State Farm won't insure my rooftop solar

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Topic Author
LatentSemantics
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Mar 26, 2017 10:33 pm

State Farm won't insure my rooftop solar

Post by LatentSemantics »

I built a new home last year that includes rooftop solar power, which I purposefully oversized to accommodate recharging a possible electric vehicle in the future. Per my electric bills, during the last year I’ve generated about 180% of my actual electric usage, with the excess bought back by my power provider. Great! (Or so I thought.)

My homeowners insurance is coming up for renewal soon. Unfortunately, my carrier State Farm notified me last month that, as of October 1, they will no longer cover the loss of, or liability from, “systems and equipment used to generate electrical power exceeding 125% of the actual power usage by the residential premises in the 12-month period prior to the date of the loss...”, leaving my solar unprotected. Note that there won’t even be “pro-rated” coverage for that portion of the system under 125%: according to my agent, if my house burns down and destroys my panels and inverter, State Farm will not pay to replace any of that equipment. More troubling, I will also have no liability coverage: if, say, a solar panel accidentally falls off my roof onto a passing car, State Farm will pay nothing for damages to the car or injuries to the driver. (And per my agent, State Farm offers no riders or add-on policies that would cover my situation.) While I might consider self-insuring against loss of the solar hardware, I certainly don’t want to be exposed to liability claims. So I’m resigned to searching for new homeowners insurance.

But now my real worry: since State Farm is a major carrier, does anyone think that they’re just the first in a wave of insurers that intend to restrict or eliminate solar coverage? I (almost) wonder if there isn’t a conspiracy between Big Insurance and Big Utilities to stifle the spread of robust residential power generation!
Swansea
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Re: State Farm won't insure my rooftop solar

Post by Swansea »

Is State Farm treating the oversized panels as a business, not subject to homeowner's insurance? Just a thought.
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yatesd
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Location: MD

Re: State Farm won't insure my rooftop solar

Post by yatesd »

This is easy to solve...buy an electric car, hot tub, pool, and leave all the lights on. :D

You will be below the 125% threshold shortly.
ddurrett896
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Joined: Wed Nov 05, 2014 2:23 pm

Re: State Farm won't insure my rooftop solar

Post by ddurrett896 »

disconnect enough panels to get below 125%
texaspapas
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Re: State Farm won't insure my rooftop solar

Post by texaspapas »

Just out of curiosity, how do they go about finding out how much power you generate relative to how much you consume? Did they just ask you your estimate of these numbers, or something more thorough? Just kind of curious because it seems rather arbitrary. What about people who use 120-130%?
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Watty
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Re: State Farm won't insure my rooftop solar

Post by Watty »

If you go on and buy an electric car your usage may be within their limits.
TBillT
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Re: State Farm won't insure my rooftop solar

Post by TBillT »

I assume you live in a pro-solar state as evidenced by the net-metering agreement.
I'd check in with the state to see if they are aware of the issue and which insurance cos. they are suggesting.
Allstate ruled out covering our house for some technicality unrelated to solar, so we had to go with State Farm (who we always liked anyways).
So I do think switching cos. is sometimes needed when you cross some unique internal rule a company may have.
Topic Author
LatentSemantics
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Mar 26, 2017 10:33 pm

Re: State Farm won't insure my rooftop solar

Post by LatentSemantics »

Thanks for your replys. My responses below:

Is State Farm treating the oversized panels as a business, not subject to homeowner's insurance? Just a thought.
He didn't know for sure, but that was the guess of my SF agent. (Although it's a "business" that only makes me a couple hundred bucks per year!)

This is easy to solve...buy an electric car, hot tub, pool, and leave all the lights on. You will be below the 125% threshold shortly.
disconnect enough panels to get below 125%

Hopefully, an even easier solution will be to find a new insurer, and maybe save on premiums to boot (it's been decades since I last shopped home insurance carriers).

