Report or not?

[pincher]

I think I might possibly get a bit of a flaming for this but posting for opinion anyway.

I live in a road that is normally reasonably busy parking-wise - there are some shops nearby and a doctor's surgery at the end of the road that doesn't have a large car park, so there is usually a lack of street parking during the day and sometimes into the evening as well.

There is a car (Renault Laguna, in case you cared) that is parked over the road to me that spans a space that two cars could fit in. You could probably just about get a Smart Car behind it but not much other than that I suspect.

Normally, this wouldn't bother me but it has been there since about December and whilst it is taxed and insured for a few months yet, the MOT ran out earlier this month. Nobody round here seems to know anything about it and if it was parked a little more considerately, then I don't think anyone would be overly bothered about it, apart from the people who's house it is parked outside probably.

I've had a look at the council website and there are various criteria that they look at for abandoned cars, including;

whether it is untaxed
if it has no current keeper
it has been left for a significant amount of time
it is badly damaged, run down or unroadworthy
it is burnt out
it has been vandalised
it has flat tyres
it is unlocked
it has broken windows
it has mould growing on the inside or outside

The only one that applies here is being left for a significant amount of time.

They will not deem a car abandoned solely on the grounds that it is:

untaxed
does't have a valid MOT certificate
is poorly parked
is causing an obstruction
involved in residential parking disputes
broken down

I've got no idea if it has broken down or not and it doesn't technically casue an instruction, so it's only the lack of MOT and being poorly parked (arguably) that applies here.

For clarity, we have 5 cars in the house - one is in the garage and I can easily get three on the drive with another one at a bit of a squeeze so generally street park one of them for ease of access to the others, therefore I can't claim not to have a vested interest in freeing up one or possibly two spaces if this car were to go.

Like I said, I'm not getting in a froth about it - it's just a mild inconvenience and I fully recognise that a road-legal car can park anywhere for as long as anyone wants to park there.

Should I report it to the council or just wait until the tax and/or insurance run out (tax is until August from memory)? WWYD?

[randlemarcus]

From your post, you have no chance of getting it uplifted, so reporting it to the council seems fairly pointless. Have you tried popping a note under the wipers, and seeing it the owner is keeping an eye on it?

If you were feeling particularly aggrieved, you could always discover a fuel leak, and get it lifted for that.

[ScoobyChris]

"Shot to nothing" but you can report it for no MOT -> https://www.gov.uk/report-no-mot

From experience, it gets easier once the tax runs out...

Chris

[C5_Steve]

Wait until the tax runs out then report it. It'll get the ball rolling at least and hopefully get lifted if it's still there. As of now there might be a very good reason it's not moved (hence not been MOT'd) so it's allowed to be where it is, just not driven. Owners are not doing anything wrong yet except parked it like a nob, which maybe was due to it breaking down and being unable to be moved?

[Terminator X]

Imho neither the rozzers nor the council will care. I stand to be corrected though if you do report it!

TX.

[Grumps.]

The OP specifically pointed out that the council will not class it as abandoned if it is untaxed or out of MOT.

[C5_Steve]

Grumps. said:

The OP specifically pointed out that the council will not class it as abandoned if it is untaxed or out of MOT.

Correct, but once the Tax expires you can report it directly to the Police which will potentially prompt someone to do something with it.

[bigandclever]

Couple of mates, bounce it into a better position?

[ScoobyChris]

Terminator X said:

Imho neither the rozzers nor the council will care. I stand to be corrected though if you do report it!

Council round our way are pretty good at removing them quickly (once tax runs out) - easy to report online too. With just the MOT expired, you'll need to report to police and I agree, can't see it being high on their list of priorities but if you don't report it at all, nothing is guaranteed to happen!

Chris

Edited by ScoobyChris on Thursday 27th April 11:50

[AC43]

bigandclever said:

Couple of mates, bounce it into a better position?

It it's not in gear, a trolley jack at the back would mean you could just push it into place.

[anonymous-user]

If a few naughty kids smashed a window during the night, you’d be able to to reach in, take it out of gear, release the handbrake and move into a more appropriate parking position

Or you could just ignore it.

[simon_harris]

MDMA . said:

If a few naughty kids smashed a window during the night, you’d be able to to reach in, take it out of gear, release the handbrake and move into a more appropriate parking position

Or you could just ignore it.

No need to do any damage, just a trolley jack as described above

[Baldchap]

Four jacking dollies and pop it where you like.

[E90_M3Ross]

Baldchap said:

Four jacking dollies and pop it where you like.

Would this not set the alarm off?

[sherman]

Phone the local scral yard. The owner will soon appear when their car has vanished.
We did this when a car was abandoned in a hotel I worked in's carpark.

[E90_M3Ross]

sherman said:

Phone the local scral yard. The owner will soon appear when their car has vanished.
We did this when a car was abandoned in a hotel I worked in's carpark.

You need the V5 for that, no?

[anonymous-user]

simon_harris said:

MDMA . said:

If a few naughty kids smashed a window during the night, you’d be able to to reach in, take it out of gear, release the handbrake and move into a more appropriate parking position

Or you could just ignore it.

No need to do any damage, just a trolley jack as described above

Not the sort of thing kids carry during the night though.

[DaveyBoyWonder]

We had an old Passat parked outside our house on the road last year. Turned up one day and didn't think much of it - we too live on one of the nearest, non-permit parking roads to some shops so people do park there, run and grab some fish & chips etc and then disappear. But days went by and the Passat was still there. Whilst working one day (I work from home) I noticed an old Transit pull up, fella jumped out, grabbed something from the boot of the car and then disappear again. Same thing happened the day after - car had been there about a week by then so logged it with the police via their non-urgent email address. Within 24 hours I'd had a response saying they were looking into it and literally hours later someone turned up and the car went. Assume the plate/owner was flagged up somewhere on a database...

Not saying you need to call the cops and pretend you've seen people coming/going from the car but...

[Hatson]

You could put a note on it asking if they could move it forward 6ft, that is what you said you would be happy with!

[sherman]

E90_M3Ross said:

sherman said:

Phone the local scral yard. The owner will soon appear when their car has vanished.
We did this when a car was abandoned in a hotel I worked in's carpark.

You need the V5 for that, no?

Depends on the scrap yard