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.

Ahh fair enough. I did wonder how many of these responses are coming from outside the UK. Cat laws and culture are vastly different abroad. I know in other countries they aren't allowed to roam around outside.

They are being unreasonable.

I also don’t think that cat flap even costs £200 and the hinges go on any cat flap. If they are that insistent that your cat broke it then I suggest they take it up with the manufacturer as it’s not fit for purpose, is it.

You know the food is on you. I would however shop around and provide the vent yourself. And good god, if painting a window sil seat is £200 then I am in the wrong profession.

They are being very arbitrary with their pricing and frankly, they can suggest all they want, their insistence cannot compel you to do a thing. Her buying a rug is just a dick move. Offer the clean and buy her a feliway for her cat. Also to note, both hers and your cat will not have been the first cats to be in there (or pee in there for that matter)

What jolly neighbours you have.

Good Luck

https://www.petscorner.co.uk/sureflap-microchip-cat-flap

This is why you can’t get third party liability insurance for cats.

Ok here is my take. The owners need to take some responsibility for the cat flap which allowed a cat to get in but not out! The same if you left a window open and a bird got in and pooed every where you are not going to blame the bird!
However the cat intervention damage is all the posters although what damage could some water and a crab stick do to a window sill particularly as they left the window open so any rain splashback could have also come in if heavy enough (and they were willing to risk that), so I certainly wouldn’t be paying their extortionate quote
i think a split somewhere down the middle is fair for neighbourly relations (assuming confirmation of quotes are correct)

@DameCurlyBassey you are right, how on earth can this be real? It really is real isn’t it? This is mumsnet at its finest. I am shocked to the core that someone would damage/ attempt a break in/ shove food etc in vents (of all places) and then not want to pay the price for damages. What makes matters worse is this cat is known for breaking through cat flaps, so has done this before? So why not keep the cat indoors then? This is someone’s brand new home, as if buying a home isn’t expensive enough at the moment, can you imagine having to sort all the damages yourself when it’s not your fauly and just shouldn’t have happened, and then imagine realising you’ve bought next to horrid neighbours like this. I would be thinking about selling before even moving in if I was these poor people.

I’m done, must give mumsnet a break for a while.

Just to re-iterate what some previous posters said already, we had a claim on the house insurance, and the premiums didn't go up, I know a few other people who claimed, theirs didn't go up either, it's not the same system as car insurances etc.

Even if not, any new insurer will ask if you've made any claims - and will not give you the most favourable terms (or even accept you at all) if the answer is Yes.

However the consequences play out, making a claim on an insurance policy will always make your position somewhat weaker in the insurance market as a consumer than if you had not claimed.

Yeah I thought that about the honey roast info too. 😅 it does sound like a sitcom idea.

@Catsos You are only deluding yourself believing others on here if you think you don't have to pay.

As for others saying cats are free roaming and the OP is not responsible, I suggest you and the OP read this...…

http://www.thecatgroup.org.uk/pdfs/Cats-law-web.pdf

"Cat owners frequently want to know if they are responsible for any damage that their cat does; while those living next door to or near cats owned by others want to know their options if a cat causes damage to their property or becomes a nuisance. This is a complex area of the law but generally cat owners owe a duty of care towards others not to cause injury or damage. This means that they should try to ensure that their cat does not cause harm to others or damage neighbouring property and are expected to take reasonable steps in doing so. The law generally makes the owner or ‘responsible person’, ie, the keeper, the person responsible for any cat damage, who may need to pay the costs of any damage caused."

(If this whole thing is true) I hope another neighbour or friend of your new neighbours sees this thread and shows them. Then they will see the blasé attitude you have had to it all, including after today’s conversation

If you were genuinely sorry about what happened that would go a long way to resolving neighbourly relations but I don’t think you are the least bit apologetic

@Catsos have you seen the damage your cat has made yourself? I would go in and inspect if I were you. No way would I be handing over a penny without a thorough inspection.

Sounds like they are taking the absolute piss though. They don't need a new rug. It can be cleaned - professionally. The walls a fresh lick of paint or a clean (or both - but it doesn't come out to be £150!). Where are they even getting their figures from?! I do understand the laminate flooring though - I moved into a property a couple of years ago and the previous owners had dogs who pissed everywhere. It was absolute disgusting. The carpets had to be ripped up. The walls were pissed strained too - but a good clean, a lick of pain and a lot of airing and the walls were just fine.

