Frequently asked questions about photovoltaic insurance

Photovoltaic insurance is a good idea for anyone who has purchased their own photovoltaic system.

As a rule, a photovoltaic system is not covered by a classic buildings or household contents insurance.

Please contact us by email at pv-versicherung@ggw.de.

If you have already had an offer calculated or concluded an insurance policy, you are welcome to contact us by telephone.

Further support is available via your customer portal under https://pv-insurance.digital-solutions.business/.

The latest possible effective date is one year after the photovoltaic system’s readiness for operation. A later registration for this insurance concept is unfortunately not possible.

Please note that the earliest effective date of insurance is the date of conclusion of the insurance policy. No retroactive insurance cover can, therefore, be agreed.

To determine the insurance premium, we require the following details:

• Net or gross value* of the photovoltaic system (including accessories such as storage unit, battery, charging technology etc.)
• Rated output of the photovoltaic system in kWp
• Location of PV system

If the correct details were given, the insurer will waive the objection of under-insurance.

*Where the policyholder is entitled to deduct input tax, please state the net value of your photovoltaic system.

The photovoltaic insurance provides you with a cover that protects you against the financial consequences of property damage arising from almost any cause that can affect your system from the outside and lead to damage. It is a so-called all-risks cover.

An exemplary list of the insured risks insured can be found

The photovoltaic insurance is designed so that the cover applies to the entire system, including the system periphery. It, therefore, includes modules, inverters, line network and mounting rack. The insurance cover also includes, for example, the feed-in counter and the battery, and any damage to a charging station connected to the system will also be paid for by the photovoltaic insurance provided that all of these items were taken into account when the sum insured was calculated.

To make sure of sufficient insurance cover, at the effective date of the insurance, you must always state the full replacement value of all system parts to be included in the insurance. Ideally, you should use the invoice from your installer for this purpose. Whether you state the net or gross value depends on whether you are entitled to deduct input tax. If you have any doubts, please ask your installer or your tax consultant.

The insurance period of our photovoltaic insurance is 10 years. The insurance cover will end at midnight of the last day of the agreed insurance period without the need for any separate documentation.

Please note that the insurance company waives its right of cancellation in the event of a claim. The policyholder, however, may cancel the insurance policy at the end of the third year or each subsequent year by giving three months' notice. In this case, you would be entitled to repayment of the insurance premium for the remaining term.

The liability period is the maximum period of time stipulated in the insurance policy for which the insurer will indemnify an interruption loss (here: the loss of feed-in proceeds). Our policies stipulate a liability period of 12 months. If this period of time is insufficient, an extended liability period applies for up to one month.

The liability period begins at the point in time when, at the earliest, the policyholder was able to recognise the property damage, but at the latest upon the beginning of the interruption loss.

If there are several cases of property damage affecting the same property, which have a causal and temporal connection, the liability period begins when the first loss occurs.

GAP cover is understood to mean compensation for the difference between the current market value of the photovoltaic system and any residual debt from the financing of the insured system.

As a general rule, after a (total) loss, the complete restoration of the insured system is compensated (replacement value insurance). If, however, the system is not restored in the loss event, compensation is only paid for its current value.

If, however, the policyholder concluded a loan contract to finance the insured system, compensation will if necessary be paid in the event of non-restoration above and beyond the current value up to the amount of the residual financing debt that existed at the time of the loss. The maximum limit of compensation is the documented sum insured.

Our insurance policies include a GAP cover for you.

Additional costs due to technological progress are costs that arise during the restoration or replacement of the insured and damaged items if restoration or replacement of the items with the same features and quality is not possible.

Additional costs of this kind are reimbursed by the insurer.

Loss of earnings through a lack of compensation for electricity fed into the grid due to indemnifiable property damage is included in our insurance.

