Solar and Renewable Energy Contractors Insurance
Solar installation is a roofing job, an electrical job and a design job at the same time, and the insurance needs to reflect all three. Most installers come from one of those backgrounds and are covered properly for that one. The gaps appear where the trades meet: an electrician's policy that never contemplated roof work, or a roofer's policy that never contemplated direct current systems and grid connection.
Two exposures are particular to this trade. Roof penetrations create a water ingress path, and a leak that develops six months after installation damages the building from the inside out. And performance is sold as part of the proposition: customers are given generation estimates and payback periods, and where actual output falls short the complaint is about the projection rather than about any damage.
We arrange cover for solar, battery storage and renewable energy contractors, and it is worth being explicit about roof types worked on, whether battery storage is installed, and whether generation estimates are provided to customers.
What actually goes wrong
The exposures that produce claims in this trade, rather than a generic list.
Working at height on domestic roofs
The dominant safety exposure. Panels are installed on pitched roofs, frequently domestic, and fragile roof coverings, roof lights and old timbers all present hazards. Falls from and through roofs are the most serious injury claims in this trade.
Water ingress from roof penetrations
Mounting systems penetrate the roof covering, and every penetration is a potential leak. The failure is rarely immediate: water tracks into the structure over months, damaging insulation, ceilings and decoration before anybody notices, by which time attributing it is straightforward and expensive.
Direct current systems and fire
Solar arrays generate direct current that cannot simply be switched off while there is daylight, and DC arcing faults are a recognised fire cause. Poor connections, damaged cable and incorrect isolation are the usual contributors, and a roof mounted fire is difficult to fight.
Battery storage
Lithium battery systems installed in domestic properties introduce a fire risk with a distinctive character: thermal runaway is hard to extinguish and produces toxic gas. Location within the property, ventilation and compliance with installation standards all matter, and some insurers restrict this work.
Performance and payback claims
Customers are usually given an estimate of annual generation and a payback period. Where output falls materially short, the complaint concerns the projection you provided. That is an advice claim rather than a damage claim, and it needs professional indemnity rather than public liability.
The cover we arrange
Policies are put together around how you work. Employers liability is included as standard wherever you employ anyone.
Public liability
Third party injury and property damage, including fire and water damage to the building. £2m is thin for this trade given the fire exposure; £5m is the sensible standard and £10m for commercial and ground mount work.
- Fire damage from array or battery
- Water damage from roof penetrations
- Injury from falling panels or tools
- Limits typically £5m or £10m
Employers liability
Legally required and included as standard at £10m. Work at height on domestic roofs is the exposure underwriters focus on, along with access arrangements and whether scaffolding is used.
- Legally required, £10m as standard
- Work at height on pitched roofs
- Labour only subcontractors
- Manual handling of panels
Professional indemnity
The cover most often missing in this trade. Responds to claims about system design, generation estimates, payback projections and advice on suitability, which is where customer complaints actually land.
- System design and array sizing
- Generation and payback estimates
- Suitability and structural advice
- Claims made basis, run off available
Contract works
Covers the installation in progress and panels and inverters stored on site. Panels are valuable, portable and stolen regularly, both from sites and from vans.
- Installation in progress
- Panels, inverters and batteries on site
- Theft from site and vehicles
- Storm damage before commissioning
Tools, access and equipment
Access equipment, testing instruments, power tools and hand tools. Where you erect your own towers or use roof ladders rather than scaffolding, that needs declaring.
- Access equipment and roof ladders
- Electrical test instruments
- Power and hand tools
- Vehicle conditions apply overnight
What an underwriter will ask
Having these to hand shortens the process considerably, and usually improves the terms.
- Turnover split between domestic, commercial and ground mounted installations
- Roof types worked on, including any fragile or asbestos cement roofs
- Whether scaffolding is always used, or roof ladders and harnesses in some cases
- Whether you install battery storage, and which systems
- Whether you provide generation estimates or payback projections to customers
- Your certification and any accreditation scheme membership
- Whether you carry out the electrical connection and grid notification yourself
- Whether you undertake structural assessment of roofs before installation
- Maximum system size installed
- Five years of claims, including water ingress complaints settled directly
What moves the premium
Where the price actually comes from, and which parts of it you can change.
