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.

Did you read that before you posted it?

"^Therefore, you can’t hold the owner legally responsible for where their cat goes."

You sound like an awful person to live next to

Why are posters so sure that the cat flap is faulty?

I've no idea. OP admits that her cat frequently breaks neighbour's cat flaps in order to force entry, but somehow that couldn't possibly be the case with this neighbour's cat flap...

If it was a two-stage cat flap - blocked off for entry and exit - and the cat has done his regular 'work' in wrecking the first part, but somehow couldn't wreck the second part, how even more delightful the nasty names and accusations that have been hurled at the innocent neighbours on these threads.

Good question @WiddlinDiddlin !
@Catsos , was that cat flap already there ?

They are taking the p*ss. I would offer to pay for a professional rug clean and say I’m happy to clean the rest. Or they claim on their insurance. No way would I pay what they are asking!

It sounds like a lot of money tbh and I'm not convinced the fan can't be cleaned and that some ham/ice cubes have caused considerable laing damage, unless you heaped them up and they melted into a big puddle.

I can understand them wanting a new rug though if it's brand new and has had cat piss soaking in for two days. If it's deep pile it might not clean up like new.

So if your cat wanders into a house with dogs on one of his journeys and gets attacked - how would you pay the vets bill?

Or would you expect the other person to pay for that too

I'm curious to know how people would react if somebody let their young children out unsupervised in the neighbourhood and they found some stones and smashed people's windows.

I'm guessing that we'd have a lot of:

1. That's what they should have insurance for;
2. They shouldn't have windows made of glass in the first place;
3. What if there had been a freak hurricane that uprooted and blew a tree into their windows;
4. They're only young, so nobody can be held responsible for their antisocial behaviour;
5. You should sue the neighbours, because the kids could have seriously hurt themselves on the jagged glass if they tried to enter the house through the broken windows to get their stones back.

I think for a cat to have form, you’d have to prove that he is mentally aware of what he is doing. And as he is a cat and has the brain the size of a walnut, this would be pretty hard to prove and even harder to cross examine when he’s in the dock.

It’s a cat.

what awful neighbours!! surely its their fault their house wasn't secure enough to stop your cat getting in!
No way would I pay that or expect anyone to pay it.

The rug - get pet spray from the pet shop, it removes the smell of cat wee that can be smelt by cats - maybe cleaning alone won't remove it. its approx £5.00

clean the walls

a new vent?? can't you/ they just unscrew it and wash it?

maybe agree - re flooring, once its wet its ruined

I'm sure they're not too keen to see their insurance premium rise due to a claim before they've even moved in.

It sounds like they are trying to pass some of the cost of things they would be doing anyway in a new house on to you and some of them have been exaggerated.
I wouldn't argue too much about what needs doing although not sure how an ice cube does too much damage but I would get my own quotes and pay my own people and not accept their first and presumably only quotes.

I would also like to see a receipt for the rug they said cost £800 quid. I think it is fair enough you replace it. I might have accepted it being cleaned but they don't have to.
I also wouldn't go into debt for it either - none of the things are urgent apart from the laminate floor.
It's nobody's fault and if you offer to rectify things there is nothing they can do - they won't get far pushing for speed and none essential things.
You would think no matter how annoyed they are they would understand cats don't follow rules and you weren't going to let it starve.

They're taking the piss!!
Is it gold paint? it takes a few minutes to touch up what they claim is damaged, offer to have the rug cleaned and that's their lot.
Tbf they should have secured the cat flap, I doubt their home insurance would even cover it as the fault tiles with them.

As someone who ended up spending hundreds due to a cat that kept entering my house, would spray on my furniture and then caused a flea infestation, I feel for your neighbours. Whether they own cats or not, your cat has caused damage to their home. I know you seem to find your cat's behaviour highly amusing, but other people really don't. I, as a cat owner, fail to understand why it's seemingly acceptable for other people to own pets that cause damage to property and gardens. My first house was on an estate, and I will never, ever live on an estate again due to the cat population and owners who think they have zero responsibility for their animals.

Thinly sliced honey roasted ham
Feel like I've stumbled into an episode of The Royle Family

Unless of course the cat does their houdini trick right there in the courtroom when they're supposed to be sitting quietly giving their evidence and then it's case closed m'lud. The perils of being an unreliable witness.

I would offer to pay for a professional rug clean and say I’m happy to clean the rest.

Unfortunately, it's up to the home owners what level/company of professional tradespeople they want to engage for work in their own home.

OP has already said that they are (understandably) seething; do you really think they'd want to see the person whose cat trashed their home, and who seems convinced that they are the CFs as a result, turn up with her cleaning tray and spend hours in their home doing an amateur job?

I don't think they are being unreasonable. Your cat which is your responsibility has trashed their house (with your help).
You are being highly unreasonable to offer £400. At least offer 1200

I hope you counter offer with a reasonable amount and a list such as £100 rug clean and washing down windowsills. You dropped crab sticks on it, not sulphuric acid!!

Continue to read.

The cat could suggest another feline had entered the property and caused the damage, how was the homeowners to know that he’s not telling the truth?

Have you considered countersuing for them trapping your cat inside their property causing distress both to you and the cat? £1600 vets bills, £700 counselling sessions, £250 time wasted on the phones and Mumsnet trying to sort out the issue, cost of ham and crab sticks, unauthorized hourly cat rental charges!

Honestly, they are taking the piss! They can claim on their house insurance (you could offer to cover the excess) or take your offer to have the rug professionally cleaned.

Good for them!