Does installing solar panels affect your home insurance?

I'm indebted to YouGen for answering an obvious question - does installing solar panels (or any other form of renewable energy) to a home affect your house insurance?

As YouGen so neatly sums up: "according to the Association of British Insurers, there isn't an overarching rule on this one, and it will depend on your insurer. The golden rule for insurance is to tell your insurer if you're planning to make any material structural changes to your property,"

So it may pay to find out before you book an installation, rather than wait a year and then find you're not adequately covered.

It reminded me of my own days spent working in an insurance brokers office where the general rule of thumb was 'if you've made any alterations, inform your insurers'. Adding solar panels is like adding an extension - it'll probably mean the repair / replacement costs will be higher so you you can expect an increase in your premium to cover the additional costs.

Visit YouGen's website to read their article in full which has a quote from NFU Mutual on the subject - click here

Don't forget if you're thinking of getting solar panels installed on your property and you'd like a rough idea of how much the installation will cost for insurance purposes, you can visit Solar Panel Quoter .co.uk and get an instant on line price guide.

photo credit: editor b