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.

Ask them for a link to the exact rug they have that they need replacing so you can check the price and estimates from the builder for all the things they are listing and go from there

Tell them what you can afford and leave it at that. If they kick up a fuss about wanting more say your sorry but they will either need to claim on house insurance or take you to small claims court. A court won't rule in their favour except for perhaps the ice cubes and ham. Our neighbours cat got in through a down stairs window with no sill on the inside so no way of getting out. He pissed (luckily on tiles) and scratched a door. I just let him out and never even mentioned it to the neighbour, not the cats fault and certainly not my neighbours!

I thought most cat flaps wouldn't allow other cats through, mine only allows my cats to come and go, due to their microchip.
This happened to a neighbour's cat l was meant to be feeding, it went missing same bloody day owners went away, l spent the whole week frantically searching the neighbourhood, put posters through doors etc. It had got into a house where builders were working, one week it was trapped. I didn't know until builders came back to the property, the owners of the property did nothing, no complaints, cat was ok.

This

No @Turtlegurl888 you're far from the only one.

Same!

If the vent can be removed / replaced then it can also be cleaned and re-installed. This lady is ridiculous.

How early into the "relationship" do you want to wind-up your new neighbours?

Or are you still looking for somewhere new to live on rightmove?

They are taking the piss. Yes your cat has caused damage but there must be a fault with the cat flap for him to have got in so they are at least partly to blame

Depending on how charitable I felt I'd offer £700 as follows:
£100 for professional carpet clean
£400 for laminate (no easy fix for this)
£200 for new vent (if when you check this there are bits of ham stuck that can't be got out without damaging it / it smells despite being cleaned which I'd offer to do)
And I'd clean the areas of mud caused by cat and crabsticks and repaint myself for them if it needed it after that.

Or I'd tell them I'd pay their insurance excess. Fuck £1600 I can't believe they have such a cheek to be honest!

Thing is OP, you've seen them do extensive remodelling. They've probably paid thousands and your cat has come in and caused damage. That laminate was probably new, same with the rug. Why should they accept a sub-par product because you didn't control your cat that you knew had priors for the same thing?

You should pay for new laminate, rug and vent. The vent has ham in it and you're unlikely to be able to take it apart enough to clean it fully.

The paintwork depends on what paint they had. Some expensive ones you can't wipe down without it coming away patchy, it quite probably does need repainting. Again if they just had it decorated I can understand them wanting it done properly. You could offer to buy the paint and do it yourself but I wouldn't expect them to agree and you'd be liable if you got any on any other surfaces etc.

Ultimately your cat did the damage, you knew he has done this several times before and keep letting him out. You need to pay or accept the damaged relationship with neighbours and any potential dispute regarding small claims they may bring and the requirement to disclose if you sell in future.

There was acts of negligence on both sides, the house owners failed to make sure that their home was secure, and you pushed ice cubes, ham and fish sticks into their home.
I would offer to pay for the vent and window sill but I’d want quotes. The rest of the damage isn’t your fault as it wouldn’t have happened if the home had been secure.

I think you’re going to have to find some compromise as it’s not going to go away and it sounds like they may well take it further if you ignore them. But be prepared that this might* be the cheapest option (I’d still ask for actual repair quotes) if they decide to take it further.

Since it’s actually damaged caused by you directly AND your cat, I think they have cause to take it further and I don’t think you’ll have a leg to stand on if neighbours have seen you at night etc. I know workmen wont turn up just to paint a windowsill for a fiver so I’d get quotes from them to check, but yeah, I think they’ll be having to pay through the nose for repairs that you’ve caused messing with food. I mean you can’t actually have thought pushing food in their house especially seafood in summer would be a good idea?

can you try a counter offer saying you are willing to pay to:
1, pay to have rug cleaned (give details of service) and if it doesn’t work pay for new one
2, trial cleaning muddy foot prints on walls, if marks left pay to re paint
3, paint for damage to window sill to be repaired IF there is evidence of damage
5, pay for new window vent as you’ll never totally clean that
6, pay for new cat flap as you’re responsible for it being broken
Then pay for a lovely ‘I’m sorry’ card, flowers and chocolates

Their newly refurbished, pristine house has just been damaged. Hopefully they will get over the upset and meet you 1/2 way.

