For your best business protection and savings, we recommend bundling GL with some other important coverages on one Business Owners Policy!
Wind-generated electricity rose by 17% in 2021. The American Clean Power Association estimates that there are nearly 70,000 wind turbines generating renewable energy.Â
As a wind turbine business owner, you are undoubtedly excited about the exponential growth in the clean power industry. It is imperative that you are set up for the future of renewables through a healthy wind turbine insurance policy.Â
This policy will protect your business against many types of liability claims from the public, customers, employees, and more. Moreover, you can use your coverage to cover the cost of occupational injuries or diseases sustained by wind turbine technicians and other employees. This article will examine some key components that you will want to consider adding to your business's financial protection.
| CoverWallet | NEXT (Best) | Thimble | Hiscox | The Hartford | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Per occurrence limit | $1,000,000 | $1,000,000 | $1,000,000/$2,000,000 | $2,000,000 | $1,000,000/$2,000,000 |
| Aggregate limit | $2,000,000 | $2,000,000 | $1,000,000/$2,000,000 | $2,000,000 | $1,000,000/$2,000,000 |
| Products and completed operations aggregate limit | $2,000,000 | $1,000,000 | $2,000,000 | $1,000,000 | $1,000,000 |
| Advertising injury coverage aggregate limit | $1,000,000 | $1,000,000 | $2,000,000 | $1,000,000 | $1,000,000 |
| Tenant’s legal liability coverage limit | $300,000/$1,000,000 | $300,000 | $100,000 | $100,000 | $1,000,000 |
| Waiver of subrogation included? | Yes | No | Included | Can be included | No |
| Hired/non-owned auto liability coverage included? | Yes | No | No | Can be included | Can be included |
| Equipment breakdown floater included? | No | Yes | Yes | Can be included | Can be included |
| Can you get a certificate of insurance online? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Name additional insureds? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Deductible | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
Your wind power insurance would greatly benefit from general liability coverage. This policy protects your business against claims resulting from third parties for property damage and injuries. Examples of this coverage include:
Someone wanders onto your wind farm and injures themselves on your property
While negotiating a contract, a customer slips and falls on your business premises and needs medical treatment
Your wind turbine insurance can be further bolstered by additional protections, which include:
Cyber liability–Provides protection for your wind turbine business from ransomware, phishing scams, and security breaches
Employment practices–Covers your business practices that result in employee allegations of discrimination, wrongful termination, and workplace harassment
Wind turbine general liability insurance will have a typical coverage of $1 million per occurrence and $2 million in aggregate.
No, your wind turbine business will not be required to have general liability insurance, but it is still highly recommended that you have some. Unexpected events can result in liabilities that have the possible chance to bankrupt your business. Also, some clients and agencies you do business with might require that you have some form of liability coverage or prove that you can cover certain types of liabilities.
| CoverWallet | NEXT | Thimble (Best) | Hiscox | The Hartford | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Per occurrence limit | $1,000,000 | $1,000,000 | $1,000,000/$2,000,000 | $1,000,000 | $1,000,000 |
| Aggregate limit | $2,000,000 | $2,000,000 | $1,000,000/$2,000,000 | $1,000,000 | $2,000,000 |
| Name additional insureds? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Waiver of subrogation included? | Yes | No | Yes | Can be included | No |
Errors and omissions coverage of wind energy insurance programs protects your business from mistakes that you or your employees make. This insurance covers oversights, negligence, and bad service claims that your company might contend with. Example situations include:
You overlook some wind turbine maintenance that affects your electricity production
Your business makes a mistake on an agreement to sell electricity to a local power utility
Media liability insurance–Adds protection for content your business published on social media platforms or other business websites.
Extended reporting period–This lets you extend the time you have to file your claim on your errors and omissions insurance
Your wind turbine errors and omission insurance will have a coverage limit of $1 million per occurrence and $1 million in aggregate.
