Insuring Commercial Solar PV: What Insurers Ask Before Cover
Updated 10 November 2026 · SEO Dons Editorial
Do you have to tell your insurer before installing solar?
Business insurance is non-consumer insurance, and the fair presentation rules in the Insurance Act 2015 apply to non-consumer insurance contracts only. Before a contract of insurance is entered into, the insured must make a fair presentation of the risk. That means disclosing every material circumstance the insured knows or ought to know, in a manner reasonably clear and accessible to a prudent insurer. Section 2(2) applies the same duty to variations of a contract, with references to the risk read as changes in the risk relevant to the proposed variation.
An array is a change the insurer may regard as material, and a policy altered to reflect it is a variation. The FCA's guidance for firms (ICOBS 5.1.4G) lists explaining a commercial customer's duty to disclose all circumstances material to a policy among the ways of making sure the customer knows what to disclose. The FPA's list of ways to reduce solar fire risk includes a full consultation with the building owner and insurer. Ask the broker or insurer what it needs before work starts, and keep the reply in writing.
Which parts of a business policy matter for an array?
| Cover | What the ABI or GOV.UK says | Question for an array |
|---|---|---|
| Property (buildings and contents) | ABI: buildings insurance covers the cost of repairing or rebuilding business premises if damaged or destroyed, and contents insurance covers replacing stock or equipment if damaged or stolen. Premises should be insured against rebuild cost, not sale price or market value. | Is the array inside the sum insured, as part of the building or as equipment, and does the rebuild value include it? Who owns it? |
| Business interruption | ABI: covers loss of income when you cannot carry out business as usual. Most policies respond to damage to premises or equipment by a named peril such as fire, storm or flooding, and to breakdown of essential equipment. It compensates a shortfall in profits and increased running costs. | Does loss of the array or inverter count as damage to equipment? Is lost generation or avoided bill saving a covered loss, and for how long? |
| Public liability | ABI: covers compensation for personal injuries, loss of or damage to property and death. It does not cover employees, temporary staff, students or people on work placements. | Does it respond to harm from roof works, or to a fire that spreads to a neighbour? |
| Employers' liability | GOV.UK: you must get it as soon as you become an employer, for at least £5 million from an authorised insurer. | Ask each roof contractor for a current certificate. |
What do insurers ask before covering an array?
Ask the insurer for its own list of questions in advance. The ones below follow the FPA's published advice and the joint RC62 code, which the RC62 page explains in full.
- Who designed and installed it? The FPA advises installing with a certified and competent professional and designing to the IET PV Code of Practice and MCS requirements.
- What is the roof made of? The FPA advises non-combustible roof materials and, where applicable, a fire-resistant covering.
- Has a fire risk assessment been carried out? It is the first item in the FPA's list of risk control measures.
- How is the DC side built? DC cabling and connectors were the most common cause of solar panel fires in 2025, according to the data the FPA reported (below).
- Who cleans and inspects it? The FPA advises regular cleaning by a suitably trained person. Maintenance programmes are on the maintenance page.
- Is there a battery? The FPA lists RE1, on commercial lithium-ion battery installations, as a separate resource. See battery storage.
What does the incident data show?
The FPA reported an insurer's analysis of Freedom of Information data: fire and rescue services attended 212 solar panel-related incidents in 2025, compared with 91 in 2022. Fires at commercial properties rose from 33 in 2024 to 48 in 2025, and industrial property fires rose from six to 14. The FPA's own article describes the risk of solar panel systems catching fire as extremely low, so the figures explain why insurers ask questions, not how likely a fire is on any one roof. Where those fires start, and how far the published counts can be relied on, is set out in the guide to solar panel fires on commercial roofs.
Insurance or warranty: which pays for what?
| Cover | Who gives it | What it responds to |
|---|---|---|
| Property and business interruption insurance | An insurer | Loss or damage from insured perils such as fire, storm or flooding, and the resulting loss of income |
| Liability insurance | An insurer | Compensation for injury or damage to other people or their property |
| Product, performance and workmanship warranties | The manufacturer or installer | Defects and, for modules, output over time. They are not a payout for a fire or storm. |
The layers of warranty are set out on the commercial solar warranties page. A warranty claim and an insurance claim go to different parties on different terms, so keep both sets of papers.
What if the roof or the array belongs to someone else?
Under a lease, roof licence or power purchase agreement, the duty of fair presentation sits with whoever is the insured, so a landlord's insurer may need to hear about the array from the landlord. Agree in writing who insures the array, who insures the roof, and what happens to the agreement if either is damaged.
Which documents should you have ready?
- Layout drawings, kWp and module and inverter datasheets.
- Roof construction details and the fire performance of the covering.
- The installer's certification and insurance certificates.
- Commissioning certificates and test results; the commercial PV installations guide shows when each is produced.
- The maintenance and cleaning plan, and the fire risk assessment.
- Battery details, if storage is included.
An enquiry about a specific roof can be sent through this site's form. It does not replace a conversation with your broker or insurer.
Sources
- legislation.gov.uk: Insurance Act 2015, section 2 and section 3, checked 22 October 2026.
- FCA Handbook: ICOBS 5, identifying client needs and advising, checked 22 October 2026.
- Association of British Insurers: commercial property insurance, business interruption insurance and public liability insurance, checked 22 October 2026.
- GOV.UK: Employers' liability insurance, checked 22 October 2026.
- Fire Protection Association: Are solar panels a fire hazard?, 22 February 2024, checked 22 October 2026.
- Fire Protection Association: Call for safety focus as solar panel fire numbers increase, 12 August 2026, checked 22 October 2026.
Common questions
Will solar PV make my building insurance more expensive?
No source checked for this page gives a premium effect, and premiums depend on how the insurer assesses the changed risk. Ask for terms before the work starts, with the design and roof details to hand.
Does the installer's warranty cover a fire?
A warranty is a promise from the manufacturer or installer about defects and performance. It is not insurance against fire or storm, which falls to the property policy if the peril is insured. The warranties page explains the layers of cover.
What cover should a roof contractor hold?
GOV.UK says an employer must have employers' liability insurance for at least £5 million from an authorised insurer. The ABI says public liability covers compensation for injury and property damage but not employees. Ask for current certificates for both before work starts.
Is RC62 a condition of my policy?
RC62 is a code of practice, not law, and the FPA points readers to it for a full list of risk control recommendations for PV systems. Whether a policy makes it a condition is set by the insurer's wording, so ask which parts and which edition the insurer applies.