Aerial and Satellite Installers Insurance for reception and communal TV firms
Insurance for firms that survey, supply and install TV aerials, satellite dishes, communal reception systems and cable TV. Compare cover built for teams working on roofs and chimneys, the stock in your vans and the housing and hotel contracts you hold.
- Damage to roofs, chimneys and tiles while you work
- Liability when an aerial or dish comes down in a storm
- Engineers working at height on ladders and roofs
Reviewed October 2026 by the MyBusinessComparison.com editorial team
What is aerial and satellite installers insurance?
Aerial and satellite installers insurance is a trade policy for companies that fit and maintain TV aerials, satellite dishes, communal reception systems and cable TV. It typically pairs liability to the public, to your employees and for completed installations with cover for stock, signal meters and vans, with professional indemnity available for signal surveys and system design.
Nearly every job involves height and someone else's roof. Cracked tiles, a chimney stack loosened by a lashing kit, or a ladder slipping through a conservatory roof can each become a property damage claim, and a mast that fails in high winds months later can injure a passer-by or damage a parked car. Insurers treat completed work on exposed structures as a real and lasting risk.
For larger firms, communal systems in apartment blocks, hotels, student housing and care homes bring bigger contracts, design responsibility and longer maintenance commitments, and insurers will ask how much of your turnover comes from them.
Aerial and satellite installers cover at a glance
- Suits
- Reception and communal TV firms with engineers, vans and housing or hotel contracts
- Core sections
- Public and products liability, employers' liability, stock and equipment
- Must have
- Employers' liability for engineers and office staff
- Trade specific
- Roof and chimney work, storm failure of masts and dishes, signal surveys
- Insurers look for
- Ladder and roof access controls, fixing standards and job records
- Covered elsewhere
- Network cabling and broadcast masts, on our telecoms engineers insurance page
What does aerial and satellite installers insurance cover?
Reception firms usually combine the sections below. Completed work and roof damage are the two areas worth reading most carefully on any quote.
Public liability
Damage to roofs, tiles, chimney stacks, fascias and interiors, and injury to residents or passers-by from dropped tools or falling brackets while you work.
Read more about public liability insurance
Products and completed installations
Claims after the job is signed off, such as a mast that snaps in a gale, a dish that comes away from a wall or a cable entry that lets rain into a building.
Read more about products liability cover
Employers' liability
Injuries to engineers falling from ladders, roofs and chimneys, and strains from carrying ladders and kit up stairwells in blocks without lifts.
Read more about employers' liability insurance
Stock and van contents
Aerials, dishes, signal amplifiers, multiswitches and cable carried in vans and held in stores, which are a regular target for theft.
Read more about business equipment insurance
Signal meters and tools
Spectrum analysers and signal meters are costly, fragile and easy to drop from a roof, so all risks cover away from your premises is worth adding.
Surveys and system design
Professional indemnity for signal surveys, reception advice and communal designs that prove wrong, leaving a block with poor pictures and a costly redesign.
Read more about professional indemnity insurance
Communal system contract works
Headend equipment, distribution and outlets being installed in new build or refurbished blocks, covered until the client takes them over.
Read more about contractors' all risks insurance
Vans
Engineering vans with ladders on the roof and stock inside, usually moved onto a single policy once you run several.
Read more about fleet insurance
Other cover reception firms add
- Commercial legal expenses: unpaid invoices from managing agents and disputes over maintenance contracts
- Group personal accident: payments to engineers hurt in falls, regardless of fault
- Business interruption: income protection if a fire or flood shuts your store and destroys stock
Which aerial and satellite businesses is this for?
From domestic installs to large communal systems, these are the reception firms we place cover for.
Cameras or door entry too? Many reception firms also fit CCTV and door entry, which is covered on our alarm and CCTV installers insurance page. Power supplies and distribution boards sit with electrical contractors insurance.
- Aerial and satellite installers: fitting and repairing TV aerials and dishes for homes, landlords and businesses across a region
- Aerial supplying firms: selling aerials, dishes and reception equipment to the trade or the public, with or without fitting
- Aerial surveying specialists: signal surveys for new developments, landlords and installers, recommending the reception system needed
- Communal TV system installers: shared reception and distribution systems for apartment blocks, retirement housing and student accommodation
- Cable TV installation contractors: connecting homes and businesses to cable networks and fitting outlets inside buildings
- Hotel TV system specialists: distribution and in-room TV systems for hotels, pubs and restaurants
- Housing reception contractors: planned and responsive aerial work for housing providers, often alongside property maintenance firms
- AV and home cinema installers: firms adding screens, sound and reception systems, covered on their own page
How much does aerial and satellite installers insurance cost?
There is no set rate for reception work. Insurers weigh how much time your engineers spend on roofs against the size of your contracts.
