Every Purrfect Drop policy contains the phrase “act of cat.” It appears in Section 3, between “act of God” and “act of mild neglect.” Customers write to us weekly to ask what it means. We reply in a leaflet, which the customers find less helpful than the phrase.
The short version
An act of cat is any loss caused by a cat that a reasonable person could not have prevented, unless a reasonable person could have, in which case it is an act of person.
The longer version
The courts of our imagination have held that an act of cat requires three elements. First, a cat must be present. Second, an object must be nearby. Third, a loss must follow. The order of these elements is not important, and indeed, the cat often arrives last.
Examples that qualify
- A glass of water pushed from a table while the owner is in another room.
- A plant knocked from a windowsill in pursuit of a bird that does not exist.
- A laptop charger chewed through at a rate of one centimetre per minute.
- A lamp tipped by a cat who was merely checking if it was real.
Examples that do not qualify
- A vase dropped by a human who is blaming the cat.
- A cake eaten by a human who is blaming the cat.
- A broken window caused by a football, followed by a cat sitting beside it looking involved.
Why we do not define it further
If we defined act of cat too carefully, we would be obliged to pay for it. By leaving the phrase gently open, we preserve the dignity of the Bureau and the mystery of the cat.
One more thing
If your claim is rejected on the grounds of an act of person, you may appeal. The appeal form is available at the front desk and takes the form of a cat sitting on a document until it is stamped.
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