Property destroyed by contractor

You are not obligated to let the party who did the damage dictate which contractor will repair it. As a practical matter, though, even small claims court is not free--it takes time from work, there are filing costs, etc.--and winning is never 100% certain. Rather than sue for the full amount your contractor wants, can you settle for an amount equal to what their contractor would choose? If that's less than your person, that may put you slightly out of pocket, but would save the time, cost, and uncertainty of suing while letting you pick the person to do the work.