Thank you for your replies, which seem positive. Unfortunately, I just spoke to the local builders who said that the due diligence requirements that the loss adjustors demand before they can quote are impossible for them to complete in the time, and therefore our 2 preferred local builders will not be able to quote. I understand from one of them that is is normal practice, to keep an open competition a closed shop. Only one of the LA's companies has contacted me to see the job, with the time fast running out, so I guess there may only be one company submitting a quote in the end. It feels rather cynical and controlling by the LAs to ask for so much from our preferred companies, and not from their own. Fine if it were about the quality of our builder's work, fine too, perhaps, if we were able to assess the quality of their builders' work. I think we might need to take some legal advice as the contract the LA sent to us seems to put us as the employers and I'm worried about that too, from what I have read here, esp as we don't seem to get a say in any of this selection process...

I have read previous posts extensively and really learned a lot so far. I think our situation is slightly different to some. We had an escape of water last summer which caused extensive damage. The loss adjuster instructed their preferred building company to quote for strip-out and repairs. Our experience of this company was awful, prompting us to instruct our own surveyor. This was helpful and we were re-housed by our insurer in a nice place. The Loss Adjustor’s own surveyor has completed the schedule of works and has done a good job addressing pretty much everything we wanted. SoW has just gone out to tender. We want a local builder to do the repairs, not their preferred builders who botched things before. We have more confidence in a local builder who has personal references and a reputation to protect. Any advice on how to get our own builder? The insurance is paying large monthly rents, so presume lead-in and completion times will be large factors. We simply want a decent job done. I have read advice about lawyers and others about taking it gently and calmly. It is very difficult to judge as the next week or two now suddenly seems to be crucial. Thanks