Business insurance for solar battery installers.
Solar battery storage is the next big thing in electricity supply.
As more electrical contractors get into battery installation and maintenance, it’s important to have the right business insurance in place.
In this guide we’ll look at the insurance requirements for electricians undertaking work on home battery storage systems, along with commercial and industrial applications.
- Accreditation
- Insurance requirements
- Types of insurance
- Optional forms of insurance
- Use a specialist insurance broker
Accreditation
Before you consider what insurance you need to start installing battery storage systems, you need to ensure you have the right accreditation.
For Grid Connected Battery Systems (GCBS) you must be accredited with Solar Accreditation Australia (SAA) in order to access small-scale technology certificates (SCTs).
Customers will need an SCT in order to access government rebates, which are expected to create strong demand for battery storage installations.
Insurance requirements
The insurance requirements for electrical contractors undertaking battery installations aren’t too different from those already in place for solar installers.
As a baseline you’ll need to meet the minimum requirements for electrical contractors in your state.
This is typically a public liability insurance policy with a minimum coverage of $5 million, and for Queensland electricians, and additional $50k consumer protection cover.
Is my standard electrician insurance sufficient?
It could be, but it depends on the policy and the insurance company.
Not all insurance companies and policies include cover for solar installation, let alone battery storage.
If you are undertaking work on batteries, it’s vital that you disclose this to your insurance broker, or direct to the insurer if you don’t have a broker.
For those insurers who can provide cover for battery installation, you’re generally find they will have a few more questions about the work.
Some common questions include:
- Are you a member of the Clean Energy Council?
- Do you take before and after photos of installations and retain for at least twelve months?
- Do you only install products that are compliant with the Electrical Equipment Safety System (EESS) framework?
It’s important not to assume that your existing insurance will cover battery or solar installations, even if you can answer yes to the questions above.
Whether you’re a Trade Risk client or not, we strongly recommend checking with your broker.
Is the price of my insurance affected?
This will depend on the insurer, as well as the percentage of your revenue that is derived from battery and solar activities.
If a large percentage of your revenue comes from battery installations, it’s likely that your public liability insurance cost will be higher.
Frustratingly, each insurance company still has differing underwriting rules when it comes to solar and battery installations.
Some insurer will allow these activities with no increase to the premium if the percentage is low, for example if solar and battery storage makes up less than 5% of your revenue.
But other insurers will not allow any percentage of solar or battery work unless a higher premium is paid.
Whilst it’s frustrating for electrical contractors as well as insurance brokers, it does highlight the important of using a specialist insurance broker who understands the market.
Do I have to tell my insurer I’m installing batteries?
You’ve just read that solar and battery storage work can increase the cost of your public liability insurance.
So what if you just don’t tell the insurance company or your insurance broker about this work?
Afterall, if you’re licensed to do the work, and you have insurance as an electrical contractor, shouldn’t that be enough?
We’d love if that was the case – it would make our job a lot easier! – but unfortunately it is not.
If you fail to disclose your battery storage work to your insurance company or broker, there is a real possibility that any claim relating to these activities will be declined.
It’s simply not worth the risk. If you are undertaking solar or battery work, you must disclose these activities and not rely on a standard electrician policy.
Types of insurance
We’ve already covered off the need for public liability insurance, which is a standard requirement for all electrical contractors in most Australian states.
We’ll now take a closer look at public liability, plus some other forms of insurance you that are either highly recommended, or just nice to have.
Public liability insurance
If you’re already operating a business as an electrical contractor, you’ll already have public liability insurance in place.
This form of insurance covers you in the event that your business activities result in property damage or personal injury to a third party.
At the lower end of the scale, this could simply be putting your foot through a ceiling whilst installing cables, with the insurance covering the cost of repairing and repainting the ceiling.
At the extreme end it could involve faulty installation of a battery, which results in a house fire and a potential million-dollar claim for a destroyed home.
Even if a homeowner has their own building insurance, the insurance company will still come after you to recover their costs if they can show your negligence caused the loss.
Taking it to another extreme, if the fire was to result in the loss of life, the size of the claim against you could be significantly higher.
Public liability insurance is designed to protect you against these financial risks.
Professional indemnity insurance
Professional indemnity is in some ways similar to public liability, but instead of covering your physical work, it is more about negligence in advice or design.
If you are designing solar and battery storage layouts, and a claim relates to issues with the design rather than the physical installation, this may not be covered by your public liability insurance.
Therefore, if you are undertaking any design work or providing reports to clients, having professional indemnity insurance is a must.
Some insurance companies offer a combined public liability and professional indemnity policy, but your broker will be best placed to recommend a bundled or separate policy.
Optional forms of insurance
Whilst public liability and professional indemnity are considered the two must-have forms of insurance for solar and battery installers, there are other forms of cover worth considering.
At Trade Risk we can assist with all forms of business insurance, but these are some of the key covers that our electrician clients have.
Tool insurance
It’s a sad reality that tool theft is rampant across Australia right now.
Whilst there are steps you can take to protect your tools, you can’t eliminate the risk completely.
Tool insurance can cover the replacement cost of your tools if they are damaged due to fire or a vehicle accident, as well as theft following forced entry.
Electricians are often surprised by how affordable tool insurance can be, especially when the cover is bundled with their public liability insurance.
More information: Tool insurance.
Personal accident insurance
There’s an old saying that your most valuable asset is your ability to earn an income.
When you’re undertaking physical work such as carrying around solar panels and storage batteries, even minor injuries can put that asset as risk, at least temporarily.
Personal accident insurance – which is very similar to income protection in many ways – can cover a large percentage of your income whilst you’re unable to work.
These policies have plenty of options, such as the inclusion of sickness cover, and the ability to adjust waiting periods and benefit periods to help control the cost.
More information: Personal accident insurance.
Commercial motor insurance
If you’re installing solar panels and storage batteries, you’re going to need a decent ute, van or truck to lug all of that gear around in.
Any insurance company can help you with vehicle insurance, but it’s important to let them know you are using the vehicle for business purposes, otherwise they could decline a claim.
If you have multiple vehicles in your business, we may be able to save you money by combining them on a fleet vehicle policy.
More information: Commercial motor insurance.
Use a specialist insurance broker
Whilst solar installers have been around for decades now, battery installation is relatively new in the Australian market.
With the introduction of the Cheaper Home Batteries Program, the demand for electricians undertaking such work will only increase.
Purchasing on online policy can be risky at this stage, as it’s difficult to know how those policies will respond in the even of a claim relating to battery storage.
Even your local insurance broker is at risk of getting the cover wrong if they aren’t familiar with the requirements for battery installations.
At Trade Risk, we manage the insurance needs of over 1,000 electrical contractors and are a trusted partner of Master Electricians Australia.
We’ve been providing insurance to solar installers for many years, and are ready to assist electrical contractors who are looking to add battery storage to their list of services.
For more information on business insurance for solar battery installers, please call us on 1800 808 800 or request a quote online.
