To break into my new neighbours house *THREAD 3: The Final Conundrum*

[Catsos]

I’m really not trying to drag this out 😩 but I seriously need some advice following on from my posts this weekend where my cat (who has a reputation for breaking cat-flaps in the neighbourhood) broke into my new neighbours vacant house while it is being renovated.

Here is the original post if anyone needs more context:

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/4881905-to-break-into-new-neighbours-house-serious-question-not-trolling

After not being able to get back out the cat-flap he was stuck in there for 48 hours over the bank holiday weekend and then finally released by the builder after various rescue attempts by me.

During that period however some damage occurred to my new neighbours property. I had hoped they would take it all in good spirits as fellow cat owners and we’d laugh about it and be new cat bessie mates but they we’re absolutely seething!!

They have proposed that I pay £1,600!!! for the following:

£800 to replace the rug my cat wee’d on

£400 to replace an area of laminate flooring as apparently the wee has gone into the underlay

I offered to pay £100 for professional rug cleaning, but the wife (who seems very neurotic) says her cats will still be able to smell my cats urine and they don’t want that to stress their cats out when they move them into the new home

£150 for repainting areas of muddy foot prints on the walls where my cat scratched to get out
(again I offered to just wipe them off but the wife insists it is repainted)

£50 to repaint window sils where the crabsticks & icecubes I dropped through the window has damaged the paint

£200 for a new bathroom window vent as I pushed thinly slice honey roasted ham through it

AIBU to think they are being very over the top? I could personally clean/repaint all of these things myself. Should I refuse to pay this amount? I don’t even have this amount available anyway, I would need to get an overdraft.

I'm pretty sure it's a sureflap catflap. Sureflap sell them for £73. Okay, they may have a tunnel extender kit, too, but that should be reusable from the current setup.

YABU.

I think you should ask to see quotes for repairing the damage to make sure they are actually charging you what the work costs them rather than some finger in the air overestimate but ultimately it’s your cat’s fault so you should pay it.

You said in your original post that your cat has form for this sort of behaviour. That makes it even more your responsibility to deal with the consequences.

I think you said that they had just bought this house? I would be really upset if my new house, which I had builders in making nice, suddenly had scratches, bits of ham and crab sticks and cat wee everywhere. Why should they not get all that fixed just because your cat is a pest?

To be clear, I was following your original post and was worrying about your cat and I’m so glad it’s ok - but the bill is 100% your responsibility.

I haven’t rtft but read the first 2, but can you not claim on your house insurance?

I know our policy has public liability which covers animals. I checked this previously when we stopped insuring an older dog just in case he caused a road traffic accident by getting loose, or got into a fight, bit a child etc etc etc. The premiums had become so extortionate and due to his age at the time (15) we would not have put him through any major surgery.

I guess you need legal advice. From the link posted upthread, I wonder if maybe you're not responsible for the damage your cat caused, but you are for the damage you caused with the ham and crab sticks.

IANAL. I think you need someone who is.

Reading many of these posts I have quite shocked at the OP's lack of respect for someone else's property, though understood she was worried. But things suggested like breaking a window or getting a locksmith to break into someone else's home have been quite disrespectful towards "the enemy" next door. As if they should be responsible and accept the damage, and laugh over it. So having had their house and goods broken/soiled I actually think they are totally correct in being angry. Whether the price is correct or not I don't know but I would imagine they have every right to take the OP to the small claims court, and I personally would - and if I were to read how so much of it was lighthearted over causing damage to another's property, I would be absolutely furious.

I fully agree. The cult of cat is robust on these threads.

They are a fucking pest and I have been on the receiving end of a neighbours cat getting in to ours via a balcony and subsequently freaking out, pissing and damaging a lot due to being locked in for an evening.

I don't know how reasonable the costs are but you should be respectful and understand that some of us don't take too kindly to some random cat breaking in and pissing on our stuff.

They aren't chancers.

YAVVU

Still faulty - unsafe and dangerous, a cat should not be able to lock itself in. Their bad for installing something not fit for purpose and then going away leaving it unsupervised. Let them sue the manufacturer if they wan to sue someone. Once they had a catflap, it was reasonable to expect cat-sized animals to attempt to access it.

With 3 threads on Mumsnet I bet they'd have a pretty good chance of proving it.

LOL true!

Maybe so but I just pointed out the most common reason when you said "there must be a reason" and named two less likely reasons, that they knew the cat flap was faulty or they weren't insured yet.

They said the hinges were broken so perhaps it was locked properly.

Also I bet one or more of the other neighbours could be persuaded to confirm the cat has form and the OP knew that

Cats are legally classed as free spirits so not sure where this leaves things with your neighbour 🤷‍♀️

The problem is your cat caused damage and that’s the crux of it all. They have a property they are renovating at high expense I should imagine. They want the damage made good.

The total is high, but if you break down the elements, aside from the rug, it’s not that unreasonable as no handyman types will just slap a bit of paint on at £20. If the rug is new I can also see how they might want it replaced but I would perhaps have accepted a clean first to see if it solves the problem. But again they haven’t moved in yet and your cat damaged their new rug.

Oh the irony of your name 😂

And her possible ramblings via text/voicemails to the builder. Bet she let slip his done this before.

From local solicitors website. States that cats have the right to roam - but the caveat is if they cause damage, the neighbour has right to sue.

Offer the money if you wish but don't say it's for the cat flap which was obviously defective.

And don't forget to ask why an expensive rug was left in the house where builders are still working. It seems odd to me.

New neighbours should have ensured the cat flap was not useable.

That's not what faulty means.

If something is broken and then doesn't work properly it's because it's broken.
If something doesn't work properly because it's broken then yes it could be unsafe or dangerous, but because it's broken, not because it's faulty.

i was going to post similar (as i studied animal law a while ago)

As a cat owner, you are generally not responsible for damage they cause, if you are acting reasonably (unlike dogs).

So a cat doing its normal thing and roaming - i don't think they can come after you for the damage like wee as your behavuour wasn't unreasonable for a normal owner- you'd have had to not let the cat out at all to prevent them going into the house - and of course any stray could also have got in or a fox.

They can come after you for damage YOU caused. but not the cat's.

So i'd offer to pay for a few of the things.

Surely some of the responsibility lies with them too? If your cat was able to “break in” then so too could any wild animal and cause same damage? Their cat flap should only have let in their cat

Right sorry but you can't go sticking ham through vents. A lot of people are very anti pork

The wife is talking the absolute piss
It's her " anxiety"
Obviously I wouldn't expect them to be particularly thrilled but not even wiping down the walls or cleaning where you put ham through is ridiculous in my view
Very awkward for you

Even M&S pork?

I don’t believe any of this anymore.

On the tiny off chance that is true YOU are the absolute chancer. I’m unsurprised they are raging, I would be FURIOUS . Your cat caused damage to their property and you behaved terribly which made it worse. and no insurance? Pay up and take responsibility.