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.

Cats have a right to roam in this country.

Just hopefully not into a house where greyhounds live. It gets messy quickly.

Oh my god. I was crying when I left your last thread at the crab sticks. You then went and pushed fucking ham through the bathroom vent?

I think you need to get legal advice if you can't afford to pay them/don't have insurance. Some of their costs are pushing it.

Hell no! It's hardly your fault that their house wasn't secured properly. I'd pay for the rug cleaning and buy them a tin of paint. They're being cheeky fuckers.

Where did they get these figures from, thin bloody air?!

I'd get them to provide paperwork for all of these costs before the conversation goes any further.

I mean...how much damage to a windowsill does a bit of water do? And a crab stick 🤣

I have been here from the beginning and felt awful for you being a pet owner myself. I did find the fact you posted crab sticks and ham batshit crazy and I would be absolutely fuming to walk into my new home and it smell of rotting fish and meat!
In all honesty though I lost a little sympathy with you snarky comment to the poster who suggested cat proofing your garden and you said your cat was free to roam etc. In that case you then have to be prepared to deal with the consequences whether physical or financial.
I don't think the new owners are being unreasonable at all. As a cat owner you'll know they're notorious for marking and even if we can't smell it they can and they get stressed very easily. Why should they want a bodge job in their new home?

If they had expensive work carried out on the house and left it unsecured, any damage caused by an animal getting in is their look out. By all means let them ask to have the windowsill and the vent cleaned. And let them pay for the cat's vet bill.

The move far far away, they don't sound like people I'd like to live near.

btw, In my experience cats that are used to going outdoors adapt to indoor living very quickly and happily - my male cat has always needed to be indoors for about 3 months every summer for health reasons, and for the last year he's indoors full time, and very happy - admittedly he has another cat to play with (she's always been an indoor girl).

Do you have buildings and contents insurance? You usually get public liability cover with this as well (in fact, if you do have this cover, many pet insurance policies have a clause saying you must use it, instead of the PL cover in your pet insurance. Cunning wheeze!).

Of course you should pay. Your cat is a neighbourhood pest and you knew it.

Not their fault you couldn't be bothered to get insurance - no need for them to be out of pocket.

And keep the cat inside from now on to avoid it causing damage elsewhere.

Okay thank you for all of the advice. I think I will go round and counter with £400 which would cover £100 for rug cleaning, £100 for painting & £200 for the new cat-flap.

Cats are considered wild animals I think, as in you can’t be held responsible for something a cat does while out and about. The ham in the vents though, yes you should pay for this if you can’t clean it. I think anything that you damaged trying to get him out , you should probably pay for, but they should not have left a catflap unsecured with nobody living there, lots of cats will try and get in through other catflaps, a cat then trapped will scratch at it to try and get out, that is their fault not yours, they should have locked it securely or left it open.
When we moved into our house a cat had been into the conservatory and sprayed everywhere as the catflap had been left unlocked. It would never have occurred to me to try and hunt down the owner.

Does cat insurance actually cover against damage they cause? Looking at one company's w/s, it only mentions health issues.

This!

Why is this even an issue? You and your cat caused damage to someone else's house. You are a irresponsible pet owner and think this is one big joke.

They are being ridiculous. The cat flap clearly was not in perfect working order prior to your cat entering in or he would not have been able to get in.

I would make them an offer and if they don't accept it then I would tell them to take you to court. They would have to prove that the cat flap was fully functioning and your cat broke it. A locked and functioning cat flap would be really difficult for a cat to break through.

I do think you have some liability for the damage done by your actions but the window ledge is a light sand and a coat of paint and window vents do not cost £200. Replacing the existing window vent with the exact same model will not require a complicated installation.

While I sympathise you were worried about your cat. You and your cat trashed their new home. I don’t think they’re being unreasonable if I’m honest.

Didn't owner's let a cat trash their home because it wasn't secure?

(Not a cat owner btw. I don't even like cats, sorry)

Good idea, but give it until tomorrow and let her calm down a bit.

May your cat never enter their house again but always shit in their garden.

Amen.

Can I just repeat for all the posters who are throwing sums of money around, let insurers sort it. The owners are at least partly liable and I think they know it as they don’t want to go through their insurers. As they are partly liable ( who knows might even be considered negligent) no way should Catsos pay for this laundry list.

I just replaced my bathroom vent. It cost £12 on Amazon and hubby fitted it in less than 3 minutes. They are taking the piss

I'm in my sixties and I've had pets all my life, both cats and dogs, sometimes multiples at one time.

And I've never insured any of them. It's saved me thousands and thousands of pounds.

So no, it's not basic, it's a personal decision.

My understanding on the law is that although cats have the right to roam the owner / keeper of the cat can be responsible for damage the cat causes.

I only vaguely know this because we had a take sides kerfuffle when person As cat (who is an aggressive bastard) attacked person Bs cat (after attacking several others). They actually involved lawyers and it was all tres dramatic with the outcome being that the law says a cat owner is responsible for their cats behaviour in certain circumstances including damage to property as well as people / other animals. So as A knew their cat attacked everyone and anyone they had a duty to keep it in or pay the vet bills for it beating other cats up. They now have a Catio.

I think you definitely have to pay for the damage you caused as that's on you so the ham and crab sticks.

The other damage I guess depends on how your view of the circumstances... If you know your cat breaks into other peoples houses and thus could cause damage - he could toilet or break things even if he could get out - so should you be keeping him in rather than other people be keeping him out and you should pay?

Or are they irresponsible for having a faulty cat flap which trapped him in and the damage is a direct result of that in which case they should pay?

They are being totally unreasonable.
They made a mistake with the cat flap on backwards therefore allowing your cat to enter and not leave.
Unfortunately they have to pay the price for that mistake.
I'd tell them to take it to small claims.
Chancers!