Should I take cash settlement or use insurance contractors?

Scotbot

Had a leak, plumber had to cut hole  in ceiling and tiles round bath to find and fix it. Put in insurance claim.  Insurers arranged drying company to remove plaster and dry wet wall in kitchen.

Now need to
replaster part of wall (2m by 2m) ceiling,
Retile round Bath
Paint over new plaster 

Have been offered cash payment which after excess is £1500 or alternatively insurers building services company can sort it all out.

Which would you do? I  reckon I can cover the costs with the settlement but it will be painful to find trades 

As I  understand it I don't need to provide quotes to get the settlement but I am querying  that. 

DullGreyGuy

Scotbot said:

Had a leak, plumber had to cut hole  in ceiling and tiles round bath to find and fix it. Put in insurance claim.  Insurers arranged drying company to remove plaster and dry wet wall in kitchen.

Now need to
replaster part of wall (2m by 2m) ceiling,
Retile round Bath
Paint over new plaster 

Have been offered cash payment which after excess is £1500 or alternatively insurers building services company can sort it all out.

Which would you do? I  reckon I can cover the costs with the settlement but it will be painful to find trades 

As I  understand it I don't need to provide quotes to get the settlement but I am querying  that. 

You'd only get quotes if you were trying to argue that their proposed settlement is insufficient. You also should be talking about the total before the excess is deducted as you should be expecting to have to put your hand in your pocket to that extent to have it fixed. 

There is no right answer, some insurance contractors arent great but then the insurer is on the hook for it if it goes wrong. If you use your own then you may get it done below the total so means it costs you less than your excess but if they bodge the job etc its your task to get them to fix it. 

If additional damage is found during the process is another area where using theirs can be better but it sounds like it's all stripped back already so unlikely to uncover more problems. 

flashg67

For a smallish job I'd be tempted to take the cash - are you handy  -tiling & painting can be diyable, So can platering but getting a decent finish can be tricky for a novice. 

twopenny

I'd go for the insurance contractors for something like this.

They've got to get the job done properly and the insurance company is responsible.

Having spent a LOT of time getting trades for anything other than a full job, even that took ages, is very frustrating.

That wall needs drying properly and fitting the tiles correctly to match what's there could be trouble waiting to happen.

But if you were quite sure you could do it then you may have a bit left over. Or you could end up having to wait for ages or pay again for a job not done right.

MysteryMe

Get the insurance companies to sort it.  You've already said trying to get hold of trades can be a PITA, 

Scotbot

Thanks all. I am not handy so think I will go with insurance.  

silvercar

Only reason to take the cash would be if you planned on doing other work at the same time, so either weren’t restoring to what was there before or already had trades arranged. Otherwise let the insurer shoulder the hassle.