Cat damage - the road to recovery plus a few new shiny bits.

[FGrob]

OK, not in the best of days today, I checked my MR2 over yesterday ready for it's MOT everything was spot on, so late afternoon I put the car away ready for today.

Opened the garage door to find the car covered from top to bottom with cat paw prints, OK sound nothing until you look at the scratches it's done to the flat surfaces of every panel on the car - including the roof (not sure if there are any holes in it). You can see where it has tried to climb up the back of the car putting some pretty deep scratches into the bumper.

I tried to find the cat - no sign, until I saw my tyre inflater plus other items on the floor at the front of the car - they were on a shelf in front of the car, about 3 feet higher than the bonnet, I still had the bra fitted so I could not see the actual damage (about 5 dents) which I discovered afterwards.

The cat was still in the garage and looks like it's spent the whole night in the garage trying to get out.

I managed to catch the cat, and took it too a local vet to see if it was chipped, it wasn't but the owner had reported it missing to the vet earlier that morning - from the previous morning. So we have met we exchanged the cat and details advising I would be in touch with regard to the damaged caused by the animal.

The question is as anyone else had this problem - it's not that the car is parked in the open, is there a legal process that I can follow regarding the damage caused.

I am totally gutted by this, I suspect the cost to repair are not going to be cheap.

So my car is not coming out again this year, I'll have it MOT'd on Monday - that's another story, then I need to find someone who can repair the car to the standard I expect.

Rob.  s:cry: :cry: s:cry:

[Wabbitkilla]

A bit of T-Cut ..... blah   s:wink: :wink: s:wink:  

The trouble with cats is that they are classed as wild animals and are free to roam.
Whether you can claim financial loss against the human the animal has adopted is doubtful.
It sounds like it's been nosey and you've ended up locking it in the garage when you put the car away.
Gutting considering you take so much care of the car!

My suggestion would be to fit a cat flap that only works in the "out" direction for any future occasions ... but probably unlikely it will happen again any time soon.

Sorry buddy but I think you're going to be funding repairs from your own pocket.

[FGrob]

Yep just checked with AF - I'm  sfuck fuck sfuck ed, it's gone to the claims department for review, I'll know more on Monday about the repair process.

Rob.

[FGrob]

Here's the damage.

Bonnet - Scratched + dents
Front bumper - dents
Rear bumper - deep scratches
Rear spoiler - deep scratches
Possible engine lid - light scratches

How much to you think to have this repaired.

Rob.

[Ilogik]

question is how big was this cat lol. Can't imagine my cat denting a car bonnet must have done a serious number on it.

[dcod]

Dents!   s:shock: :shock: s:shock:   Was someone trying to find out how big your garage was?   s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

[Wabbitkilla]

question is how big was this cat lol. Can't imagine my cat denting a car bonnet must have done a serious number on it.

I tried to find the cat - no sign, until I saw my tyre inflater plus other items on the floor at the front of the car - they were on a shelf in front of the car, about 3 feet higher than the bonnet, I still had the bra fitted so I could not see the actual damage (about 5 dents) which I discovered afterwards.

Obviously with the help of some implements!

Depends if it needs painting Rob, but it's going to be a few hundred.

[AmeR]

Absolutely gutted! Of all the people for it to happen to with how meticulous you are with the car!!

You have more patience than me! It'd be a scratched car and a dead cat!!

Through your insurance, can you request which paint shop it goes to for repair?

[FGrob]

Absolutely gutted! Of all the people for it to happen to with how meticulous you are with the car!!

You have more patience than me! It'd be a scratched car and a dead cat!!

Through your insurance, can you request which paint shop it goes to for repair?

If I had caught the cat when I first went in, then yes - pain would have been applied, although it's not the cat's fault, this one is the youngest of 4 other cats which the owner as - the mess in our back garden is unbelievable becuase of these cats - even with the electronic gismo's we have.  

I understand from the insurance company we can selected our own shop - so we will see on Monday.