In order to settle any claims for loss of earnings, we require the following data in addition to the information required for general claims settlement:

• Start date and end date of the operational interruption
• Data sheet with the output prognosis
• Relevant accounts with the energy supplier showing the amount of the remuneration
• Solar logs of the monthly records kept by the policyholder

Up to a loss amount of EUR 5,000 for the loss of earnings, you will receive from the insurer flat-rate compensation of EUR 2.00 per kWp system output per day. Only for losses exceeding this amount will a more detailed assessment of the actual loss amount be carried out and the compensation limited to 120 % of the comparative income from the previous year or of the yield report.

Incidentally: even if you use your electricity yourself, i.e. do not feed it into the public grid and do not receive a compensation for electricity fed into the grid, you are still covered by the insurance because additional costs for purchasing external electricity are treated exactly the same as a loss of earnings.

In general, full insurance cover for the photovoltaic systems insured under this insurance policy is not provided until they are ready for operation.

However, should the policyholder already bear the risk for the photovoltaic system or parts of the system during the construction phase, i.e. before it is ready for operation, then insurance cover is also granted for this if the insurance policy was already in effect at this time.

Insurance cover is not provided, however, for the interests of the installer, which the installer must cover himself/herself under an installation insurance policy.

1. As policyholder, you have a contractual obligation to mitigate the loss. Please, therefore, take all necessary steps to prevent an increase in the loss.
2. Report the loss event to us as soon as possible.
3. Please document how the loss happened and what it looks like and take photos of the damaged or destroyed parts.
4. Losses arising through theft or burglary must be reported to the police without delay. Please forward a list of the stolen goods to us and the police as soon as possible. Make a note of the contact details of the police station, the officer in charge and the file number or diary number.
5. Make no changes to the loss location until approved by the insurer, unless they are necessary for safety reasons.
6. Retain all the parts that were destroyed or damaged by the loss event until approval or adjustment by the insurer and store them in a weatherproof place.

Upon conclusion of your photovoltaic insurance, you will receive access to your personal customer portal. There you are able to simply and swiftly report your loss directly to GGW and upload any relevant loss documents.

In order to settle the loss, we require, inter alia, the following information:

• Date of loss
• Cause of loss
• Circumstances of loss
• Estimated amount of loss
• Photos of loss
• Cost estimate (if one exists)
• Repair bill (as soon as one exists)
• Details of bank account to which the compensation is to be remitted
• Police file number in the case of theft or vandalism

In order to settle claims for loss of earnings, we also require the following data:

• Start date and end date of the operational interruption
• Data sheet with the output prognosis
• Relevant accounts with the energy supplier showing the amount of the remuneration
• Solar logs of the monthly records kept by the policyholder

When you have filled in all the mandatory fields of the loss report form in the customer portal, an official loss report is generated (PDF document). This is sent straight to you and to GGW. At GGW, the claims management department checks this loss report for completeness and forwards it to the insurer.

From that point on, GGW acts as claims manager on behalf of the customer and thus safeguards the interests of the policyholder.

An insurance period of 10 years is generally deemed to be agreed. As the insurance policy was concluded for a period of more than three years, in accordance with the German Insurance Contract Act (VVG) you have the right to cancel the policy at the end of the third or each subsequent year by giving three months' notice.

The insurer waives its right of cancellation in the event of a loss for the entire insurance term of 10 years.

The insurance company may not cancel the existing contractual relationship without a real reason. The insurer only has a special right of termination in the event of a breach of an obligation by the policyholder. Below you will find a list of possible duties.

Policyholder's duties:

1. The system must be installed and approved by a specialist company in accordance with the recognised rules of technology. It may not be installed by the policyholder himself/herself.
2. The system must be equipped with lightning protection devices if this is required by the authorities.
3. The inverter must be protected from weather conditions (storm, rain, hail, snow and ice) and from falling below the dew point.
4. For ground installations, it must be ensured that the property is adequately protected. This means that the insurance location must be enclosed by an industrial lattice fence which is at least two metres high and has protection against people climbing over.
5. The meter readings (yield data) must be recorded at least once a month and presented to the insurer on request.
6. The insured items must be serviced regularly in accordance with the manufacturer’s specifications. The servicing work must be documented and the records made available to the insurer on request.
7. All legal, official and contractually agreed safety regulations must be observed. The policyholder may neither breach these safety regulations himself/herself nor permit or tolerate their being breached.

