Neighbour damaged his car on my drive

[lghtnght]

I moved into my new house 3 months ago and after a few weeks, I noticed that the neighbours across the street were reversing onto my property when they left their house. The road is pretty narrow, so they can't really turn around without reversing onto my drive. Plus, another neighbour parks his car (in blue) on the pavement by their house, which makes it harder for them to pull forward and turn around.

It would be much easier if they just reversed onto their own drive and drove out from there. I don't know why they haven't done that yet. I didn't want to start any drama or fall out with them. I had never talked to them before today and wasn't sure how they'd react if I brought it up, so last weekend I decided to put some garden rocks in the corner instead. Just to clarify, they're on my drive, not on the pavement, in case anyone wonders. So, the neighbour knocked on my door earlier and said that his car got damaged because of the rocks. He insists that they were half on the pavement (not true) and half on my drive.

He asked why I didn't tell him I was putting them there so he could avoid driving over them. He said if there was a problem, I should have just talked to him. I told him it's my drive, on my property. Why would I need to inform him? His car wouldn't have been damaged if he wasn't using my drive… He got really aggressive with me, saying that the previous owners never had any issues and that he's going to call the police and a solicitor about the damage to his car. I haven’t heard anything since. I can't believe I'm even writing this. I’m not sure what to do now! I do feel a bit intimidated by him. Am I being unreasonable?

His entitled behaviour prior and his lovely aggressive response now shows how well that would have gone.

Yes, it's a driveway FGS,

Yes it's the person placing rocks where they knew it would damage a neighbour's car because she couldn't just go and speak to them.

he was using the bottom of her driveway, to enable him to turn around as he had done for a long time. It's of such insignificance to people IRL how could he have known a new neighbour would deliberately damage his car? .

HTH.

Yeah & in our cul de sac all the Dads took them to work so it was safe to play out until they all started coming back in the evening 🤣

now that very same street is like a car yard 24/7.

Personally I would have used a big pot with a lovely plant to make it look pretty, but that's just me.

I think manners are sorely underrated for building positive neighbourly relations. I sometimes need to have tradies park close to my unit. I'm in a corner so they can't park in front of my garage as they would block two other garages. If it's something quick eg furniture delivery, I'll let the neighbours who will be blocked know ETA and how long it will take in case they need to go out. If they need to leave a trailer I ask my neighbour if it's ok to park on the common land in front if her place. She doesn't own that spot but to me it's just courtesy if it's in front of her place.

Jesus fucking Christ, Another sanctimonious post. It’s her drive, she can do whatever she wants to do, on her own property. The entitled git across the road needs to learn how to drive his car, without having to manoeuvre onto someone else’s land.

I’m old enough to remember Jasper Carrot’s insurance claims. The neighbour reminds me so much of those. Equally ridiculous claims.

Manners would have involved the neighbour introducing himself to OP when she moved in three months ago and asking if it was okay if he did a manoevre on her drive regularly.

Wasn't that my examples? I'm the one doing the putting out or needing the favour so I'm the one speaking with my neighbours. It's courteous. I don't wait for them to come and tell me it's a problem.

I said I'd stick a pot there with a nice plant (the rocks are a bit too small for me). I wouldn't speak to the neighbour about putting a pot on my land.

OP, your neighbour isn't Mr Morris from Friday Night Dinner is he? Does he drive a Mercedes? "Your bloody house just broke my light!" 🤣.

What an unhinged man....first to feel so entitled to use your drive as his own personal turn around area every time he wants to get out (which I still don't quite understand considering he has to cross the street in his car to do so instead of just... backing into his and pulling out....it seems like a lot of effort on his part!) without even asking you.

And then to blame you for doing something on your own property that really is none of his business....I'm sorry, I would be be very petty and post him a note next saying he should've gone to Specsavers or something 🤭 if he can't see those very obvious boulders that you put on there, as someone else has mentioned, what if a child or animal came behind or Infront of his car...would he miss them too? Very peculiar man....

I do and the sky hasn't fallen down yet. If this is the worst thing some of you have to worry about, lucky you.

Yeah, a bit one, people have used it to turn around before. My blood pressure stayed stable the whole time they did that.

And would you really create a situation likely to cause an accident for a neighbour you're that intimidated by? Way to inflame things and provoke someone who is so scary you can't even talk to them. I think OP knew what she was doing when she placed the rocks.

What could possibly go wrong when asking an entitled, aggressive man not to use your property without permission?

You put a large barrier on the property that you own. He was too entitled/thick to notice. Not your problem.

Oh she did & she admitted that in an earlier post.

she hadn't spoken to him prior to damaging his car, she hadn't no reason not to speak ti him.

He wasn't angry until she deliberately damaged his car. He was so scary he threatened to call the police & take her to court, not kill her first born for crying out loud.

if she had just gone & spoken to him, things could have probably remained civilised.

She didn’t damage his car. The idiot damaged his own car whilst trespassing on her property.

FAFO

Drama llama much?

'trespassing on her property' using the end of her drive to enable him turn around. A very normal thing in the real world. Something he's been doing for a long time. So ridiculously normal no one in the real world would ask if it's ok.

she deliberately put rocks there that she knew would damage his car & didn't even have the neighbourly decency to tell him she'd done if.

yes it's her driveway & she can put rocks there if she wants to be so petty, but it has damaged his car so she should expect him to be annoyed.

yes FAFO

it will serve her right if all of her neighbours think she's a twat.

You can skirt around it all you like, but the English word for being on someone’s property without their permission/against their wishes is…trespassing.

A man who tells an owner that he used her property when the previous owner was there, therefore he’s entitled to continue to use it, is highly unlikely to stop, even when asked. I’ve met these men in life. They don’t take kindly to the word ‘no’. So what if he thinks she’s a twat? Boo hoo.

Quote "Some people are saying I should have said something to him. I did consider it, but his reaction has shown that he's aggressive and unreasonable. "
Poking a dragon in the eye! Gutsy move. Now you have an unstable person angry with you. He may seek revenge if he is "aggressive and unreasonable".
Keep safe OP. "What goes around comes around".

He was on her property without permission so calling it trespass is correct. She had not given him express permission to use the driveway, he assumed he could do so. Therefore he is in the wrong. Perhaps he also feels he should just park on her driveway because its more convenient for him?

Your neighbour was wrong not to ask, no question about that. But you were a total dick to do what you did. Passive aggressive and lacking the ability to speak to other humans to resolve your issue. Could you not at least put a note through the doo? Of course nobody can sue you or arrest you and I bet you are enjoying the comments here egging you on, but good luck having polite neighbourly relations in your new home. I bet everyone will give you a big swerve once they hear about what you did. There is a difference between being legally in your right and doing the right thing.

I agree totally. Shitty thing to do before actually talking to him and telling him to stop.

Totally shitty for him to think he could just drive onto another's land because he can't use a reverse to access his own drive.

Firstly I don’t understand why you have an issue with him edging onto your drive for a few seconds a day anyway but secondly if you really can’t stand it, why on earth didn’t you speak to him about it? Putting rocks there he was unaware of and causing his vehicle to become damaged is honestly just batshit behaviour.

I don’t understand why people get so aggressive with parking. Our NDN’s bought a second car they don’t even use to park at the front of their house so no one else can park there. It’s insane.

I am also baffled as to why this would bother you. We have a large driveway facing a green where space on the road is quite limited and at least once a day a vehicle of some sort comes a few feet into our drive just to make a turn.

Having said that, your neighbour has no case against you for placing an object on your own driveway