This is what dropped on the bonnet, luckily the bra was fitted or the dents would have been a lot bigger plus paint removed :

[Treboeth]

As others have said gutted for you as a fellow owner and even more as you obviously maintain her above standard.

Best to get some legal advice and hope the owner is reasonable enough to contribute.

[uktotty]

Speaking from experience, when we hit a stray dog who was left to roam the streets by its owner and wrote off my girlfriends Mini, we got nothing, the dog owner was not held responsible for any damage and it was an act of dog.

Sorry to hear your news Rob

[AmeR]

Nice big box there! Hope there wasn't anything particularly heavy in it, although I guess it wouldn't help either way, it still bounced off the car!

I hope you can find a paint shop up to your standards!!!

[Anonymous]

A lot of animals have insurance nowadays,when I insured a dog the policy included 3rd party damages which I would think this would come under otherwise I would take it to the small claims court maybe as at the end of the day the cat is her responsibility.

[spit]

Oh crappety Rob   s:( s:(  
Hope you get sorted soon with a quality finish.

[mrzwei]

Yeah, it would have to be a civil action really but for what, I'm not sure. Trouble with civil actions is that costs can go either way. Yes the owner is responsible for the cat but you locked it in the garage sort of argument.

The position, as usual, is much clearer in some other European countries where the owner would be liable for damage caused by pets and children for that matter.

[K T M Rider]

I think i'd stand squarely behind it in the hope of kicking it straight over the neighbour's fence.

[Anonymous]

You can stop cats from straying simply by chopping their tails off.............................from the back of the neck

[K T M Rider]

I actually like cats (normally) though they certainly aren't popular with SWMBO at the moment - they keep crapping all over her vegetables in the garden.

Our proposed solution - er, we're thinking of getting a Cat   s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

[Mike_V]

Sorry to hear about this Rob, you must be gutted  s:-( :-( s:-(


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[bigwillcv36]

That's absolutely gutting  s:-( :-( s:-(

I hope you manage to sort something out and get her back in order asap.

[Stephster]

Poor you and poor 2  s:( s:( . Have you checked whether the owner has cat insurance ? Ours includes £2million public liability, so if he/she does you might be able to claim under that. Unlike dog policies, not all include this though. I chose one with it on purpose, for scenarios such as yours.

Hope you get your car looking at her best again soon !

[K T M Rider]

makes interesting reading:

 m http://www.animalfriends.org.uk/ultimat ... liability/ m

specifically:

Curiously, because of a legal quirk, cats escape the law - as do their owners, which is why you rarely find public liability cover in Cat insurance.

  s:( s:(

[FGrob]

Well just a quick up-date. I've had the car checked and have now recieved the estimate, the repair will be front and rear bumper plus the bonnet (by far the most damage - dents and scatches) total cost £800 + vat and badges, that's based on the older paint system - none water based and a guarantee of colour match. Just waiting for the go ahead from the insurance company, not sure if they want to view the car hence I can't use it this weekend  s:cry: :cry: s:cry:  

The interesting comment from the insurance company is they are going to contact the owner of the cat with a view of trying to claim the money back - that should be interesting.  s:scared: :scared: s:scared:  

Rob.

[Steve Green]

I really dont understand the whole of this story.
Whilst I symathise with the damage caused etc. I cannot really see the logic of claiming through the courts.

Take an ultimate view. If you had inadvertently shut the cat in your garage, whilst you went away, and it died from starvation, whether or not it did any damage, would you expect to be sued by the owner? Who was to blame that the cat was locked in your garage, you or the cat? Who would the owner hold to account for their loss of a loved pet?

What would Lord Denning have said?

[E]

Oh Rob, were totally gutted for you mate, missed this somehow as we were at the caravan last weekend, £800 sounds very reasonable to me, provided the repairs are up to your very high standards, how much is your excess as that plus any hike in premiums may make claiming a waste of time. Hope you get it sorted soon mate.