What insurance and fire-safety checks do chargers and batteries need?

Give your broker the proposed equipment, ownership, location and operating arrangements before installation. Business insurance is subject to the Insurance Act 2015 duty of fair presentation [S1]. Arrange a suitable fire assessment and competent electrical design, with clear maintenance and emergency responsibilities. Premiums and cover depend on your policy; check legal duties with your solicitor. Checked October 2026.

Last checked 17 October 2026

Do you need to tell your insurer about chargers and batteries?

Prepare a written description of the proposed change and send it to your broker before committing to installation. Include who owns the equipment, who operates it, whether the public can enter and where the equipment sits relative to your buildings.

For non-consumer insurance, the Insurance Act 2015 requires fair presentation of the risk before the contract is entered into and applies that duty to relevant variations. This is different from relying on household-policy anecdotes. Ask your broker what the existing policy requires during the proposed works, and check legal duties with your solicitor. [S1]

Request written confirmation of the cover position, policy conditions and any requested surveys. Do not assume a referral, electrical certificate or operator insurance schedule means your own business policy has accepted the change.

Who is responsible for the fire risk assessment?

Ask the person managing fire safety at your premises to involve the assessor before the layout is fixed. GOV.UK’s workplace guidance requires the responsible person to carry out and regularly review an assessment, keeping a written record. Have your assessor identify the relevant national regime and check legal responsibilities with your solicitor. [S2]

Propose a joint review of existing escape routes, guest or staff access, charging bays and battery equipment. Identify how your landlord, operator and facilities team will exchange information when equipment or operating hours change.

An assessment should result in actions with owners, rather than a file nobody uses. Request a close-out record for design issues before construction and an updated operational assessment at handover. The fire-risk-assessment guide helps organise the information to take to your assessor.

How do you know the electrical installation is safe?

Commission competent electrical design and installation. HSE requires competence for electrical work and describes the need to plan that work safely. Ask who is accountable for the complete installation, including the interface between the chargers, site supply and any battery. [S4]

OZEV’s published grant-related installation specifications reference BS 7671, the IET Wiring Regulations, and the IET Code of Practice for Electric Vehicle Charging Equipment Installations. These references help identify the documents to discuss with your designer; the grant specification is not a substitute for the standards or a complete compliance assessment. [S5]

Request the design basis, test records, equipment instructions and commissioning results. Ask the contractor to explain safe shutdown controls and the maintenance plan in language your site manager can follow. Keep the records accessible when the original installer is unavailable.

Are stationary batteries assessed in the same way as chargers?

Ask for a battery-specific hazard assessment. DESNZ’s grid-scale storage guidance identifies thermal runaway as a failure mode for lithium-based systems, with potential fire, explosion and toxic-gas hazards. Thermal runaway means an escalating, self-heating failure within the battery. [S6]

A charger installation review should not silently stand in for that work. Ask the designer to document the battery chemistry, capacity, enclosure, monitoring and emergency arrangements. Record both kilowatts (kW), measuring power, and kilowatt hours (kWh), measuring stored energy, so that assessors understand the proposed system.

The NFCC planning guidance is for grid-scale storage and fire and rescue services. Use it to identify issues for a suitably qualified designer, not to invent a universal separation distance for a small business installation. Ask which guidance actually applies to your equipment and site. [S7]

What changes if the charging bays are in a covered car park?

Bring the car-park fire strategy into the discussion before promising bays to an operator. The government’s covered-car-park guidance has interim status, applies to England and does not replace existing safety requirements. It addresses retrofits and new covered car parks. [S3]

Ask your assessor to review the proposed location, access for responders, escape arrangements and the interaction with existing systems. Request a documented reason for the layout and for any additional measures. Do not copy an open-air layout into a covered structure without review.

Use the covered-car-park guide to prepare the project questions. Ask the insurer and landlord what evidence they need before you agree the construction date.

Who pays if there is damage or an incident?

Compare the proposed policies and contracts by responsibility rather than by the size of a headline insurance limit. Ask your broker to map the equipment, property, liabilities and interruption exposure against the actual documents.

These are review subjects, not claims that every policy provides each type of cover. Ask your solicitor to compare liability and indemnity clauses with the broker’s written response. Keep a record of unresolved gaps rather than treating an operator’s policy as a replacement for yours.

Agree an emergency contact route and a plan your staff can practise. Request clear instructions for raising the alarm, keeping people away and handing information to responders. Staff should not be expected to open electrical enclosures or attempt battery firefighting as part of routine hosting.

Pre-signing checklist

Put these questions to the installer or operator:

• What equipment, location and public access have been disclosed to your broker?
• Which assessor reviews fire risk, and which national rules apply?
• Who supplies electrical design, testing and commissioning records?
• Has battery risk been assessed separately for the proposed system?
• Who monitors alarms and arranges competent maintenance?
• What do staff do during an incident, including outside opening hours?
• Which contractual liabilities remain unresolved after the insurance review?

What should you do next?

Gather your site plan, fire assessment, policy schedule and proposed equipment documents. Compare them with the operator’s responsibilities before signing. Read how we work and get matched with an installer that covers your area.

Piggy Pineapple Ltd operates this referral service. We refer enquiries to installer partners and may be paid a fee. Our owner holds shares in at least one partner. Before passing on your details, we name the proposed partner and disclose any shareholding our owner holds in it.