Domestic roof or ground mount
Domestic pitched roof installation carries the height exposure and the water ingress exposure. Ground mounted arrays remove both but introduce groundworks and larger system sizes.
Access method
Always using scaffolding presents considerably better than using roof ladders and harnesses, and it is one of the clearest distinctions available in this trade.
Battery storage
Installing lithium storage changes the fire profile and narrows the market. Firms that do not install storage should say so, because it materially improves the position.
Whether you give generation estimates
Providing projections creates professional exposure. Providing them with clear assumptions and caveats, from a recognised methodology, is a very different proposition from a headline figure on a quotation.
Certification and accreditation
Recognised accreditation carries weight, partly because it is required for some customer incentive schemes and partly because it evidences a documented process.
Conditions and exclusions that catch this trade out
Terms vary between insurers, so treat these as the questions to ask rather than a description of any one policy.
Efficacy and performance
Where a system underperforms against an estimate, that is not damage and liability policies exclude it. If you have given a generation figure or payback period, the exposure is a professional one and needs professional indemnity, which many installers do not carry.
The cost of correcting the installation
Removing and refitting panels, re making a penetration or replacing faulty cabling is your cost. The water or fire damage caused to the building is the claim.
Gradual water damage
Leaks from roof penetrations develop slowly by their nature, and policies that respond only to sudden and accidental damage may not cover damage that accumulated over months. This is a genuine and common gap in this trade.
Battery storage restrictions
Some wordings exclude or restrict lithium battery installation, particularly within domestic properties, because of the fire characteristics. If you install storage, confirm it is written in rather than assumed.
Fragile roofs and asbestos
Installation on asbestos cement roofs, common on agricultural and industrial buildings, engages the asbestos exclusion carried by almost all policies, and fragile roof work may be restricted separately.
Common questions
What insurance do solar panel installers need?
Public liability at £5m rather than £2m, given the fire and water exposure. Employers liability at £10m, a legal requirement and included as standard. Contract works for panels and inverters on site, which are stolen frequently. Tools and access equipment cover. And professional indemnity, which is the one most often missing, because generation estimates and system design advice are exactly what customers complain about and public liability does not respond to advice.
Am I covered if a roof leaks after I fit panels?
Partly, and the detail matters. Damage to ceilings, insulation, decoration and contents caused by water entering through a penetration is normally a public liability claim. Re making the penetration is your own cost. The complication is timing: roof leaks develop gradually, and policies that respond only to sudden and accidental damage may not cover damage that built up over months. Since this is the classic solar claim, it is worth asking specifically how your wording treats gradual water damage.
Do solar installers need professional indemnity insurance?
Yes, more than most trades realise. If you tell a customer the system will generate a certain amount each year, or quote a payback period, you have given professional advice they are relying on when they spend the money. When actual generation falls short, the complaint is about the projection, not about anything being damaged. Public liability responds to injury and property damage and will not touch it. This is the most common uninsured exposure among solar installers.
Does my insurance cover battery storage installations?
Only if it is specifically included, and some policies exclude it. Lithium battery systems installed inside domestic properties present a fire risk with unusual characteristics: thermal runaway is very difficult to extinguish and produces toxic gas. Insurers are alert to this, and a policy written for panel installation may not extend to storage at all. If you install batteries, or are about to start, confirm in writing that it is covered rather than assuming it follows the solar work.
Can I install on asbestos cement roofs?
It is common on agricultural and industrial buildings, and it is a problem for cover. Asbestos is excluded on almost every policy, both for liability arising from exposure and for remediation costs, and asbestos cement sheeting is also a fragile roof material with its own fall through risk. Some wordings restrict fragile roof work separately. If this forms part of your business it must be declared, because the combination of two common exclusions sits precisely where the exposure is.
Do I need to assess whether the roof can take the weight?
Somebody does, and if it is you then that is a design responsibility. A structural assessment of whether the roof can carry the additional load, particularly on older buildings and on flat roofs with ballasted systems, is engineering advice. If you carry it out yourself, professional indemnity is what responds if the assessment was wrong. If you rely on a structural engineer, keep their report, because it both transfers the responsibility and evidences that the question was properly asked.
Talk to somebody who knows the trade
Tell us what you actually do and we will come back to you with cover options built around it.