An occurrence policy covers events that happen during the timeframe of your policy, while a claims-made policy only covers claims that you file during the policy period. Your errors and omissions insurance can be either of these two.Â
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| CoverWallet | NEXT (Best) | Thimble | Hiscox | The Hartford | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Building coverage limit (minimum) | $50,000 | $260,000 | $25,000/$500,000 | $25,000 | $60,000 |
| Contents coverage limit (minimum) | $50,000 | $22,000 | $25,000/$500,000 | $25,000 | $60,000 |
| Outdoor signs | Excluded | $2,500 | Excluded | Excluded | Excluded |
| Accounts receivable | Excluded | Excluded | $5,000/10,000 | Included | Excluded |
| Money and securities | Excluded | $2,500 | $1,000 | Included | Excluded |
| Lock and keys | Excluded | $2,500 | Excluded | Excluded | Excluded |
| Business interruption floater | Excluded | Included | Included | Included | Excluded |
| Equipment breakdown floater | Excluded | Included | Excluded | Excluded | Excluded |
| Inland marine insurance floater | Excluded | Excluded | $10,000 | Excluded | Excluded |
| Employee dishonesty floater | Excluded | $5,000 | $2,500 | Included | Excluded |
Commercial property insurance is a policy for your wind turbine business that covers damage to your business premises and any other property stored there. Coverage examples include:
Your wind farm catches on fire and needs immediate repair
A local prankster defaces your wind farm’s property. The graffiti caused some damages that must be reversed
Earthquake protection–This covers your building and contained business property when it suffers damage from a mudslide, landslide, or earthquake
Crime insurance–You can use this to recover losses caused by theft, social engineering, forgery, and other types of dishonest acts
Your typical coverage limit for your wind turbine commercial property insurance will be around $50,000 for the building and $50,000 for contained business property.
Wind turbine insurance companies will be unable to cover earthquakes. For extreme disasters, you will need to purchase endorsements. Also, if you damage your own property intentionally, you will not be able to get that event covered.
| CoverWallet | Thimble (Best) | NEXTÂ | Hiscox | The Hartford | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General liability aggregate limit | $2,000,000 | $2,000,000 | $2,000,000 | $300,000 | $1,000,000/$2,000,000 |
| Commercial property coverage limit | $50,000 | $500,000 | $260,000 | $25,000 | $75,000 |
| Optional policies can be added? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Name additional insureds for free? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| BOP discount? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
A business owner’s policy is an insurance package that combines general liability and commercial property protection. Example situations where this can help include events like:
Your wind turbine accidentally harms a member of the public that is on your property.
A thief trespasses onto your wind farm and steals valuable tools or equipment.
Equipment breakdown–Helps protect business equipment int he case it is damaged due to an electrical or mechanical failure
Flood insurance–This add-on can protect you from damage resulting from flood waters that often does not come standard with commercial property policies
Business owner’s policy coverage limits will range between $500,000 and $2 million for liability protection. Commercial property insurance ranges between $15,000 and $50,000.
No, your BOP will need to be augmented with errors and omissions coverage because that type of policy is typically not standard. This can be an essential pickup if you want to insulate yourself from financially devastating lawsuits, judgments, and lawyer fees related to business mistakes.
| NEXTÂ | Thimble | Hiscox | The Hartford | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aggregate limit | $3,000/$10,000 | $2,500/$5,000 | $15,000/$25,000 | $5,000-$10,000 |
| Covers hired and borrowed equipment? | $3,000/$10,000 | $2,500/$5,000 | No | Yes |
| Miscellaneous equipment also covered? | $5,000/$10,000 | No | Yes | Yes |
| Offered as an endorsement to general liability insurance? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Deductible | $500 | $500 | $0 | $0 |
Tools and equipment insurance protects your business equipment from sudden events that cause them to need to be repaired or replaced. Examples of when to use this coverage include:
While working on your wind turbine, a tool breaks due to another person damaging it
One of your crucial pieces of wind farm equipment becomes damaged after a sudden downpouring of rain
Tools and equipment insurance for wind turbine businesses will cover damages between $5,000 and $20,000.
Your employees will greatly benefit from a workers’ compensation insurance policy. Workers comp pays benefits to compensate workers for lost wages and medical treatments resulting from workplace injuries or illnesses. Example situations include:
An employee is climbing a wind turbine to make repairs but falls and needs medical treatment
One of your employees develops a chronic health condition from their job that limits their range of movement
Yes, often, a workers’ comp policy will automatically include employer liability insurance. This insurance adds protection to the employer if an employee decides to sue for their workplace injury.
It depends. The area you do business in will set rules of when businesses will require workers comp. Most states typically require the purchase of workers' compensation for any company that has employees.
The excess liability coverage of your wind farm insurance program extends the coverage limits of an existing policy. You use excess liability to add additional coverage to one of your policies so it can cover incidents past its normal limit. Examples include:
Before your policy expires, you run out of coverage but still have incidents that the costs are stacking up for
A damaging incident exceeds your policy limit of $1 million, so you buy an excess liability policy to supplement the coverage
The main difference between the two is that excess liability only covers one policy at a time. An Umbrella policy can extend the coverage of multiple policies at once.