Height and roof work
Most jobs are on roofs and chimneys, so insurers look closely at ladder use, roof access equipment and whether engineers are trained to work at height.
Domestic or communal
Communal and hotel systems bring larger contracts and design work, while domestic jobs bring volume and more installations exposed to weather.
Fixing methods
Insurers like documented standards for brackets, lashings and masts, because storm failures are a familiar claim.
Stock and meters
What your vans and stores hold, and the way it is locked away at night, decide the property sections.
Engineers and wage roll
Employers' liability is rated on wages, and insurers usually rate roof-based work above ground-level installation.
Claims record
Past roof damage, storm failures and fall injuries, and what changed afterwards, will be reviewed.
What aerial and satellite installers insurance usually excludes
These are the exclusions most likely to affect a reception firm.
- Defects in roofs and chimneys that existed before your engineers arrived
- The cost of refitting an aerial or dish your own team fixed badly
- Storm losses where your work was not at fault, which fall to the property owner's own insurance
- Stock and meters left on view in unattended vans, depending on the policy's security conditions
- Work on masts, towers or broadcast sites that was not declared
- Signal loss caused by transmitter changes or interference outside your control
- CCTV, door entry and alarm work not declared to the insurer
Domestic installs or communal systems?
Most growing reception firms move from one-off domestic jobs towards communal contracts. The insurance changes with them.
| Feature | Domestic and small business installs | Communal and hotel systems |
|---|---|---|
| Typical client | Homeowners, landlords and small shops | Managing agents, developers, housing providers and hotel groups |
| Main liability risk | Roof and chimney damage, storm failures | Damage inside occupied blocks and faults affecting many residents |
| Design responsibility | Rare, beyond choosing the right aerial | Common, from surveys to full system design |
| Contract terms | Job by job, often on a simple invoice | Formal contracts, maintenance agreements and insurance clauses |
| Insurer questions | Ladder use, fixing methods, stock in vans | Design role, contract values, maintenance response times |
How to get aerial and satellite installers insurance quotes
A clear picture of your roof work and contracts helps the broker go to the right insurers first.
Break down your work
Show the split between domestic jobs, communal systems, cable TV connections, supply only sales and maintenance contracts.
Describe roof access
Explain ladder standards, roof access kit, training and when scaffolds or platforms are brought in.
Value stock and meters
List stock held in stores and vans, signal meters and tools, with security details.
Note design and survey work
Say whether you survey sites, design communal systems or install to others' designs.
Gather claims and contracts
Past claims and the insurance clauses from managing agent and developer contracts.
Speak to a broker who knows reception work
Share your work mix, engineers and stock values and a broker will compare cover from insurers who write reception firms.
Compare quotesAerial and satellite installers insurance FAQs
How much does aerial and satellite installers insurance cost?
Premiums depend on your turnover, wage roll, the share of roof and chimney work, communal system contracts, stock values and claims history. A firm focused on communal systems with design work is rated differently from one doing high volumes of domestic installs.
Are we covered if an aerial we fitted blows down in a storm?
If your fixing was at fault and the fall causes injury or damage, products and completed works liability usually responds. If the aerial was properly fitted and the storm was simply severe, the property owner's own insurance normally deals with it.
Does the policy cover damage to a customer's roof tiles?
Accidental damage your engineers cause to roofs, tiles, chimneys and gutters is usually covered under public liability. Insurers will not pay to repair defects that already existed, so photographing the roof before work starts helps if a dispute arises.
Is aerial surveying covered?
Survey and advice work needs professional indemnity, which some reception policies include and others add as a separate section. It responds when a survey or system recommendation is wrong and the client faces the cost of putting it right.
Does aerial and satellite installers insurance cover cable TV installation?
Yes, if it is declared. Cable TV connection and internal wiring is usually lower risk than roof work, but insurers want to know whether your teams dig, drill external walls or work in the street. External network build is covered on our telecoms engineers insurance page.
Are aerials and dishes we sell without fitting covered?
Yes, if declared: supply only sales fall under products liability. If you import equipment or sell it under your own brand, insurers may treat you as the manufacturer, so tell the broker where your stock comes from.
Can communal system contracts go on the same policy?
Yes. Most policies cover domestic and communal work together, but insurers need the contract values, any design role and your maintenance commitments. Developers and managing agents often ask for specific liability limits before you start.
Are signal meters covered if dropped from a roof?
Only if you have all risks cover for equipment away from your premises. Standard contents cover often stops at your own store, so meters in vans and on roofs need an extension.
How do I get an aerial and satellite installers insurance quote?
Choose compare quotes here and our partner will hand your enquiry to a broker who handles reception firms. Before the call, gather your work mix, wage roll, stock and meter values, roof access arrangements and any claims.
Compare aerial and satellite installers cover
Liability, stock and engineer cover for firms whose working day is spent on roofs, chimneys and communal systems.