Have you decided to build an ecological house? All in your honor ! But have you considered the insurance you are going to choose to protect your home, as well as green equipment? Some information should help you better understand the problem of equipment insurance.

Remember to keep your insurer informed

You should not imagine that your ecological home is like a traditional house. It is imperative to insure it under the right conditions so as not to find yourself in difficulty in the event of unforeseen circumstances. This type of construction has very specific constraints, so before choosing an insurer, try to list the ecological equipment that would need special insurance.

Indeed, ecological devices or materials are often more expensive than traditional equipment even if you have benefited from an aid device. The financial investment is heavier for your budget and therefore they must be well protected so that you do not need a premature replacement on your savings. Your Home Insurance must therefore integrate the specificities of ecological equipment.

Why is it essential to sign specific contracts?

Some insurance companies have understood the need to review their offers in order to adapt to new types of construction. So they imagined an offer dedicated to green building. These specific contracts provide real protection if ecological equipment such as the heat pump, wood stove, biological insulation or solar panels were to be damaged by fire, flood or destruction by a third party: inquire with your insurance company to establish a quote and discuss the arrangements to be made depending on the type of equipment that is included in the offer.

Specific protected materials

When building your green home, you have chosen durable and respectful materials of the environment. For the insurance to take these materials into account, they must be recognized in the contract you are going to sign. Insurance companies have understood the importance of promoting the installation of this type of material. They therefore established Optimal and interesting covers to help you protect your home.

What are the exclusion clauses?

Not all insurance offers are created equal! Some seem very attractive and use the term “ecology” to attract customers, so you need to pay particular attention to exclusion clauses. Discuss these clauses with your insurer before signing the contract.

You need to be sure that the chosen offer does not exclude the main ecological equipment of your home. Explore the small lines of the contract to confirm that a bioclimatic house is well insured if it were to suffer a fire. Ask your insurer questions, who will explain to you which equipment is or is not protected by the insurance contract. Check that all the clauses are in line with your needs.

Your ecological house required expensive investments to be less impactful on the environment and to produce its own energy, so conclude a contract which will allow you to protect them against theft, degradation, bad weather and fires.

Are green home insurance offers more expensive?

Of course, the more specific options you add, the better protected you will be. But it doesn't have to be that your “green” insurance is more expensive than traditional home insurance. Indeed, some companies reward the fact that their clients have decided to invest in ecological housing: the cost of the insurance premium for housing and ecological equipment can therefore be lower than a conventional contract. Insurance companies have understood the interest of pushing investors to opt for ecological projects, so do not hesitate to request quotes from your insurer to properly protect all your equipment.

What are the specific guarantees of an “ecological” insurance?

Insurance contracts for green housing and equipment are different from traditional home insurance.

For what types of ecological constructions?

Green housing is covered by a multi-risk home insurance contract to protect:

• Photovoltaic panels
• Solar thermal installations
• Rainwater recovery or treatment systems
• Wood boilers
• Wind turbines
• Heat pumps

The guarantees you need for ecological construction

This is where you have to be particularly vigilant about the type of contract you are going to sign with your insurance company. Check that your contract contains at least:

• A guaranteed financial losses : it allows you to cope with a possible failure of your equipment and to guarantee financial income if you have signed a contract with EDF to resell the electricity you produce at home.
• A damage to external property : if some of your ecological equipment is located outside your home, it must be covered against theft, but also against damage. It is essential to think about this clause, because you have surely invested a substantial sum to install solar panels. If they are not included in the insurance contract, you will not be helped if they were to suffer damage.
• A juridic protection You may disagree with the neighborhood that would be unhappy with your installation. Legal protection is a real solution for being accompanied and receiving sound advice in order to get out of this dispute as soon as possible.

Which constructions are considered ecological?

There are several types of eco-stamped constructions:

• Bioclimatic construction is a home that has been designed to benefit as much as possible from the use of naturally produced energy. The house is exposed in a certain way so that the sun comes to warm the living rooms. The environment helps you to reduce your energy bills and thus it is easier to use less heating, because bioclimatic construction exploits the natural coolness of a building in summer and guarantees heat in winter.
• Low Consumption Home (BBC) : this is a standard established by precise specifications in order to guarantee that the house has a really reduced need for energy to offer optimal comfort. The permeability rate of these constructions is really low.
• La passive house : the building is designed to be able to produce the main part of the energy it needs for heating, lighting or water consumption.

Contact your insurer to find out about the type of offers they offer for this type of equipment and for which ecological constructions. If you have any questions, ask them on our forum dedicated to ecological houses and eco-construction