Would you take the money or let the insurance company fix the house? -

My tenants caused a fire in my rental property? the damage estimated at $104.000 , is it better to take the money or let the insurance company fix it, would it cost the same , note:I am not a handy man. Newsflash - insurance companies do NOT fix houses. You'll have to hire a contractor to do it. If there's a mortgagee, the check will be made payable to you AND the mortgagee. And if the building is more than 50% damaged, the insurance company will be required - by law - to do a demolition and debris removal holdback for your local municipality. That means, they hold enough back from what they pay you, to pay for demolition and debris removal of your building, if you should decide to take the money and abandon the property. You should probably get at least three estimates from reputable contractors. If the damage can be fixed, you will have a nice rental property again. If it can't be fixed, you should contact your lawyer or accountant. This could be a situation for a possible tax write-off for that property up to a certain amount. How many estimates do you have? If the insurance company elect to reinstate the property, then you cannot refuse this and ask for the money as the operative clause of an insurance policy gives the insurers the option to reinstate. I live in Ireland but I know that in the UK, insurers can sometimes be obliged by law to reinstate the property in order to put a stop to people deliberately burning down their property to get the insurance money! However, they quite often just pay out the insured amount, once this has been agreed with you and let you do the work yourself. I would advise you to get your own estimates for the work and if the company are talking about reinstating the property, compare your estimate with their valuation of the damage and go from there, if your estimate costs more, then I would let the insurers fix it, if your estimate costs less, but you are happy that the standard of work would be the same as the insurers, then you could push for a money settlement instead. Best of luck. I would rather take the money, reason being i could re-furbish it again. Better???