I've had my fair share of builder mishaps, and honestly, the insurance vs direct-fix thing can be a real toss-up. Last year we had a minor flooding issue—nothing catastrophic, but enough to stress me out—and our builder chose the direct-fix route. At first, I was skeptical (you know, visions of duct tape and crossed fingers), but surprisingly, it ended up being way quicker and cheaper than going through the whole insurance circus.
I guess it depends on the scale of the problem though; small stuff might be better handled directly to avoid premiums skyrocketing later. Still, for anything major or structural, I'd prefer the official paperwork route for peace of mind. Either way, it's definitely worth chatting upfront with your builder about how they handle these things before signing any dotted lines... saves a bunch of headaches down the road.
Totally agree on the upfront discussion part. I've been down this road a couple times, and honestly, the smaller stuff usually isn't worth the insurance hassle. Had a cracked shower tile situation once—builder stepped up, fixed it directly, and saved me from that dreaded insurance premium bump. But like you said, structural stuff is a different beast altogether. I'd never risk going unofficial there... learned that the hard way after a roof leak turned into a bigger mess. Better safe than sorry on anything load-bearing or water-related, trust me.
