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.

It was barely believable as it was, but now this thread has really jumped the shark.

OP do you have anyone at all in RL that you can discuss this with?

I’m a cat owner and I think I’d try to come to a reasonable compromise esp as they didn’t secure their house from any other cats coming in.
They should get advice on the rug - will professional cleaning get the smell out? If so then that should be the first option. She is right on the floorboards though, if it’s seeped through it’ll never go away (the smell).
The vent - has ham damaged it or can it be repaired.
painting - I doubt they’d want you to do it as it needs to be a professional standard.

Years ago an aggressive neighbourhood cat came into our house chasing our moggy spraying all over the living room. Amazingly he only hit the paintwork so it was cleanable, but I would’ve definitely found the owners and asked them to pay for damages if there were any (and if that failed it would’ve been an insurance job).

I think you'll have to pay up. They've spent a lot of money doing up their house before movie in.

Cat pee, especially male cat pee of an unneutered cat is nearly impossible to get the smell out.

I am actually quite shocked that posters are in agreement with the neighbours invoice. Surely the onus is on them to secure their property to prevent any animal entering their property.

They chose to put a cat flap on and they were the ones that did not secure the cat flap from other animals entering their property. Perhaps you could invoice them for the emotional distress it has caused you, after all their lack of actions have consequences!

I'm calling bullshit on this. No one is thick enough to shove crab sticks through a window and ham in an air vent.

Do you think anyone believes it or is everyone just having some fun?

Oh no! He chose the wrong house.
I think you should pay it as damage has actually been done. If you can negotiate it down that would be good, but if they have to get people in to do the work and buy a new expensive rug, it might even cost them more than that.

What kind of cat flap costs £200? What else does it do other than welcome the neighbours??

Exactly!

Numerous people have posted the Laws related to cat damage and the op is not responsible.

The neighbours are free to try and sue her but a lawyer will quickly point out she isn't responsible for the cat damage (but is for the ham etc assuming those costs are correct)

Any court case would need mediation first and would overall be way cheaper for the neighbors to claim on their insurance.

So make them an offer for what you did cause (if provided quotes) and tell turn the rest is an insurance claim as you can't legally be held responsible for your cats actions (unless you actually shoved them though the cat flap!)

I don’t know why everyone is outraged at the owners keeping an expensive rug in a house that sounds like it’s in the final decorating stages… we’ve recently finished a renovation and weren’t living in the home - we had plenty of new furniture, rugs etc delivered there several weeks before we moved in and when the builders were doing final touch ups etc. And we would have been really upset if the brand new finishes, rugs, bathroom vents had have been ruined. We would also have wanted things replaced and not cleaned - the prices listed also sound about right for what a builder would charge. I say this as a pet owner who understands completely why OP did what she did. I also think OP needs to have insurance for her cat and if she knows it is likely to cause damage / break in places to take steps to minimise that.

Really? I think you would make yourself a laughing stock. This woman's cat has form for invading other people's houses. Her cat, her responsibility. At the very least she should have it insured. I don't know how she can be sure that the cat got into the house via the cat flap anyway. The builders also have access clearly, as they let the animal out. It could have wandered in while they were there. I am quite sure, if you were spending money on renovating a house and making a home, you wouldn't be willing to accept her bold faced "I'm not paying for all the damage I and my cat have done" either.

They chose to put a cat flap on and they were the ones that did not secure the cat flap from other animals entering their property.

This might not be the case though.

Could be that the cat went in that the builders were there.

The owners are acting unreasonably, perhaps they are just angry and will calm down. Don't set the precedent of meeting their unreasonable and excessive demands.

I would be more concerned as to how to prevent your cat doing this again!

I wouldn't pay close to a couple of thousand pounds just because my cat got some mud on the wall and had a wee on the floor.
Yes, the op should offer something but the price they've come up with really is ridiculous.

It might have been previous owners. The neighbours were being ridiculously grabby, lots of cats could have got in. We have an electronic catflap, never got it taken out after our moggy died. It would be our responsibility if we didn’t lock it and another cat(s) came in.

Not the best start with these neighbours, but it wasn’t deliberate. Its what house insurance is for.

I think alot do believe it, yes. No doubt a few posts before this fills up the op will have some breaking news.

You do if you want a professional finish - as many of us do.

I have little doubt thread 4 is already warming up on the sidelines and will be here shortly.

I think the neighbours are being ridiculous. They are planning on redecorating any way so I doubt they were keeping the rug (especially if they have left it in a building site). They are just taking the piss to be honest. Mucky feet on a wall can be wiped down but again if they are renovating then the walls would be cleaned before they paint, they would have already been purchasing the paint also. If it was me and they were insisting of the wall being painted I would buy a tester at around £2 and paint the part in which the mud is. If there is a water mark on the window ledge then again it can be sanded down and painted which also wouldn’t cost the amount they are requesting.

vents can be bought in local DIY stores for around £50 maximum.

the issue with the rug is that she obviously wanted a new one and is using you as an excuse to purchase such an expensive rug. This is solely her choice. £800 on a rug is a utter joke!

if the laminate has been ruined ask to see proof, if it’s normal wear and tear from the previous owners then again they are just trying to get you to purchase new flooring for them. I’d also want to know how they know for certain the underlay has been ruined as it wouldn’t be seen without lifting the floor. If they lifted the flooring then they were obviously changing it anyway.

if they also have cats themselves they would also be aware at how much mess they can create and I’m sure they would also be used to muck being up a wall. I have dogs and even they manage to get muck up the walls when it’s wet outside 😵‍💫

I’m not sure if anyone has raised yet that they probably don’t want to claim through their home insurance as they would have to admit the property is empty and being renovated, something I doubt they have told their insurers. I had to pay a really high premium for the first year to cover my property being empty for 3 months whilst it was renovated as I didn’t want to chance not being properly insured, but a lot of people aren’t honest about their property being empty for over 30 days, or perhaps they only realised once they checked their policy that it wouldn’t cover this sort of damage.

Either way I think they’re taking the piss. Rugs can be cleaned. As can floors. They could spray things to deter their own cats from weeing in the same spot. As for paying to repaint, they could do it themselves if they’re not willing to claim on insurance, you are not their insurer.

Perfectly easy to paint a wall yourself and get a professional finish.

You might not be legally responsible for cat damage (morally is a different story)
But the crab sticks and ham are in you. If the ice cubes melted on the windowsill it's likely water damaged!
If the ham is in the crevices it will rot and stink! Replace the vent surely!!

@Catsos you need to look further than the animal act 1971.

cat owners do have a duty of care. Full details below.

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

there is also some coverage under nuisance laws
and potentially the environment protection act 1990 https://www.claims.co.uk/knowledge-base/animal-law/cats-fouling#:~:text=There%20are%20no%20specific%20laws,or%20cause%20injury%20to%20anyone.