Solar PV Friendly Home Insurance

A question about : Solar PV Friendly Home Insurance

Having an issue with renewing home insurance on comparison sites as some insurers require you to ring up for a telephone quote if you have panels fitted.

Who are people insured with and which insurers are Solar PV friendly? Our current insurance is Halifax but they want double what the best price is on the comparison sites so need to shop round.

Thanks.

Best answers:

• I'm with More Than and forgot to mention panels when I swapped from Halifax to them. When I did call them up to let them know, they were very pleasant about it and no increase as panels were covered under the general T&Cs.
• I think mine is Aviva - arranged through a high street broker having checked what the rough going rate was. Not bothered about the panels even though I made the effort to mention them.
• Ah...general terms cover them for legal and general...
  BUILDINGS
  Your home, and its permanent fixtures and fittings including:
  i) tennis courts, paved terraces, paths, drives, walls, fences, gates and hedges;
  ii) permanently installed:
  a) swimming pools;
  b) hot tubs;
  iii) permanently connected:
  a) drains, pipes and cables;
  b) service tanks and central heating oil tanks;
  c) wind turbines, solar panels and ground source heating pumps;
• My home is suitably insured through Sterling Insurance.
  I have checked the policy and the Buildings definition includes "solar". The policy also covers a loss of FIT payments based upon a 12 month record prior to an incident. Clearly, I would need 12 months of FIT payments before this insurance applies.
  I think that it is worth making a declaration in any event at renewal because the house value and apparent sum insured may increase. I would position this so that the rebuilding cost includes any modification made to the house, and in the case of the panels the Ј6,400 I paid for them.
• First time I noticed too.
  It was Admiral for anyone who is interested. Got to the last page and one of the statements under the "does you house have or has it ever suffered from" section was;
  Solar PV.
  I clicked yes and had to ring them up for a full underwrite. Weird thing is they haven't asked any specifics of the system - just do you have it yes or no.
  They are calling me back tonight.
  Like I said Halifax who we are with when they were installed cover "anything that is part of the buildings structure" and had no problems when I declared them last year. It might be a quirk with Admiral but am playing it on the safe side in case of fire etc. that potentially could lead us uninsured.
  Will report back.
  @ Jimlad - Legal and General are second on the comparison sites so I will give them a call. Thanks.
• This post is very old but might still be useful:
  https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/...3332822&page=1
• I've not had to specifically declare the panels in the past and they were mentioned in the Terms of the Insurance, so seems this may be a new way of extracting additional monies upon renewal this year - another new way I mean as they stung me 20% more a few years ago and again last year as I am perceived to be at a greater risk of flooding since EA redrew their maps. A new version of the maps is out this year too, so yet again, I expect ЈЈЈ's I pay 50% more now than 4 years ago and haven't been flooded once.
• Would agree Andy. Really frustrating to go through the quote process and it is actually on the very last page before you confirm to pay as opposed to at the start of the quote process.
  No-one rang me back from Admiral.
• It is better always to make the declarations to the insurers even where the insurer didn't ask.
  I had a hidden clause excluding trees less than x metres from the property being greater than y metres in height. The problem is that trees grow taller and get closer (do you measure from the centre of the trunk or from the twig closest to the house?).
  For the solar, I will describe the scope installation, the date and price of installation, and the FIT payment agreement. All appear in some way to be material to the insurance. I would suggest for safety's sake increasing the rebuilding cost by Ј6,400 to include the solar.
• Oddly, altering the building cost for me (to something lower) actually increased my insurance quote. Leaving it at the default Ј400K or Ј500K gave me a better quote.
• When you consider solar panel cover remember that there are two problems:
  1. If a panel blows off and hits someone or they get electrocuted from the wiring.
  2. Damage to the panels themselves, including from vandals.