Postponing building insurance claim or cash settlement

curehead

Hi,
my flat was recently affected by flooding caused by another flat which damaged the parquet floor. I provided 2 repair quotes to the building insurance, which accepted one quote and gave me the green light to go ahead with the repairs. However, the property is currently let and the tenant does not want the hassle of repair works and moving his belongings out of the flat for a week for the repairs to be done.
The key question I have is: Do I have the legal right to postpone the repair works until the tenant has moved out (could be in 2-3 years)? I spoke to the insurance company and they are not quite clear. They of course want it to be repaired as soon as possible to be able to close the case. However, they also said that a lot of cases stay open for quite some time. Now I don't know how long I can keep it open, as I don't want it to expire and lose my chance of "free repair".
I thought of a second solution, which would be requesting cash settlement now, though the insurance company said they don't like it and it's unlikely to be approved.

Any advice would be appreciated!
Thanks
Curehead:T

vaio

I'm guessing flood insurance also includes alternative accommodation for your tenant whilst the repairs happen.

Give them the choice...either they give you cash for the floor repair now and you get it repaired at some indeterminate time in the future or you get it repaired now but the insurer also has to pay for the alternative accommodation for the tenant