However if you continue to call her neurotic, just pay for the whole lot as that’s simply nasty behaviour on your part.

I’ve followed all of your posts and am super glad your cat is safe. It is a shame they’ve not taken it in better humour but ultimately, their brand new house has been damaged.

Looking at the things that they have given as damaged, I think I would be asking for around £600. I absolutely agree with the laminate charge. That will not be nice if it’s gone through to the underlay and they will have to get a professional in to do one area and for it to look as was. I would accept the £100 for the professional rug clean. For the other £100 I would be looking to clean and repaint damaged surfaces myself and probably remove the vent and clean. If I had leftover paint I wouldn’t add the £100 on but if I needed more paint (perhaps different colours for different areas) then I’d probably need to. We prefer to diy stuff like that ourselves anyway and I wouldn’t want someone else to do it, even if they meant well which you clearly do.

I agree with this

Personally I think they are hyping it up

No, but the ham kind of got stuck in there. I could clean it but granted there would still be ham in the crevices.

Surely it will dry up soon and fall out.

😩😩 I didn’t put any old riff raff ham through their vents. It was M&S

Oh that’s really rubbish sorry!

I would be arguing that they caused you emotional stress as they had a defective cat flap that let your cat in and not out, it either should have been 2 way or not let it in at all. So some of the fault lies with them?
i would offer to clean and hand paint the walls and window sill yourself and the rug cleaned. Just explain you don’t have any money and can’t do it. Feels like they are the kind of people though to go to Judge Judy and ask for it all.

Cats have a right to roam in this country. They should have made provisions to stop animals entering their home, especially when empty. They are taking the piss. I have cat insurance and, no, it wouldn't cover this. The rug can be cleaned. The air vent can be taken apart and cleaned. Not sure about the laminate floor, but that amount of money has to be an insurance claim. You cannot even be sure your cat wasn't locked in by builder etc.
https://www.claims.co.uk/knowledge-base/animal-law/cats-fouling

Not read all PPs but you must dispute blame - regarding their cat flap which was set to not open to let animal out I think? Only in? Normally cat flaps are in and out. You can argue a small wild animal (fox?) or small dog might have got in but not out and would have done more damage - that is your legal argument.

I know workmen wont turn up just to paint a windowsill for a fiver so I’d get quotes from them to check, but yeah, I think they’ll be having to pay through the nose for repairs that you’ve caused messing with food.

There is work going on there now, though. I would be stalking the Irish builder guy.

Jesus Christ that’s a huge sum of money! I’d consider what you can afford first OP. If you only have 800 in savings then it’s that or nothing.

I think they’re being unreasonable with the mud on the wall. Just wash it off? And if it needed to be painted over I don’t see why it would cost 150? And what damage have crab sticks caused?? Sounds like they’re being a bit dramatic tbh.

So sorry you’re already having issues with them when they haven’t even moved in yet 🙈

I can only imagine your response if you had gone with your plan of chucking the bird bath through the window. You need to pay up your cat did the damage, I would want my rug replacing if your cat pissed on it and you did wedge ham in the vent and shove fish through their window. It's not their fault you haven't insured your cat to cover costs it may do to other people's property and I say this as someone whose curtains have recently been totally shredded by my neighbours cat breaking in I had to replace all my bedding as I have a severe allergy because it slept on my be and clawed at my pillows etc. My neighbour is like you and thinks I'm over reacting but I'm taking her to court for the costs as it's the best part of £1000

I agree that a claim would increase their future premiums and you should have had pet insurance.

Yes , can you talk to Irish builder?
Unless his men have done damage, he might be able to advise.