long term parking public road

[okenemem]

i would like some help,

is there a law against parking your car on the pulic road for a long time 1 year to 18 months with out it being moved with a car cover over it. i know the car has to be insured and taxed , but what i dont understand is if the car has a car cover , how can they know wether the is insured and taxed. im under the belief that no one is supposed to take the cover off e.g parking attendants baliffs etc. Ive seen plenty of cars parked on the public road with a cover over them even cars that are quite obviously damaged. im just weighing up all my options before i make up my mind wether i should put the car in storage .

can anyone shed light on this

[WonkeyDonkey]

If it has a cover over it for long enough and no one ever sees it get moved then it could be classed as abandoned. Especially if they check the reg and it's not been taxed for months.

[foxbody-87]

Personally I wouldn’t do it, especially if on a residential street as you are likely to have people report it. I’d also be worried about scrotes interfering with it. If it’s going to be 1 year why cover it, can you not periodically shift it and give it a clean etc, sorry I don’t know what the circumstances are so just throwing ideas out there.

[donkmeister]

I looked into this some years ago, and I recall a key theme I saw was people less honest as the OP wanting to flout the SORN rules by keeping their SORN cars on-road. The theory was that officials cannot interfere with the car to check the numberplate hence a tightly-fitted cover would avoid unpleasantness for these flouters (in theory).

The reality was that covers blow around, strings loosen etc. (sometimes due to human hands) and many legitimate on-road storers write their numberplate on the cover to avoid curious officials interfering whilst the less-honest find that their covers have caught the wind and lifted up around the time they get a ticket.

[okenemem]

for me its not a case of the car being SORN on the road, because it will be insured and taxed. The issue is i dont want to fork out 2000 plus for private parking, if i can leave my car on the road. i would only put a car cover on to protect the car as i wont be driving it. Im worried if the car hasnt been seen being driven someone may classifiy it as abandoned and my car gets taken while im away.

another option i was considering was to get one of those covers in which the licence plate can be seen

[Far Cough]

Even with a cover on it, it will quickly become an eye sore and start to come to the attention of residents, do gooders and busy bodies. Why risk it ?

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

Better off leaving it uncovered & wash it etc.

If you were using it it would be uncovered after all.

[PurpleMoonlight]

You have to display number plates.

What makes you think the police cannot remove the cover?

[Mr Pointy]

okenemem said:

for me its not a case of the car being SORN on the road, because it will be insured and taxed. The issue is i dont want to fork out 2000 plus for private parking, if i can leave my car on the road. i would only put a car cover on to protect the car as i wont be driving it. Im worried if the car hasnt been seen being driven someone may classifiy it as abandoned and my car gets taken while im away.

another option i was considering was to get one of those covers in which the licence plate can be seen

How would you feel if a neighbour dumped a car outside your house & left it there for a year?

[98elise]

WonkeyDonkey said:

If it has a cover over it for long enough and no one ever sees it get moved then it could be classed as abandoned. Especially if they check the reg and it's not been taxed for months.

It doesn't even need to be covered.

Many years ago my car had an issue so was parked outside my house for a few months (taxes and insured). Somone reported it abandoned and the council stuck a notice on it saying it would be removed.

They would not listen to reason and said if it was anywhere in my road on the day of removal it would be taken.

[trickywoo]

98elise said:

It doesn't even need to be covered.

Many years ago my car had an issue so was parked outside my house for a few months (taxes and insured). Somone reported it abandoned and the council stuck a notice on it saying it would be removed.

They would not listen to reason and said if it was anywhere in my road on the day of removal it would be taken.

If it had tax, mot and insurance I would have let them take it and then taken them to court after reporting the theft to the police.

[Integroo]

trickywoo said:

If it had tax, mot and insurance I would have let them take it and then taken them to court after reporting the theft to the police.

I'm sure that would have worked out just as well in real life as in your head.

[poo at Paul's]

I think that the lights and reflectors etc need to be displayed, so fitting a cover and leaving it overnight would not be legal. Whether that is only on certain categories of roads, I am not sure, but dont think so. It is why you cannot put an unlit skip on a road over night etc. Needs lights and reflectors.

[anonymous-user]

The bigger question is, who cares?

[AlexRS2782]

2 sMoKiN bArReLs said:

Better off leaving it uncovered & wash it etc.

If you were using it it would be uncovered after all.

I agree. Leaving it uncovered should result in a much lesser chance of drawing the wrong sort of attention to the car either from passers by, neighbours or otherwise.

A lad on one of the Ford forums tried similar with a cover on his Escort RST a few years ago and left the car on the road outside his house. Even in a pretty decent area it took less than a week for someone to slash the cover open.

[keith9849]

OK, I am a guilty party here. I leave my Bentley Turbo on the road, taxed, insured and parking permitted. The car-cover is to see dust, pollution and bird-droppings off the paintwork. I ensure a front number plate is visible. We no longer have to display tax-discs or parking permits, so display of the number plate is enough.

My neighbours don't complain. If I can park the car outside my house I prefer this, but since this is a bit of lottery I park as close as I can. Abandoned vehicles and those causing obstruction are of more interest to Councils and the police, but in reality the police have better things to do, and the Council is only interested in getting its permit-fee.

[Jag_NE]

keith9849 said:

OK, I am a guilty party here. I leave my Bentley Turbo on the road, taxed, insured and parking permitted. The car-cover is to see dust, pollution and bird-droppings off the paintwork. I ensure a front number plate is visible. We no longer have to display tax-discs or parking permits, so display of the number plate is enough.

My neighbours don't complain. If I can park the car outside my house I prefer this, but since this is a bit of lottery I park as close as I can. Abandoned vehicles and those causing obstruction are of more interest to Councils and the police, but in reality the police have better things to do, and the Council is only interested in getting its permit-fee.

For me, this falls into the category of legal but unneighbourly behaviour. Don’t take the fact that nobody has complained as an assurance that they are indifferent. If you don’t care how they feel or think, that’s up to you. If it’s a quiet street, it’s an eyesore and if it’s a busy one (permits suggest it is), long term storage of cars isn’t really cricket.

[Wacky Racer]

2 sMoKiN bArReLs said:

Better off leaving it uncovered & wash it etc.

If you were using it it would be uncovered after all.

This.

Why do you need to cover a car at all?, millions of cars live outdoors all their lives.

[PorkInsider]

Wacky Racer said:

2 sMoKiN bArReLs said:

Better off leaving it uncovered & wash it etc.

If you were using it it would be uncovered after all.

This.

Why do you need to cover a car at all?, millions of cars live outdoors all their lives.

Looking at the first post in the thread, I think OP doesn’t want to tax and insure the car?

[PAULJ5555]

Can you not put some cardboard under the wheels, then the car is not touching the road surface so there is nothing they can do as its not on the highway.
This will also get intersting when hover cars come in next year. p.s. I'm joking.