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.

Thank you 🙏 I wish I had some neighbours like you. I think that’s what I’m lacking, someone else to back me up in real life.

@Catsos
Please see this below. You are not legally responsible

Her buying a new rug is not your problem. It wouldn't wash with an insurance company. We had a radiator burst in the dining room. Black stuff all over the carpet. I was told to first get it cleaned. I did, it didn't work the stench was awful. OH ripped it back and got a dehumidifier to save the floor boards. An assessor came and condemned it thank god. We could then remove it.

They're taking a flyer at your expense.

You are not legally liable for damage your cat did in their property, you did not let it in. You are legally liable for the damage you did trying to get food to it. You should require them to produce proof of what it will cost or if you know a friendly builder ask them to quote for the work.

If they want more they claim on their insurance. They may not want to do that because they may not have proper insurance. Insuring empty property during renovation is very expensive, been there and got the T shirt!

WOW thank you SO much!!!! I’m going to print this out and post it through their door tonight xx

@Catsos more info here

https://www.iibinsurance.co.uk/company-news/can-cat-found-guilty-trespass/

If you end up paying for the rug, you get to keep the cat piss one.

They don't get to have two rugs.

You can keep and clean/ clean and sell it.

That is utterly ridiculous. Why on earth get into this panic over a rug in a house you're not even living in? It's absurd behaviour.

I stand by my previous assessment of mammoth dickishness.

but why the fuck have they got a penetrable home? If you’re not there, and you have a cat flap that clearly a cat can still use, why are they shocked that a cat got in? Fair enough if they lived there they could shoo the thing out but leaving a vacant home with a cat flap (TUNNEL, actually) sounds mega daft and is sort of asking for a cat to get in and shit all over the place?

almost 2 grand seems a stupid price proposed by 2 stupid people

How did they find out about it all? In person? On a letter? PLEASE give us details

What you are lacking is common sense and decency. I bet your neighbours would love to have a neighbour like that and not a cf with an unruly cat.

Yes, I remember writing an article in a legal journal once about which animals are regarded as wild/free and for which you might be responsible - it is a massive issue for farmers.
One of the first things I did when my son bought a house was have the cat flap removed so there was no way in for cats. If this neighbour chose to leave a cat flap open that was at their own risk. They should consider a way to lock it when they go away. Also if this will happen every week now because they have that flap and all local cats will go in their house then they need some new kind of mechanism where a chip in the cat lets only that owner's cat into the house (I am not sure if that exists but it sounds possible).

I'd be careful going this line of defense as if something happens to your cat whilst in others property well it isn't the property owners fault.

Co trol your cat you know it's a nightmare keep it in

Interesting that they are keeping an £800 rug in a house that’s a building site. 🤔

Shame as the first two of these threads were funny but this one’s taking the (cat’s) piss.

Surely, the ‘right to roam’ aspect makes it the property owners’ fault should something g bad happen to the cat. For example, if you fail to lock the car flap, the cat gets in and dies, the owner of the cat could seek compensation…

In fact, maybe counter with £2k emotional damage bill for you and the cat?!

But there is the rub. Whereas a cat has a right to roam and within reason owners are not responsible for where the cat goes under the Animals Act 1971 they are under the Criminal Damage Act owners property and therefore harming them is illegal.

it’d why either have a cat flap that can be opened by all cars each way or one that needs a chip to open both ways.

I suspect they didn’t check how the cat worked

Maybe get a second job, as you are going to be up for lots in the future given you claim your cat is a serial offender at breaking into other peoples houses. You can bargain down but there will be other instances in future.

I would just suggest that they go through house insurance because legally I don't think they can hold you responsible.

I'd maybe call a solicitor tomorrow just to get some basic advice. Or if you have any legal cover through your house insurance, you could just call them & ask.

I think you've offered fairly & it's up to them whether they want to accept or not.

NB my cat went into my neighbours house & got stuck in the bathroom for 3 days. We thought something had happened to her & had no idea she was just next door. She tried to bore a hole in the wall, she caused loads of damage. They had just moved in & my cat was being super nosey but the flap was set only to open one way so she got stuck in the house.
Anyway, they never asked me for money & I wouldn't have paid them if they had, because I went round there on two occasions to ask if they could check if she was in the house. They swore blind they'd checked everywhere & she wasn't. Turns out she was in the wall!!

I'd just check where you stand legally given you tried to raise the alarm & the fact that this is a CAT & they just do what they like don't they

Perfectly reasonable.

I wouldn’t put a claim like this on my insurance. It is too small and will just increase my premiums.

you damaged their home through your choices and actions.

Since you posted about planning to continue to let your cat roam, you are continuing to risk damaging their home through your choices. They don’t owe you any sympathy.