. Made more amusing by the fact we live in Croydon!

@GertrudePerkinsPaperyThing

It’s annoying because she can NEVER have visitors park outside her house, or deliveries stop there, or if she has work being done, the contractors can never park there.

Sometimes would be one thing, but have the same car there all day ever day, as though it belonged to that person in some way, would irritate me.

It doesn't belong to anyone. That's the point.

What you are doing is legally in the right, but morally I think it's a bit off. For 5 days a week no-one else can park in this spot - fair enough if it was your own road, but parking space is such a precious commodity on some streets, that it is pretty selfish of you.

Especially if this person has their own driveway and OP is parking on a public road, I don't understand what would be annoying about it?

You get an uninterrupted view of car, all day and every day. If you have a delivery, it’s inconvenient. If someone comes to visit you, it’s inconvenient for them. Obviously- it’s perfectly legal, but I can see why the lady whose house it is is bloody irritated.

@CounsellorTroi

I think it is a bit cheeky to use a residential street as a free all day car park tbh.

That is literally what a residential street with no parking restrictions is though. Anyone can park there, without restriction. There is no law or expectation that residential streets are not for parking on.

We live near a school and tend to get one car in particular parking outside our house most week days all day. As long as they park considerately I really couldn't toss to be honest. But people can be strange.

Last year my office was getting our car park redeveloped so we all had to park in the residential streets nearby. The people there took such umbrage and started parking their own cars out of their driveways and on the road to stop us, complaining to our office and leaving notes on windscreens. It was bonkers.

Although what you say about it being a four car drive makes it sound a bit less like it would actually inconvenience her, as she can have visitors and builders/ contractors etc park on the drive!

You are legally in the right and to be honest its very petty of her. I mildly get it , outside my DP is a public road and they have a driveway and a garage but I know it annoys them if strangers park there because they see someone else's car out the front window all day but they don't say anything because they know its legal they don'tsay anything anymore after dsis and i had to have a word with them about the passive aggressive shakedown they pulled on a young man who they practicly traumatised .

Its one of those things that is a minor irritation to her but she would be very silly to damage the car because the law is on your side.

@AndreaMarteau

Just because it's a spot outside her house doesn't mean she owns it. She has a drive so it's not like you are taking a space you need. I hate entitled people like this

See, this kind of attitude makes me laugh. The woman whose house it is, is 'entitled' because she's pissed off about someone parking outside her house, despite how it may inconvenience her (and let's face it, we only have one side of the story here). Yet it's ok for the OP to leave her car somewhere where she doesn't live, on a residential street, all day because it's easier for her than parking at home.

There's a bit of entitlement here from both of them, let's be honest.

A spot outside her house is not her right though and OP is entitled as she no doubt as a legal road worthy car to drive. She pays taxes she can park where she wants as long as it's legal to. I have people parking outside my house all the time. Yes it's annoying if you have shopping etc but it's life. I also live near a school and I know the same few teaching assistants always parks their car on our busy road often there is no spaces the small school car park. What are they meant to do 5 days a week but park on a residential road. I don't begrudge them. Yes I get it's annoying for the lady with her own drive poor her having to look at someone else's car outside her house all week, poor her. If the Op doesn't park in it no doubt other people will throughout the week and day. If it were me yes I would move about but if it was the only space available I would not allow threats to stop me.