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.

Dry food could have resulted in the cat becoming more dehydrated.

Whose fault was it that your cat was able to get into their cat flap? If it was their fault, they pay (or their insurance pays).

I would offer a contribution to the window vent but not the cat flap. If you offer to pay for the cat flap that's as good as admitting your cat broke it and you don't know that's what happened.

I'd tell them to fuck right off

Ask them why have they got such an expensive rug in a house undergoing renovation - surely asking for trouble with the amount of workmen's boots, pots of paint, dust, and whatever else passing through the building? And £150 to paint over muddy footprints?? How big is the cat 😂it's never cost me anywhere near that to repaint an entire room!

It would be strange if the one time that there were consequences that her cat didn't actually break it, especially because she said I have a cat who has a bit of a reputation on our street for forcing his way into neighbours homes by breaking open their cat-flaps to steal their pets food. He’s been doing it for years

Buy them the new rug but you get to keep the old one - get it cleaned and sell it. If it's an £800 rug you should be able to recoup a fair bit from that.

Dry food would also not have been so Totes Hilaire as crab sticks and M&S honey roast ham. It's these little details you need to consider if you're going to get picked up by the tabloids, doncha know?

Good job you didn’t throw the bird bath through the window!

Why does the window vent need replacing?

I would offer £50 for the apparent damage the ice cubes caused (a fucking crabstick wont cause any damage).

They could go swing for the rest. Wild animal accessed their house and was unable to escape.

Or use a fire extinguisher!

Make a reasonable offer without admitting any liability, but as a goodwill gesture and they reject it, offer to see them in court!

Maybe point out that having a catflap that was not fit for purpose (after all, your cat managed to get into the house when it was supposed to be locked and was then trapped by said dodgy catflap) was the only reason that your cat got stuck in their house in the first place, means they really don't have a leg to stand on. Also, since you had been trying for two days to get your cat out of their house and they ignored you, a judge would probably rule against them anyway!

It's these little details you need to consider if you're going to get picked up by the tabloids, doncha know?

And Reddit.. 🤷‍♀️

I wasn't criticising you, it was a genuine query. I wasn't sure if all policies cover damage & it's just the health issues which are highlighted on the w/s, or if they only cover health. I've never used pet insurance, partly because my cats have been long-lived & the policies I looked at wouldn't cover them over ?8 years. Luckily we've always been able to cover vet's bills.

Sorry but I think they are being reasonable and everything you’ve listed clearly relates to a damage caused by you or your cat.

This would be an interesting court case, though.

At what point does the owner of a cat have responsibility to mitigate known destructive behaviour? Not sure that’s actually been tested.

Lawyers would cost everyone more than the £1800, however.

Sorry but I'm with your neighbours here it's been a long time coming you have knowingly been aware that your cat has tendency's to break into peoples homes this is a lesson to be learnt by you now to keep your cat at your own property.
Invest in a catio.

While others will say it's ridiculous I don't think it is it's easy for them to say that but I'm sure if it was happening to them and they were the ones having to pay out to repair the damage you and your cat have caused they would be quickly agreeing with the new neighbours best thing you can do is cough up apologise further more and leave it at that sadly that's one neighbour you won't be on friendly terms with.

Well you're clearly not a responsible pet owner.

Your choice if you don't have pet health insurance, but not having third party insurance for your animals should be illegal.

I think you are being very unreasonable. They can’t claim off their insurance because the premiums will go up by so much. You were absolutely bonkers to put ham through and air vent. It was almost certainly going to get stuck or worse still go into the wall cavity.
Take some responsibility for you cat.

I would pay nothing. They left the cat flap unsecured, right? If it was a stray that got in they'd just be rueing their error, plus way worse damage because no one would have rescued it. Plus your cat was put in danger. Cats roam, they must know that if they have a cat flap. Or will they be expecting you to also charge them for damage everytime their cat jumps on a plant in your garden?

Without admitting any liability?!

She posted crabsticks and ham (which must have already been stinking) into someones home damaging it, then plastered it all over the internet. How long do you think it will be before the home owners are alerted to this thread?

To quote from Go Compare: "Third party claims aren’t usually covered by cat insurance as they're considered ‘free spirits’, meaning their owners can’t be held responsible for their actions." (And a quick check of a few insurance companies and 'third party insurance' is only offered for dogs)

Pet insurance for my cat didn't come with the option of 3rd party liability insurance, it was only available for dogs.

Don't pay that amount. Pay to have the rug cleaned not replaced. They're being so OTT. They can claim on insurance if they want to. I doubt they're going to take you to small claims court! Youre willing to pay a reasonable amount but they're being ridiculous.

You were warned in the previous thread not to stuff the ham in the vents, but you went ahead with it.