Solar Consultant Insurance
Solar consultant insurance protects your business if you are providing consulting services related to developing solar and renewable energy projects.
As a solar consultant, you may be providing general advisory services or more specific services such as site evaluation, financial analysis, solar auctions, identifying financial incentives, identification of project engineering, procurement and contractors and pre-NTP/development work.
At a minimum, a solar consultant should have commercial general liability (CGL) and errors and omissions (professional liability) insurance.
CGL may help protect you from claims of 3rd party bodily injury, property damage and contractual liability. Professional liability (E&O) protects your business from claims of financial loss in the course of providing professional advice to your clients who are relying on your expertise. Some policies to consider:
- Business Owner’s Policy (BOP): Includes commercial general liability and other coverages, such as hired/non-owned auto and business personal property, in a single policy.
- Commercial Umbrella: Protects your business from claims that exceed or exhaust the underlying commercial general liability policy. Can be added to a BOP.
- Professional Liability (E&O): Provides coverage for errors and omissions while providing professional services related to solar project evaluation, pre-development and implementation.
- Business Auto: Protect your business if you have vehicles that are owned and used by your company on a day to day basis. Otherwise consider “hired non-owned auto“.
- Worker’s Compensation: Does your consulting company have employees? Work comp is legally required for businesses in most states. Protect your employees and your company in the event someone who works for you is injured on the job.
Not every consulting business is the same in terms of exposure to risk. As such, some insurance carriers may not classify your business as a consultant at all, or they may seek to charge more based on the work you are doing. For instance, if you’re more of an EPC, or oversee the development (building and construction of solar projects using sub-contractors or doing the construction work directly) on behalf of your clients, you may be considered a general contractor.
Unfortunately, the nuances of solar consulting operations are often lost not only on the insureds themselves, but also on inexperienced insurance brokers and underwriters… Schedule an appointment with me today to discuss the insurance for your solar consulting company.
