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?

This. ^ I know a number of people in my village whose shiny new driveway has been damaged by people using it as a turnaround point, (like, within a couple of years, not a thousand!) because they can't be bothered to drive an extra 100 yards to the end of the road (where there is a turnaround point!)

These people have penguin bollards, or chains across the driveway now. Forces people to use the actual turnaround point!

As I say my neighbour over the road does it, but DH and I let it go as she would park on the road if I stopped her doing it (and would make it hard for us to get on the drive (and off.) And also we get on well with her and her boyfriend, and we wouldn't want to jeopardise that. And also our driveway is already a bit ropey anyway, so her pushing her car on it most days for a few seconds isn't doing much harm!

That’s bad planning, or bad driving! No one should need to use other’s property to turn round.

Does it harm her, no. Does him using the drive benefit everyone, yes.

But I'm sorry @NotAnotherScarf this is absolutely extraordinary.

He couldn't spot some rocks on her drives (clearly doesn't use mirrors), so what happens if he reverses into her wall, or clips some fencing, or shaves the side of something? Will he pay out then?

What happens if by him using the drive daily, you get twice the wear, and in 4 years time the paving cracks and needs repair? Will he pay out then a contribution to maintain her drive?

As I said earlier in the thread, people in Britain are WAY too comfortable using other people's stuff without paying for its upkeep. They make up entire reasons why they should be entitled to use it, and get bizarrely aggressive when denied.

The OP did not buy a house with a public turning circle at the end of her doorstep. Her property boundary contains her driveway. People would do well to remember this!

The OP does NOT have to allow this man to use her driveway as a turnaround point, nor does she need to explain herself to anyone.

Allowing everyone in my road to come and sit in my house and use my heating and eat my food isn't going to 'harm me' but am I going to do that? Of course I'm not!

This man using her drive only benefits HIM. No-one else. Good for the OP for putting those rocks there.

.

You're still asking OP to quantify harm and if the answer is none then she should tolerate him reversing on her drive. Its her drive. She does not need a reason to want him to stop and she doesn't need to tell him about her landscaping plans.

YANBU

I would put a chain link fence across the bottom of my driveway and padlock it

This is exactly why the highway code says you should reverse ONTO your drive, and drive forwards off it

Well ok not exactly 😁
But that could have been OPs child or her cat rather than a rock.

NTA

A previous owner put a rock at the side of the entrance to my driveway to stop wide-bodied vehicles coming up and churning up the driveway and scraping the hedge.

I'm not strong enough to move it anyway, but I've sprayed it with white paint to make it show up in the dark.

I've no patience with people monkeying around with other folks' drives - I've had too many cheeky people mucking around with mine.

At one point, my late husband put up a white plastic chain to let others see that it was private property. It was cut.

Then he put up a heavy metal chain. Someone took bolt cutters to it.

It's not as big a problem now that I'm retired but there are still occasions when people take liberties.

You both sound like dicks!

Passive aggressive? Catch yourself on. Your reply is nuts. And if the OP put a bollard up? The bloke is only creating a fuss because really he's annoyed with himself for not seeing the rocks.

Firstly, in what way is he inconveniencing you? Yes he's driving on your drive but he'd have to drive for about a thousand years before wearing it out.

A neighbour had a tarmac drive. When new folk moved in and used it to turn around they'd dug 2 holes in a week. And you can't just "fill in" tarmac to do it properly.

Whizzing you power steering around without allowing the wheels to turn puts a lot of force into the surface. Watch an HGV doing it next time you can. (Where do you think some potholes start).

Good- common sense response!

He’s not got a leg to stand on
he chose to drive on your private property he can bugger off

Benefits everyone? How would it benefit the OP in this scenario?

Take the rocks for example, if she had left say a garden ornament, he would have broken it wouldn’t he? I just don’t see how the OP is benefiting from having a neighbour reverse on to her property, at all.

The fact that he has even come over to her shows how entitled he is. If you don’t nip this behaviour in the bud, what’s next!

Would love to hear the conversation with the police!

It's not very neighbourly to have put the rocks there without talking to them first. But the fact he didn't see the rocks and hit them shows that he wasn't taking care when he used your drive so he was not being that neighbourly either. His aggression and response was unreasonable. Hopefully just a bit of an emotional reaction to the damage. If you're lucky he'll get over it, realise his mistake and start reversing on to his drive rather than being equally passive aggressive and start parking in a way that's inconvenient for you.

In the older days, people had walls around their front gardens. Would it have been acceptable for him to crash through the brick wall to turn his car around? No. So just because most people have turned their gardens into drives doesn’t mean any old entitled car owner has the right to go driving about on it.

Ignore this absolute twat. Hopefully he’s learned his lesson now and won’t be using your drive anymore.

He's obviously a dick for the way he behaved. Totally his fault and you are obviously not legally liable.

However, your behaviour was also totally dickish. You said: 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.

So basically, because you didn't want to start any drama, you did something that was pretty much guaranteed to cause drama and a fall out. It would have been much simpler to just talk to them.

Can’t he just use the turning circle and reverse onto his driveway like normal people? Whatever you do, don’t let him intimidate you. Ever. If he thinks he’s unnerved you he will try to bully you.

You had me going then! 😆 Re the Highway Code!!! 😬

Actually I always reverse onto my drive, and drive off forwards.... Much easier IMO. In fact I nearly always reverse on and drive off forwards in most given situations.

But yeah, as you say, it could have been a cat or a child. The neighbour is sooooooooo in the wrong here!

How DARE you make changes to your own garden which you own?! You had better run by the new paint colour for the lounge by him as well. Where is all of this going to end?!

He’s bonkers. I would ignore him and if he starts with you again then tell him it’s harassment and you will speak to the police. For the record you aren’t petty and he needs to learn to reverse into his driveway by the sounds of it

This is the problem with people not wanting to upset the new neighbours, they then get walked over. This could have been solved if you had just opened your mouth in the beginning and told him not to reverse on the drive in the first place.

Nonsense. It turns out he's an aggressive, entitled twat and he wouldn't have reacted well if she'd told him first.

Agreed! 👏

Is there anything else she should consult the neighbour about? Perhaps she should put a great big sign up if she decides to resurface the driveway? Or if she parks a car on it so he can't reverse onto her driveway?