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Solar installer insurance is for businesses that put solar panels and batteries on Australian roofs, from sole trader installers to commercial solar contractors. It can cover damage to a client’s roof, injury to people below, claims over panels and inverters you supply, and the tools and stock you carry. Fortis Risk Solutions arranges it from offices in Box Hill and Hawthorn and checks the cover against what retailers and builders ask you to hold.
What Solar Installer Insurance Covers
Solar installer insurance covers public liability, products liability, tools and stock for businesses that design and install rooftop solar and battery systems. It suits sole trader installers, crews working for a solar retailer and commercial solar contractors. The claims in this trade start on the roof: cracked tiles, water through a badly sealed penetration, a panel dropped from height or a fire traced back to an isolator.
Installer accreditation moved from the Clean Energy Council to Solar Accreditation Australia on 29 May 2024. Customers can only claim small-scale technology certificates when an accredited person designs and installs the system. In Victoria the wiring must be done through a registered electrical contractor, and a solar array is prescribed electrical work that has to be inspected. Insurers ask for these details when they quote.
Roof work counts as high risk construction work in Victoria when someone could fall more than 2 metres, so a safe work method statement must be prepared first. Public liability insurance is the section that answers for damage to the client's house and injury to people below. Panels, inverters and batteries you supply bring product claims as well, and insurers ask where they were made and who imported them.
Fortis Risk Solutions arranges solar installer insurance from offices in Box Hill and Hawthorn as part of our business insurance range. Commercial solar contractor insurance often has to include contract works insurance under the head contract. Solar farms and project developers are covered on our renewable energy insurance page. Installers who also take on general wiring jobs can compare our electrician insurance page.
Who this covers
Solar businesses in this group include:
- Accredited rooftop solar installers working as sole traders
- Installation crews subcontracting to solar retailers
- Battery storage installers
- Commercial solar contractors on factory and warehouse roofs
- Solar maintenance, cleaning and repair businesses
- Retailers that sell, design and install systems
If your work is not listed, ask us. The sections below are the starting point for any solar installation business.
Solar Installer Insurance: Cover Sections and Benefits
Solar Installer Insurance FAQs
Most need public liability and products liability first, because those are the sections retailers and builders check. After that come tools, stock and vehicles, usually in a business insurance package with a separate motor policy. Commercial jobs often add contract works. If you pay wages of more than $7,500 a year in Victoria, or employ an apprentice, you must also register for WorkCover.
It can. Solar panel installer insurance is designed to pay for damage to the client's property caused by your work, such as broken tiles or a ceiling stained by water entering through a mounting point. It usually does not pay to redo your own faulty installation. Check the limit for property in your care, because the roof you are standing on may fall under it.
Yes. Products liability is designed to cover injury or property damage caused by goods you supply, and a fire traced to an inverter or isolator is the classic solar claim. If you import panels or batteries yourself, tell the insurer, because the overseas maker may be hard to pursue. Insurers may ask whether your products are on the Clean Energy Council approved list.
Often, yes. Solar Accreditation Australia accredits grid-connected battery systems as a separate class from solar arrays, and Energy Safe Victoria lists battery energy storage systems as prescribed electrical work. Insurers ask what share of your work is batteries and where you store them. Lithium battery stock in a warehouse can change the fire rating of your premises.
Business interruption insurance can pay for loss of gross profit while your warehouse or office cannot be used after insured damage, for the indemnity period you choose. For a solar business holding panels, inverters and batteries, a fire can stop installs for months while stock is replaced. The indemnity period should allow for overseas supply times.
Solar wordings turn on height limits, battery work, imported products and how roof damage is treated. FRS helps you declare your activities accurately, set liability limits that match your contracts, compare insurers who write solar installation insurance and act as your advocate at claim time. We also check that your cover lines up with what retailers and builders ask you to hold.
Talk to a broker about Solar Installer Insurance
Call 03 7046 3766 on weekdays between 9:30am and 6pm, email admin@fortisrisksolutions.com.au, or send an enquiry and a broker from our Box Hill or Hawthorn office will come back to you about solar installer insurance. Tell us what the business does and what the lease or contract asks for, and we take it from there.