Just out of curiosity, how do they go about finding out how much power you generate relative to how much you consume? Did they just ask you your estimate of these numbers, or something more thorough? Just kind of curious because it seems rather arbitrary.
They had no knowledge of my power generation/usage. My policy just happens to be expiring and State Farm is imposing the 125% restriction on all new policies issued across the US starting October 1. And yes, the limit does seem arbitrary, but I guess they wanted to restrict solar to break-even (100%) with a little wiggle room.

What about people who use 120-130%?
Good question. It seems like a homeowner with solar historically running just under to the 125% limit could easily have his claim denied after State Farm asks for and reviews his power bills from the year preceding the claim, say because of a particularly cloud-free year or maybe reduced power usage due to installing new, more efficient HVAC, lights or appliances.
Raggs
Posts: 8
Joined: Fri Sep 01, 2017 10:38 am

Re: State Farm won't insure my rooftop solar

Post by Raggs »

I would check with carriers that are regional instead of national. They are more likely to be flexible. Check with an independent agency that can shop this for you.
Saving$
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Joined: Sat Nov 05, 2011 8:33 pm

Re: State Farm won't insure my rooftop solar

Post by Saving$ »

I would switch carriers, but also complain to my state insurance commissioner.
A7las
Posts: 125
Joined: Wed Mar 09, 2016 7:16 pm

Re: State Farm won't insure my rooftop solar

Post by A7las »

LatentSemantics wrote: Sun Sep 10, 2017 1:55 pm I built a new home last year that includes rooftop solar power, which I purposefully oversized to accommodate recharging a possible electric vehicle in the future. Per my electric bills, during the last year I’ve generated about 180% of my actual electric usage, with the excess bought back by my power provider. Great! (Or so I thought.)

My homeowners insurance is coming up for renewal soon. Unfortunately, my carrier State Farm notified me last month that, as of October 1, they will no longer cover the loss of, or liability from, “systems and equipment used to generate electrical power exceeding 125% of the actual power usage by the residential premises in the 12-month period prior to the date of the loss...”, leaving my solar unprotected. Note that there won’t even be “pro-rated” coverage for that portion of the system under 125%: according to my agent, if my house burns down and destroys my panels and inverter, State Farm will not pay to replace any of that equipment. More troubling, I will also have no liability coverage: if, say, a solar panel accidentally falls off my roof onto a passing car, State Farm will pay nothing for damages to the car or injuries to the driver. (And per my agent, State Farm offers no riders or add-on policies that would cover my situation.) While I might consider self-insuring against loss of the solar hardware, I certainly don’t want to be exposed to liability claims. So I’m resigned to searching for new homeowners insurance.

But now my real worry: since State Farm is a major carrier, does anyone think that they’re just the first in a wave of insurers that intend to restrict or eliminate solar coverage? I (almost) wonder if there isn’t a conspiracy between Big Insurance and Big Utilities to stifle the spread of robust residential power generation!
I would reach out to an independent insurance agent. They should be able to find a carrier with an appetite for your risk.

State farm is just one carrier, I doubt that this is a conspiracy between insurers and the power companies.
DingDongDee
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Joined: Thu Aug 02, 2018 9:48 pm

Re: State Farm won't insure my rooftop solar

Post by DingDongDee »

I'm also with State Farm and considering putting solar on my house. I have a problem with the parameters State Farm is using. I get that they are don't going to insure a business but then a business needs to be properly defined by IRS or State and local guidelines not just arbitrary conflicting insurance rules. This has a major implication of just what you said will impact and discourage solar green energy by homeowners. Our state utility company has already been successful in eliminating net metering, lowered the per watt buy back rate and looks like they will do this again this year. I understand there needed to be a division between a business enterprise and personal usage but I don't thing an over sized system for future expansion where you realize some junk change at the end of a year when you didn't use all your energy you let the utility company use temporarily. There needs to be some regulation to control this because having the insurance company require to see your utility bills is a big obscure. Thanks for bring this issue to light!
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