Abandoned car?

Manxman_in_exile

A car has been left at the far end of our street which appears to have been abandoned.  I hadn't noticed it before but a person who lives a couple of doors down from where it has been left says it's been there for some weeks, but nobody knows who it belongs to.

The reason I noticed it now was because I was on foot and the car sticks out like a sore thumb because it appears to have had several notices or stickers attached to the windshield and windows, which somebody has attempted to remove.  Can't tell what the notices or stickers say or said.  There is a handwritten A4 note inside on the dashboard saying "I live here!" (!).

The car doesn't necessarily look abandoned.  It's a 10 year old SUV from an "upmarket" manufacturer.  It has a vanity reg. number.  It's got 10 months tax on it but the MOT expired 6 weeks ago.  It also has a brick chocked behind the nearside rear wheel, and it looks as if there may have been an attempt to move it.  (There's a towing eye on the front and the bumper around the eye has been damaged.)

To get rid of it - or at least get it investigated - who does it need to be reported to?  Local council?

sheramber

https://www.gov.uk/report-no-mot

Contact your local police to report a car, van, motorcycle or other vehicle that does not have an MOT.

You can only report a vehicle with no MOT to the police if it’s being used on a road.

You need the vehicle’s:

• number plate (registration number)
• make and model
• colour
• location

Aretnap

Local council is responsible for removing abandoned vehicles. You can report it here, or on the relevant part of the local council's website.

https://www.gov.uk/report-abandoned-vehicle

From experience, be prepared to wait, and possibly to report it more than once.

I don't believe there's a single tick-box which defines a vehicle as abandoned; the council will consider a number of factors including tax, MOT, insurance status, condition of the vehicle, how long it's been there, whether the owner gets in touch when they plonk a "this vehicle appears to have been abandoned" sticker on it etc to decide whether to class it as abandoned.

If it's on a public road and has no MOT you could in theory also report it to the police on 101/their website, though the chances of them doing much are slim.

Manxman_in_exile

Thanks both.

I see the "report no MOT" website says the police can't deal with it if it's abandoned.  Wonder if they would come to that conclusion as the car does not necessarily look as if it's been abandoned?  It does look as if it hasn't moved in a while, but apart from that it looks reasonably OK and is a "vorsprung durch technic" SUV.

Would you abandon a car only a few weeks after paying a years tax?  And unless it's completely wrecked, why not renew the MOT for 6 weeks?

Hmmm.

macman

Could be stolen and dumped. Until you report it, you'll never know.

molerat

Aretnap said:

though the chances of them doing much are slim.

I think you are raising OP's expectations a bit there, the chances are lower than slim.  Only hope would be if there is a neighbourhood bobby who walks around the area.

Is it insured ? https://ownvehicle.askmid.com/

Brie

Well if it's not abandoned but is on the road it should be MOT'd.  If it wasn't on the road they could SORN it.  Maybe they think it's ok as they aren't driving it.  

We've got a number of "not in use" vehicles at a certain spot in town.  One has a car cover over it like it's something special, another is a horse truck/trailer but there's at least 5 in a row that have so many leaves/dirt dropped on them it would be difficult to simply jump in and drive one.  I doubt a couple of them could actually move without major assistance.  But if the neighbours haven't complained (because they own them?) the council won't know and so won't act.

Manxman_in_exile

Don't worry!  I have no expectations whatsoever!

The car isn't a problem for me - it's right down the other end of our road and I rarely walk in that direction.  I think I'm more curious about it than anything else.  It clearly looks out of place but it doesn't look abandoned either.

I'll leave it a few days and see if it moves.

Thanks all

(Hadn't crossed my mind it might have been nicked and dumped.  It's relatively quiet round here and things usually get noticed...)

Manxman_in_exile

Brie said:

... We've got a number of "not in use" vehicles at a certain spot in town.  One has a car cover over it like it's something special, another is a horse truck/trailer but there's at least 5 in a row that have so many leaves/dirt dropped on them it would be difficult to simply jump in and drive one.  I doubt a couple of them could actually move without major assistance...

You wouldn't usually give a car like this a second glance except perhaps to note the vanity plate. 

What makes it stick out is the paper stuck to it.  The windshield and each window has an A4 sheet of paper stuck (very firmly) on the outside.  Somebody has tried to scrape these sheets of paper off the glass, but they're stuck firm.  Enough of the paper has been scraped off so that you can't read what - if anything - was written or printed on the sheets.  They may be official notices or they may not - impossible to tell.

Then there's the sheet of A4 on the dashboard with "I live here!" written on it...

As I say, I'm more curious (ie nosey) about it more than anything else.

macman

Is it parked in a CPZ?

Browntoa

Our local council removes them if reported, particularly if the are , or should be , SORN