Solar Insurance Companies with Best Cost and Coverage

1. Deductible or “SIR”:

Deductibles, and self-insured retentions, are both a form of self-insurance. 

A deductible and SIR are different, but each requires your business to retain a certain amount of risk in dollar terms in the event of a claim. 

If you have a large deductible or SIR you may be able to reduce your premium. However, if you have a high frequency of claims you can very quickly eat away any savings – or erode the policy limits – associated with your insurance policy by having that higher deductible – because you will be paying the deductible with each claim.

2. Out Of Pocket, Uninsured Losses:

Uninsured losses are costs you’re going to have to incur – in legal fees and/or damages – that are not covered by your insurance.

If you think you found a great insurance policy that doesn’t cost very much it’s possible that it doesn’t cover what you do. 

Insurance carriers add exclusions to reduce their exposure… And each of the companies listed above offers policies with coverage and exclusions that may – or may not – be advisable for your business.

An insurance company will usually charge less for an insurance policy when the coverage is less. 

If your insurance broker does not explain each of these solar insurance companies’ policies, you may incur unexpected uninsured losses. 

3. Loss Control and Safety Costs

The saying, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” is often true.

Solar installations often involve working at heights, solar developers are similar to bankers with financial exposure and even community solar projects have cyber exposure.  

As such, by investing in safety and loss control such as through site and building security, fire protection, employee training, security measures, safety protocols, good Internet and cyber hygiene, personal protective equipment (PPE) for use at job sites, driver safety training, vehicle monitoring, etc. you may reduce the cost of insurance and the potential for financial losses. 

Solar insurance companies will examine your insurance applications – and loss history – so they can understand what you’re doing to reduce the frequency and severity of insurance claims.

4. 3rd Party Professional Services:

A common thing I encounter is clients that lack proper indemnification, such as hold harmless or additional insured language in contracts with third parties. 

Contract language can put your business at risk in the event of a claim situation you didn’t anticipate. 

If you or your business is sued, you’ll need to hire an attorney. Or if you suffer a ransomware attack – and don’t have cyber coverage – you may need to engage a forensic cyber team to recover lost files or unlock them if they’re held for ransom.

Having no pre-claim coverage, such as in the event of a Wells notice, means incurring the costs of legal demands, such as producing documentation, prior to an actual claim.

As such, it’s a not a bad idea to have your insurance broker work with your attorney to draft important legal contracts that mention insurance.

5. Opportunity Costs:

Time is the most precious commodity. 

Having to forego a big project because you don’t carry the necessary insurance could be harmful to your reputation.

Spending time you time away from your business to produce legal documentation for a court case sucks resources and mental energy away from what matters… 

Opportunity costs arising from employee injuries, unexpected administrative burdens in an investigation, an environmental cleanup, equipment or machinery repair costs, management fallout or re-hiring and re-training after employees quit, all divert resources away from your business.