An all-risks insurance is a special type of insurance cover. In contrast to conventional insurance, this cover includes everything that is not explicitly excluded in the insurance conditions. Further details of the exclusions and limitations of our contract can be found here.

A special characteristic of all-risks cover in the event of a loss is that the burden of proof lies not with the policyholder but with the insurer. This means that the policyholder does not have to prove the cause of the loss. Rather, in the event of a loss, the insurer would be obliged to prove that it is not liable to indemnify the loss.

The insurance value of the insured property equals the cost expended by the policyholder for the purchase of the insured property in a new condition including the purchasing costs (freight, packaging, assembly and customs duties).

The sum insured declared by the policyholder forms the basis for the calculation of the premium and at the same time, the agreed maximum compensation limit of the insurance policy. The sum insured should equal the insurance value.

If the insurance value is lower than the sum insured, then the maximum compensation amounts to the insurance value plus any other insured cost items.

Under-insurance exists if, in the event of a loss, the sum insured is lower than the system's actual value. This may be the case, for example, if the sum insured was not adjusted to take account of an extension of the system.

If the insurer determines that the risk was under-insured, it is entitled to reduce the insurance benefit in the same ratio as that of the sum insured to the actual insurance value.

If the actual amount of the installed system capacity in kWp and the correct replacement value of the photovoltaic system were stated, the insurer waives the objection of under-insurance. Subsequent extensions of the photovoltaic system or other increases in the insurance value must, however, be notified to the insurer as appropriate.

In the case of a single premium, the premium is paid for the entire insurance period as a single payment at the inception of the policy.

Where a single premium was agreed, in accordance with the VVG the policyholder is obliged to pay the insurance premium specified in the policy within 14 days of the effective date of insurance. By paying this single premium, the policyholder fulfils his/her obligation.

Further payments only fall due if the value of the photovoltaic system rises during the insurance period (e.g. through an extension of the photovoltaic system).

Our insurance policy specifies a single premium for a term of 10 years as from the commencement of the insurance policy.

In general, full insurance cover for the photovoltaic systems insured under this insurance policy is not provided until they are ready for operation.

However, should the policyholder already bear the risk for the photovoltaic system or parts of the system during the construction phase, i.e. before it is ready for operation, then insurance cover is also granted for this if the insurance policy was already in effect at this time.

Insurance cover is not provided, however, for the interests of the installer, which the installer must cover himself/herself under an installation insurance policy.

The liability period is the maximum period of time stipulated in the insurance policy for which the insurer will indemnify an interruption loss (here: the loss of feed-in proceeds). Our policies stipulate a liability period of 12 months. If this period of time is insufficient, an extended liability period applies for up to one month.

The liability period begins at the point in time when, at the earliest, the policyholder was able to recognise the property damage, but at the latest upon the beginning of the interruption loss.

If there are several cases of property damage affecting the same property, which have a causal and temporal connection, the liability period begins when the first loss occurs.

Our policies stipulate a liability period of 12 months.

GAREAT stands for „Gestion de l‘Assurance et de la Réassurance des Risques Attentats et Actes de Terrorisme“ and is a non-profit company managed under the French legal form of an "economic grouping of interests" (groupement d’intérêts). GAREAT provides its members with reinsurance coverage for the terrorism risks they have assumed. Insurance cover for French property risks does not include loss of earnings.

„Cat.Nat.“ stands for „Assurance Catastrophes Naturelle“ and is a French compensation system for covering natural hazards. By law, property insurers were required to extend the coverage of various insurance policies so as to include losses caused by natural catastrophes. This obligation to extend coverage applies, in particular, to fire and motor insurance policies as well as household contents and business interruption insurance.

The FGTI (Fonds de Garantie des Victimes des actes de Terrorisme et d’autres Infractions) (Guarantee Fund for Victims of Terrorism and other Crimes) is a French state pool for the coverage of personal injuries caused by terrorism. Property damage caused by terrorist attacks is covered by the fire policies, with no exclusions being possible.