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 think it's a bit too much to be honest but if they're renovating their home then it's not just the cost it's the massive inconvenience. An inconvenience that was caused by you and your cat.
I would expect a new rug as the smell never comes out and their cats will start peeing on it too which is another nightmare for them.
I'd be pretty peed off if I were your neighbours.

Yes. It's offensive

The fact that you do not have cat insurance although you have a cat tells us we need to know about you

The exaggeration on this thread by some posters is hilarious.

Highly unlikely it would stand up in court, sounds like the cat flap was faulty for a start. Unless they have cameras they can’t actually prove it was OP’s cat that caused the damage. They left a window open, they are lucky it wasn’t a fox that got in.

Chip activated flaps are designed to only let the cat with the right chip in - which is not the OP's cat.

So if thats the case, it's faulty...

But Op put in her first post "I have a cat who has a bit of a reputation on our street for forcing his way into neighbours homes by breaking open their cat-flaps "

So he gets into locked cat flaps/cat flaps that he doesn't have the chip for/all the neighbours have faulty cat flaps?

I think you should take responsibility for damage caused by the ham and the crabsticks. Those were your decisions and responsibility.

The damage caused by the cat being trapped inside the house was caused by their cat flap arrangement and could equally have been caused by a fox or rodent. Offering a nominal amount is reasonable, and offering to cover cleaning costs is generous.

But given that good neighbourly relations are now off the table, whether you want to be generous is up to you.

Since you are on good terms with the nice builder could you ask him if their quote to replace the vent and repaint the window board are reasonable?

once their is cat pee in fabric , it will never come out, ive had professionally cleaned before and on hot days it will come back
and any time the owner dampens the rug to clean it , it will activate the urine crystals again
and other cats will always be able to smell the urine

They're taking the piss and being ridiculous.

Your offer to clean up and scrub any messes that were made is more than adequate.

The cat door was clearly set to allow random cats in but not out. Not cool.

Agree with this

🙀

Could have been a conspiracy between the builder and new owners to trap the cat and then blame him.

The builder just worked around all the damaged areas in the meantime, and the painters painted as far as the cat marks on the wall.😂

OP I think they are cheeky *** and trying to get you to pay for some of their house renovation.

Surprised they didn’t add a cost for the call out of the builder to come let your cat out at a cost of £10,000.

I would offer to pay all cleaning costs around £300. No way would they put down a £800 rug when they are still renovating they are trying to have you on.

As a home keener securing your property is number one priority and they did not do that, hence why they don’t want to claim through insurance. They could of come home seen a cat in their house let it out and been none the wiser!

Personally I think that the catflap was misinstalled, a functionality which allows a cat in but not out is clearly not of an acceptable standard. That would be 'why' they should consider an insurance claim.

If these people are your next door neighbours you might want to

Like I said, we don’t know who the new people, is there cameras up - we don’t know.

it wasn’t a fox, it was a neighbours cat, whom that neighbour has been on here finding the whole saga highly hysterical and getting extremely upset when being accused of being a troll.

OP's cat broke the cat flap getting in the house - that's probably why it couldn't get back out!

Pork being pushed into someone's house could easily be a hate crime

When you spoke to them OP did they seem like they were trying their luck/rude/aggressive/plucked figures from thin air or quite genuine.

realistically the damage to the neighbourly relationship has already happened now so for the posters saying pay it for peace is pointless.

Oh shit. This thread took a turn.

OP, I'd offer to go halves on the basis that the house wasn't properly secured. I wouldn't go to town over that - I can see why it didn't occur to them - but the fact is that any wild animal could have got in and rampaged round their house. I don't think I'd be a complete arse (you've got to live with them after all) but I don't think you should be paying the whole of the cost when there's literally a hole in their house that an animal can walk through.

Our cat insurance covers health and not getting stuck in a neighbour's house.

You know troll hunting isn't allowed right? Don't read if you don't believe.

Where was it mentioned that the window was open? , I must have missed this .
When did you notice the cat missing @Catsos ?
Are you sure he went in the cat flap? , he could have slipped in with the builders?.
The damage could have been caused by him trying to get out a locked flap ?
Anyway, you do need to cover some of the slightly silly things you did ( crab sticks and ham !) , I can understand you panicking particularly as a lot of posters told you your cat was likely to die but still it was damage caused by you .