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.

To those suggesting the homeowners should claim on their insurance - why should they?

If they caused some accidental damage then yes go ahead. But OP knew their cat had history of getting into other people’s homes so should have locked the bloody thing inside. As they didn’t they should pay every last penny.

Hopefully they will learn from such a costly experience!!!

counter claim for the stress cause to you by their one way cat trap.

£2k I reckon.

pay nothing OP. they are cheeky fuckers.

No it isn't unless it's intended as a hate crime ! She was feeling her cat!

I would be asking for them to give you the rug that your cat did a wee on, cleaning it and selling it on to recoup some cost

Good thinking.

Next door’s cat sometimes sneaks into our house in the summer if the back door is open. We chase him out. If he sneaked in and we went away and he died, are we liable?

r/compoface

You really think the police would charge someone criminally for rescuing a pet trapped in a building?

Situations like this are exactly what home insurance is for. So what if the premium goes up? You can’t blame the OP for that. The neighbour should complain to the greedy insurance company about that.

‘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!!’

I think your tone may have led to the reaction. I would hate to return to this situation. You should have been mortified and contrite and wanting to see the damage and offering to put it right. If you entered with a jovial attitude and expected them to laugh, no wonder they were pissed off.

Leaving a cat flap set to 'in only' when there's no one living in the house is a recipe for stuck cats. If your cat has managed to force his way in through a locked cat flap, the cat flap is faulty. You've offered to make good the damage, and your new neighbours are taking the piss asking for £1600.

Why isn't your cat insured?

However, it annoys me that people allow cats to roam. Just because it's 'a right' doesn't make it ok. Cats can walk on a lead (if you train them) and you can install a secure run in your garden so they can have outside time, there's no need to let them roam free, able to let themselves into other peoples houses and kill wildlife. You can't shrug and say 'it's not my fault my cat got into your house and caused damage' because it is, because you let him roam free.

However necessary and well meaning the events up to this point have been, I think it’s a bit rich to describe your neighbour as neurotic!

there's no need to let them roam free

They are curious, territorial and largely solitary. It is their nature to roam, which is why the law is as it is. They're not dogs.

You should replace the rug, laminate and underlay, the vent and the cat flap. Did the cat leave any marks in the plaster when trying to break free? That could mean fillet, sanding and painting the whole wall if they don’t have any paint left to ensure it’s an exact match.

sorry OP I’m with your neighbours on this one. I was with you when it appeared to be a faulty cat flap but as you said yours broke it, it’s your cats and ultimately your responsibility.

but why o why, crab sticks and ham 🤦‍♀️

They would if it involved putting pork in their house and they were muslim

Why isn't your cat insured?

I thought cat insurance was for cat veterinary care. Is there such a thing as pet insurance for any damage they may cause? Do they get a discount for safe driving?

Right.. and how are you going to explain that you thought it was a good idea to put meat in a air vent

Say you are very sorry for what has happened but £1600 is unreasonable and you simply don't have it. You are not willing to replace the rug as all it needs is a clean and you will get quotes for the rest as they seemed to have rounded everything up substantially.

But the pork was for the cat. Not for the people.

cat (who has a reputation for breaking cat-flaps in the neighbourhood) broke into my new neighbours vacant house while it is being renovated.

hmm and neighbours watched you squeeze in honey ham, crab sticks, ice cubes ...

so you and the cat have damaged the neighbours' newly renovated property and you wonder why they don't want to laugh and be new BFFs.

You are a CF. This is taking crazy cat lady to a new level.

Indeed @AliceOlive !! , completely over the top speculation 🙄

I asked my husband (solicitor). He said that the damage was caused by the owner's negligence in installing a 1 way only cat flap, so no liability. There have been cases about livestock causing damage but in those cases there was a reasonable expectation of the farmer to keep the cows fenced in. No one fences a cat in.

Yet again you’re approaching this in the wrong way. Get someone independent to review the damage and see if the itemised list is appropriate or not. Then get 3x quotes from different businesses for each item to see what the average cost is. Ask for an invoice and ask to choose who the work is carried out by.

Where did it say they were Muslim or are we just making shit up now? Crab sticks are shellfish too isn’t there some rule about that you need to speculate about?

boom

this a bbit like burglary not being burglary if you left the door open