What to do about "dumped" vehicles on my street?
Discussion
What can I do about uninsured vehicles with no mot on my street?
My street is full of cars that seem to be "dumped" some have no tax and the council will deal with them I guess.
Many of them are not showing on the insurance data base and are showing to not have a MOT via the GOV website.
These cars don't move for 6 months to a year, deflated tyres, body panels hanging off etc
It also says it is a crime for a car to be parked in a public place without insurance or MOT, yet the police say they will only deal with the vehicles if they are driving and A.N.P.R plate recognition computers pick them up.
These vehicles are taking over the street, are illegal yet I am unable to do anything about it?
My street is full of cars that seem to be "dumped" some have no tax and the council will deal with them I guess.
Many of them are not showing on the insurance data base and are showing to not have a MOT via the GOV website.
These cars don't move for 6 months to a year, deflated tyres, body panels hanging off etc
It also says it is a crime for a car to be parked in a public place without insurance or MOT, yet the police say they will only deal with the vehicles if they are driving and A.N.P.R plate recognition computers pick them up.
These vehicles are taking over the street, are illegal yet I am unable to do anything about it?
Report to the DVLA/VOSA. Police will do nothing as it is no longer in their remit unless they are being driven.
https://www.gov.uk/report-untaxed-vehicle
https://www.gov.uk/report-untaxed-vehicle
If it's a public road you can report them to DVLA who ought to remove it.
But that won't work on private property or roads.
We've got an area of allocated parking spaces next to my house, and there has been an old banger sat there for over a year without moving. No recent MOT or tax, and over the winter mould started growing on the seats and steering wheel! I reported it to the local council. They came and put a sticker on it on 19 February, but it's still there.
Looks like time to remind them!
But that won't work on private property or roads.
We've got an area of allocated parking spaces next to my house, and there has been an old banger sat there for over a year without moving. No recent MOT or tax, and over the winter mould started growing on the seats and steering wheel! I reported it to the local council. They came and put a sticker on it on 19 February, but it's still there.
Looks like time to remind them!
Sigh.
I used to live in an area where this was prevalent. A local garage dumped a dozen cars at a time on the road and used them for spares.
Your council are obliged to remove abandoned vehicles under the Clean Neighbourhoods act 2005.
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2005/16/part/...
The problem is that there is no legal definition of an abandoned vehicle. The council must decide what constitutes abandonment based on the governments guidelines. There are a set of criteria that the council may consider. MOT and insurance aren't on the list.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/abandoned-vehicles-cou...
Somewhere there's a pdf that better explains this. I think it was DEFRA issued. It stated that the more of these factors are exhibited, the more likely the vehicle was abandoned. It didn't say that one factor alone was not sufficient to consider the vehicle was abandoned, but neither did it state that this was insufficient.
If the Council do remove and destroy vehicle, the owner could pursue them through the courts for recompense. Given that removing abandoned vehicle costs the Council AND they could then make themselves liable to the owner for the value of that vehicle, some Councils (cough, Southampton, cough) appear reluctant to do anything other than try to shirk their legal obligation.
Southampton, for example won't touch a vehicle until the VED is at least a month overdue.
Note that a missing numberplate is a factor that is considered indicative of abandonment. But if both went missing, the Council would no doubt try to claim that they can't trace the owner and check road tax.
Your best route is to report the vehicles to your council. If the vehicle has flat tyres, a missing numberplate, is full of rubbish etc. make sure your report includes this information. Keep records and if you're met with inaction from the Council, go and see a Councillor. Show them the cars and get them to apply pressure.
Dangerous vehicles (broken glass, unlocked, unlocked with sharps inside, burnt out) are a different category and must be moved in, I think, 48 hours.
Similar to those who've posted above I had similar last year. A barried up Astra appeared on our road annoyingly close to the entrance to the car park to our flat, not enough to actually obstruct but did make visibility a bit awkward given it's on a narrow road with cars parked both sides.
After about two months when it hadn't moved and the tyres were starting to go flat, I checked the VED which had 5 months left and spoke to Southwark council who said they would only remove it once it had expired. In fairness to them they came by on the exact day It had expired and removed it (which was amusing to see/hear as the brakes had all seized so they pulled it away leaving 11s on the road and could hear it squealing away for the next few minutes).
The only bit I did find weird was that as there is permit parking on our road it had a parking ticket at least once a week which was always removed from the windscreen after a few days. If they were going unpaid I'm not sure if that should have allowed the council to tow it away earlier (I'm guessing they were unpaid as who would abandon a car worth c£500 to then pay the parking fines?).
We also had the gas lines redone on our road during the time it was there and even though they suspended parking (exactly where this car was parked) it couldn't be moved according to the workers and they had to dig around the car which I imagine cost a fair bit more money in time and materials.
Tl;dr - Report it and it'll go once the VED expires, nothing else seems to make them take it in my experience.
After about two months when it hadn't moved and the tyres were starting to go flat, I checked the VED which had 5 months left and spoke to Southwark council who said they would only remove it once it had expired. In fairness to them they came by on the exact day It had expired and removed it (which was amusing to see/hear as the brakes had all seized so they pulled it away leaving 11s on the road and could hear it squealing away for the next few minutes).
The only bit I did find weird was that as there is permit parking on our road it had a parking ticket at least once a week which was always removed from the windscreen after a few days. If they were going unpaid I'm not sure if that should have allowed the council to tow it away earlier (I'm guessing they were unpaid as who would abandon a car worth c£500 to then pay the parking fines?).
We also had the gas lines redone on our road during the time it was there and even though they suspended parking (exactly where this car was parked) it couldn't be moved according to the workers and they had to dig around the car which I imagine cost a fair bit more money in time and materials.
Tl;dr - Report it and it'll go once the VED expires, nothing else seems to make them take it in my experience.
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