COVERTRADE SERVICES
Renewable Energy Contractors Insurance
Tailored insurance solutions for renewable energy contractors supporting the UK's Net Zero goals.
You Are Designing As Well As Installing
Most installers in this sector do more than fit equipment. You survey the property, specify the system, estimate what it will generate or save, and confirm the roof can take it. That is design and advice, and it carries a different kind of liability from the installation itself.
If a system underperforms against the estimate you gave, or the specification turns out to be wrong for the building, the complaint is not that you damaged something. It is that your judgement was wrong. Public liability does not answer that. Professional indemnity does, and it is the cover most commonly missing from a renewables installer's programme.
Alongside it: roof work, which is the largest driver of the liability premium, and battery storage, which insurers now treat as its own question rather than part of a solar job.
What Our Renewable Contractors Insurance Covers
Public Liability Insurance
Protects against third-party injury or property damage claims during installations or maintenance work.
Employers' Liability Insurance
Essential if you have staff, covering workplace injuries or illnesses.
Professional Indemnity Insurance
Covers claims relating to design, advice, or consultancy on renewable installations.
Tools & Equipment Cover
Protects specialist tools and kit from theft, loss, or accidental damage, including solar testing equipment.
Contract Works Cover
Safeguards ongoing projects from damage, theft, or unforeseen delays.
Hired-in Plant & Machinery Cover
For temporary use of equipment during installations.
Somebody Else’s Roof
Almost everything in this trade happens on somebody else’s roof, and that is where most of the liability premium comes from.
Insurers will want the height, the type of roof, and how you get onto it. Scaffolding is viewed differently from other access arrangements, and domestic pitched, commercial flat and ground-mounted arrays are three separate propositions. A policy rated for one that finds you doing another is a real gap.
The other roof question is what you leave behind. A penetration that leaks two winters later, a tile disturbed and not properly reseated, a mounting rail that works loose, water damage inside a house from a roof you worked on is one of the more common claims in this sector, and it usually arrives long after the job is forgotten.
Batteries, And Why Insurers Ask About Them
Battery storage has become a standard part of the offering and insurers have moved to treat it separately, so it needs declaring rather than being assumed into a solar installation.
The concern is lithium fire risk. Underwriters will ask which products you fit and whether they are from recognised manufacturers, where batteries are sited (a garage or outbuilding is generally viewed more favourably than a loft or a habitable room) and how installations are commissioned and handed over.
Some insurers restrict or decline battery work altogether, which is exactly why it is worth going to the market rather than accepting the first refusal. Tell us what you install and we will approach the insurers who are open to it.
Cover To Check
What a renewables installer needs beyond liability.
- Professional indemnity, if you design
- Working at height on roofs
- Battery storage, declared
- Hot work permits where relevant
- Stock on site and in the van
- Subcontractor certificates held
- Flexible payment options
- Dedicated account managers
- Out-of-hours contact should you need to make a claim or just have a question
- A quick and easy, pain-free service
- An excellent customer experience
Workmanship Warranties And What Insurance Does Not Do
Certification schemes require you to offer a workmanship warranty, and it is worth being clear that liability insurance is not that warranty. Insurance does not pay to put right work that was simply done badly. That is a cost of doing business, and policies exclude it deliberately.
What insurance covers is the consequence: the water damage from a leaking penetration, the fire from a bad connection, the third party injured by a panel that came loose. Understanding where the line sits is worth doing before a customer is standing in a wet bedroom asking whose problem it is. Insurance-backed guarantees, where a scheme requires one, are a separate product again.
Electrical Work And Hot Work
DC strings at roof level, inverters, isolators and connection to the consumer unit put electrical risk at the centre of this trade. Insurers will ask about qualifications and competent person scheme registration, and about who does the final connection where that is subcontracted.
If any work involves heat (soldering, brazing on a heat pump circuit, or anything with a flame in a roof space) declare it. Hot work in a loft is a scenario insurers treat carefully, and cover normally comes with conditions: a permit, combustibles cleared, and a fire watch for a set period after work finishes.
Plant, Stock And Panels On Site
Panels, inverters and batteries are valuable, portable and in demand, and they are frequently on site or in a van overnight before installation. Theft cover for stock away from your premises usually carries tight conditions, and overnight theft from a vehicle is commonly excluded or requires forced entry to a locked van.
Check the limit against the value of a full domestic system, not an average, and ask specifically about materials left on site between visits: where responsibility for them sits before handover is worth settling in the contract as well as the policy. Premiums can be paid monthly or annually.
What We Need To Quote
Your annual turnover and what you install (solar PV, battery storage, heat pumps, EV chargers) whether you design the systems or work to someone else’s design, your certification and qualifications, how much work is at height and on what kind of roofs, how many people you employ and how much is subcontracted, the value of stock and equipment, and your claims record.
Protect Your Renewable Energy Business
So why wait? Protect your renewable energy contracting business today with CoverTrade's comprehensive insurance coverage. Contact us now to schedule a consultation with one of our expert advisors.
Cover that often goes with this
The gaps we most often find sitting next to this policy.
- Professional indemnityDesign, specification and performance estimates are advice, and public liability does not answer for them.
- Contractors all riskCover for the installation while it is in progress.
- Tradesman insuranceStock and tools, on site and in the van.
Common questions
Why would a solar installer need professional indemnity?+
Because you are giving advice as well as fitting equipment. A performance estimate that the system never achieves, a specification that turns out to be wrong for the property, a roof that could not take the load, or a battery sized incorrectly are all failures of design or advice rather than accidents, and public liability does not respond to them. Where you produce the design, the yield estimate or the specification, professional indemnity is the cover that answers a complaint about it.
What insurance do solar and heat pump installers need?+
Public liability from £1m, with £5m where the contract requires it, and employers' liability once you employ anyone. Professional indemnity if you design systems or provide performance estimates. Contract works while an installation is in progress. Stock and equipment cover including materials on site and in the van. Working at height declared properly. And if you install battery storage, that declared specifically, because insurers treat it as its own question.
Does my policy cover working on roofs?+
It has to be declared, including the height and the type of roof. Domestic pitched roofs, commercial flat roofs and ground-mounted arrays are different risks, and scaffolding versus other access arrangements matters too. Roof work is the largest single driver of the liability premium in this trade, and a policy rated for ground-mount work that finds you on a three-storey pitched roof is a serious gap.
Is battery storage treated differently?+
Yes, and increasingly so. Lithium battery systems bring a fire risk that insurers assess separately, and they will ask about the products you fit, where batteries are sited (a garage or outbuilding rather than a loft is generally viewed more favourably) and how they are commissioned. Some insurers restrict or exclude battery work. If you install storage, declare it rather than treating it as part of a solar job.
Does insurance cover my workmanship warranty?+
No, and the distinction matters. Insurance does not pay to redo work that was simply done badly; that is excluded deliberately and is a cost of doing business. What it covers is the consequence: water damage from a leaking roof penetration, fire from a poor connection, injury from a panel that came loose. Where a certification scheme requires an insurance-backed guarantee, that is a separate product from your liability cover.
How much is renewables installer insurance?+
Renewables installer cover starts at around £400 a year. For comparison, electrical contractors on our book start at around £97, and renewables sits above that because of the height, the battery storage and the design element. It is priced on that mix rather than on the trade name. How much is at height, whether you design as well as install, whether you fit battery storage, your turnover and your subcontracting arrangements, and that adding professional indemnity alongside liability is what most installers are missing rather than what makes it expensive. Call 02382 000820 for a real number.
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