When are damages caused by cats insured?

Around 14 million cats live in Germany: This means that the house cat beats the dog as the most common pet by far. Cats are self-willed and make their master or mistress also gladly times the servant, sometimes they drive also their mischief in the neighborhood. Damage caused by cats is not uncommon.

It is not uncommon for cat lovers to keep several animals, after all, there is nothing better than cuddling and playing with the sofa lions non-stop. Excessive cat ownership, however, can also lead to problems if cats are left to fend for themselves all too often. This is the case, for example, when the rented apartment is handed over to the landlord after moving out and the landlord has to complain about numerous damages caused by cats due to excessive use.

What damage can cats cause?

Everyone who keeps a cat expects that his cat will break. Some people think of the vase on the dresser, which has been shaken by a jump from the cat. Every owner is responsible for damages caused by cats. In some cases, damage caused by cats even causes trouble with the landlord. And here it often becomes problematic and expensive if the right insurance is missing:

• Your cat regularly urinates outside the litter box and thus damages the screed.
• Window frames are nibbled on or scratched.
• Door frames and doors fall victim to claws over a long period of time.
• The cat violently bites the finger of a visitor.
• The neighbor's car is allegedly scratched by your cat.

Damage can therefore occur where it is not you who is affected, but other people. In these cases, the damages caused by cats lead to claims for damages.

Damage caused by cats: Who is in the burden of proof?

With cats it behaves differently than with dogs. Damages by cats are first a problem of the damaged party. This is due to the fact that cats are considered harmless pets. No special rules apply to them in the field of liability law. The so-called fault liability applies here. According to the Civil Code, the allegedly injured party must prove to you that your cat caused damage. If someone claims that your cat has torn up a flower bed, they must be able to prove it. On the other hand, you have little chance of shifting damage in a rented apartment to cats other than your own pets.

Damage caused by cats to the car – who is liable for it?

It is not uncommon for cats to make themselves comfortable on a car. This is because the car is either warmed up by the sun or the hood och is warm. In addition, the car from the height is an ingenious observation place. If someone catches your cat in this lurking position, the noise is often pre-programmed. After the cat has been scared away, the car will be inspected. If scratches are present, things usually get hectic. However, the vehicle owner must be able to prove that the scratches came from your cat. This, in turn, is likely to be difficult.

When cats stay on the car, they do not actually use their claws for this purpose. Only when someone scares the cat away with loud noises or gestures can it become frightened and extend its claws in the process. Then there are indeed scratches. Our tip: If you are confronted with claims for damages in such a case, always contact the provider of your personal liability insurance first. The replaces the lawyer, because your private liability is here namely to a passive legal expenses insurance.

Short overview: These insurances are useful for cats

Personal liability protects you from the financial consequences of claims for damages, if your cat has demonstrably caused a damage

With the cat health insurance your cat is a private patient at the veterinarian: From diagnostics to outpatient treatment and surgeries.

The cost-effective option is cat surgery insurance. From the contribution more favorably than the health insurance, but for it only operations are insured and no medical treatment.

Are cats covered by private liability insurance??

Cat lovers sometimes have it easier than dog lovers: they don't have to pay taxes for their pets, and the house pets don't need separate liability insurance either. A private liability is important, because damages caused by cats are included. This also includes, for example, personal injury if a cat bites a visitor's finger. Damage to the rented property is insured if the private liability also includes so-called damage to rented property. But be careful: private liability does not cover you if the cat permanently damages something and after years of use the landlord now claims for damages. If a single cat chews up the seal of a window frame in a one-time action, however, this falls under the protection of private liability.

Damage caused by cats – urine traces in the apartment

Especially when keeping several cats, problems can naturally arise, especially if the owner is not at home all day and the cats are often left to fend for themselves. If damage occurs here, the private liability does not have to pay for it. This is the case if three cats are kept in a rented apartment, which regularly ignored the litter box and thus permanently ruined the parquet floor. In the specific dispute, which was heard by the Saarbrucken Higher Regional Court in 2013, it was a claim for damages of several thousand euros.

The landlord not only had to remove the parquet flooring, but also had to have the underlying concrete ceiling milled off to remove the traces of the cat's ruin. He was entitled to compensation, it only had to be clarified whether the tenant's private liability would cover the damage. The Higher Regional Court of Saarbrucken was of the opinion that the private liability does not have to pay. There was an excessive use of the rented property, which is excluded under the conditions of private liability. The former tenant must now pay for the damage herself.

Higher Regional Court Hamm – no protection for urine damage by cats from private liability

The Higher Regional Court of Hamm made a similar decision in 2015: the case involved a tenant who kept four cats in her apartment. As in the other legal dispute, the landlord had to find out after the tenant had moved out that the damage caused by cats was immense. After all 15.000 euros in damages were the claim in the room. The problem also here: Katzenruin caused considerable damage in all rooms, so that the landlord had to pay around 15.000 euros to make the apartment rentable again.

Since the private liability did not pay for the damage, the dispute went to court and was finally decided by the Higher Regional Court of Hamm. Despite the consent of the landlord to the cat attitude is not connected with the fact that the dwelling is ruined thereby. The number of cats was not an issue, only the keeping itself had been approved by the landlord. The court ruled that keeping four cats in a rented apartment constituted excessive strain. Thus, the private liability, which was sued by the former tenant, did not have to pay here either.

Keeping cats in a rented apartment may be excluded from insurance coverage

If you take the two judgments as a basis, there is already a certain trend emerging. Keeping several cats in a rented apartment can become a problem if at some point the damage gets out of hand and the landlord claims damages. It is not uncommon that sometimes three, four or even more cats are kept in the rented apartment. Due to so many house pets, damages are not to be ruled out in the long run and will eventually lead to claims for compensation – which in turn are not covered by private liability insurance. Finally, tenants are obliged to treat the rental property with care. So if you notice that the cats do not use the litter box, but do their business somewhere in the apartment, you will also lose the insurance coverage, because these damages are accepted in the long run.