@Womencanlift i really hope they see this, I just bought a new home, our first one which cost me and dh blood, sweat and tears. If a new neighbor treated my new home like this I would be devastated and wouldn’t be looking forward to moving in. This is such a sad thread. Perhaps OP has never had to work hard to afford a home. In this financial climate, there’s no way this house was in any way cheap and these home owners do not deserve to be treated with such disrespect.

I’m very confused as to why ham was posted through the vents..could you not have put it through the open window where the crab sticks went through?

also don’t understand why a window was left open in a unoccupied property. Understand to maybe prevent damp but surely that invalidates any insurance if something happened

Also regarding the windows, wouldn’t rain come in? If they are that concerned about water damage from the ice cubes, how do they know it wasn’t already damaged by rain fall?

I don’t think you are responsible for any of the damage your cat did. They installed a cat flap that let your cat in but didn’t allow him to get out, trapping him for 48hrs and causing distress to both you and your cat. That’s entirely on them, they should have secured the cat flap.
The crabsticks and ham isn’t great but highly unlikely to have caused damage.

The walls a fresh lick of paint or a clean (or both - but it doesn't come out to be £150!)

You may be surprised. I had a place and on going to sell just wanted two small scuff marks on walls touched up. The bulk of the cost is just to get someone to come out for the job even though it’s small. Then seemingly it’s hard to do a small area without it looking patchy so they like to do the entire wall. I thought the first person had gone mad but 3 quotes later it seems that’s standard so basically cost me the same to have my 2 scuffs touched up as it would to have the entire room painted. It’s not something we would have time/inclination to do ourselves. Plus there’s the time it takes to get quotes, make sure you are home for when they can come etc. it’s all still time, money and hassle. If someone made light of that and told me I was taking the piss I wouldn’t react kindly.

Exactly.

Exactly. It’s the OPs attitude about somebody else’s property that has annoyed me and why I hope it is a piece of fiction

Wow...the lack of responsibility from OP, and quite frankly cat owners in general is just gobsmacking. I've lost hours of my life getting invested in this thread but my thoughts are YOU are responsible and need to pay.

I can imagine you flouncing over thinking how cute and funny you are....my silly darling pussy cat got in your house and look at what I've done....I'm so ditzy and look at all the funny (frankly stupid!) things I've done to your newly renovated house.

My bet is your attitude to this whole fiasco put their backs up immediately.

I also bet you and your cat did more damage than you are saying, clawed plaster walls, multiple piss stains, shit, broken vent from ham being pushed through. The paint on the window sill may have been fresh and still wet so of course grab sticks and icecubes damaged it. It also sounds like their cat flap was secured and your cat broke it, so again not their fault.

You should pay and you should secure your nuisance of a cat. If you truly love this animal it's time to keep it safe, next time you may not be so lucky.

For those who cannot understand how the crabsticks and ice damaged the window sill, just have a think for one moment. The house is currently under renovation and the window was ajar slightly.

Maybe just may be the sills had just been painted and the windows were ajar to let the fumes out.

Wet paint, crab sticks and ice don't mix.

Shoving ham inside a fan unit has gunked it up and so will need removing by an electrician and the the bits removing from the wall cavity and replacing it all costs.

Cat piss on the rugs' and the floor all needs replacing and that costs not only replacement fees but there is a substantial cost to pay for these doing.

The cat flap is now broken and more likely then not the OP has been messing around with it and damaged it more poking it from the outside.

Then on top of all this is the extra cost in time and inconvenience and stress to the home owners, having some crazy cat lady interfering within and outside of their home.

The OP has also been posting all her escapades on MN and now the home owners can happily print it all off and use it to show a character reference and prove it was all intentional including knowing her cat was likely to damage others property, She has even boasted about it on this very forums.

The OP better pay up or I'm guessing its going to be very costly for her in the end.

Yes there is no mention of shit but there must be quite a bit of shit. I think that would distress me the most. The cat couldn’t help itself but to the owners it might well feel like a violation.

can you imagine how stressed the owners are? When things like this happen out of the blue it is no fun.

They sound ridiculous. They just want you to pay for their renovations. I wouldn’t be paying anything until I had received quotes and proof of costs and then go from there. Where I live there is a law centre who give out free advice, look up if there’s any where like that near you or try CAB.

Cats are allowed to roam here but there is recourse for 'nuisance animals'. In the UK, can you not take action if an animal is proving to be a nuisance? OP's situation is one off, presumably, but if it's an ongoing problem, is there no accountability at all?

This is just bizzare

Seems excessive to me too. Do not take out an overdraft until you have received legal advice and quotes