A charging station is a facility with specific fire risk — lithium batteries, high current and third-party vehicles moving in and out continuously — so the station owner insurance question does not stop at whether to buy, but comprises three layers: the layer compulsory by law, the liability layer when damaging a charging vehicle, and the asset protection layer of the station itself. This article separates all three layers.
Legal basis
- Decree 67/2023/ND-CP on compulsory fire and explosion insurance and Appendix VII of Decree 105/2025/ND-CP on the list of facilities required to buy compulsory fire and explosion insurance: a facility within the fire-hazard category list must buy compulsory fire and explosion insurance for its assets throughout operation.
- Civil Code 2015, Articles 584 and 601: non-contractual compensation liability when causing damage to the property or health of others, including liability of the owner or possessor of a high-risk source.
- Law on Insurance Business 08/2022/QH15 and insurer insurance conditions: the civil liability and property insurance scope for a charging station is determined by the specific insurance contract, including exclusion clauses for batteries and charging equipment.
Must a charging station buy insurance?
The only layer compulsory by law is compulsory fire and explosion insurance — and it applies only where the charging station facility falls within the list of fire-hazard facilities required to buy compulsory fire and explosion insurance under Decree 67/2023 and Appendix VII of Decree 105/2025. Large-scale stations, stations with battery storage, stations inside buildings, shopping centres or concentrated car parks typically fall within the must-buy group; a small scattered station must reconcile its specific location and scale against the list to determine. Not buying compulsory fire and explosion insurance while within scope is a sanctioned violation and a direct deduction point when the fire authority inspects the facility. Beyond this compulsory layer, civil liability insurance of the station owner toward third parties and property insurance for charging posts and electrical systems are not forced by law, but in practice are near-compulsory by contract: site owners, industrial parks and location lessors commonly require the station owner to hold liability insurance at a set limit as a lease condition, and project financing banks also require property insurance for mortgaged equipment. The station owner should therefore treat this three-layer insurance structure as an operating standard rather than an optional extra.
How does insurance pay for a charging fire?
Payment follows two steps that cannot be reversed: legal liability is determined first, and insurance pays under liability and contract scope afterwards. When a fire occurs during charging, the authorities and the insurer loss adjuster determine where the fire cause lies — fault of station equipment, installation or operation makes compensation liability rest with the station owner and the owner liability and fire insurance is the corresponding payment source; fault of the vehicle battery or electrical system places liability on the vehicle side and the vehicle manufacturer, with the station owner not the primary compensator; a mixed cause is allocated by fault ratio in the adjustment conclusion. On typical payment scope: the facility fire and explosion insurance pays damage to the insured assets of the facility itself under contract value and conditions; civil liability insurance pays the compensation portion to third parties within the purchased liability limit; business interruption loss is paid only where the corresponding clause was bought. The exclusion points the station owner must read carefully before signing comprise: whether fire arising from storage batteries is insured or excluded, conditions on periodic charging equipment maintenance and inspection, and the duty to notify risk increase when expanding station capacity — breaching these conditions is the most common ground for an insurer to refuse payment although the incident sits within nominal insurance scope.
Who compensates a vehicle damaged while charging?
Compensation liability for the vehicle follows the fault and technical cause principle: if the vehicle is damaged by a station-side incident — unstable voltage, a faulty charging post, a short circuit from the station side — the station owner compensates under civil liability at Article 584 of the Civil Code and the charging service contract relationship with the customer; if the vehicle is damaged by a fault of the vehicle itself or its battery, the loss rests with the vehicle owner and is handled through vehicle material insurance or the product liability of the vehicle manufacturer; if damage comes from a cause outside both sides control such as lightning striking the grid, allocation follows the technical conclusion and service contract clauses. The decisive factor in real disputes is data: the charging log of the post (time, current, voltage, error codes), cameras at the charging point and a scene record form the fault-allocation evidence set. A professional station owner prepares for this situation with three things: liability allocation clauses in the charging service terms displayed clearly; an automatic tamper-proof logging system of the charging post; and a first-24-hour incident process comprising scene sealing, timely insurer notification and customer claim file support — because late insurance notification is the most common error losing payment rights.
Insurance structure recommendations for station owners
The minimum structure should comprise: compulsory fire and explosion insurance where within the list (and advisable even where scope is uncertain, because the cost is far lower than battery fire risk); property insurance for all station equipment at replacement value; third-party civil liability insurance with a limit proportionate to station scale and the average vehicle value of customers; and a business interruption clause for high-revenue stations. Before signing, negotiate clearly the three exclusion points above and place equipment maintenance and inspection duties into the station compliance calendar to keep insurance validity continuous.
Frequently asked questions
Must a charging station buy insurance?
Compulsory by law is compulsory fire and explosion insurance where the facility falls within the fire-hazard facility list under Decree 67/2023 and Appendix VII of Decree 105/2025 — large stations, stations with battery storage, stations in buildings and concentrated car parks typically fall in this scope. Civil liability and property insurance are not forced by law but are commonly conditions in site leases and project financing.
How does insurance pay for a charging fire?
Payment follows liability after cause adjustment: fault on the station side makes the station owner insurance pay within contract scope (facility assets under fire insurance, third-party compensation under liability insurance within limits); vehicle battery fault places liability on the vehicle side and manufacturer. Read carefully exclusions on storage batteries, equipment maintenance and inspection conditions and risk increase notification duties, as breaching them is the most common refusal ground.
Who compensates a vehicle damaged while charging?
By fault and technical cause: damage from a station-side incident (voltage, faulty post) is compensated by the station owner under Article 584 of the Civil Code and the charging service contract; damage from a vehicle or battery fault rests with the vehicle owner, vehicle material insurance or the manufacturer product liability. Charging logs, cameras and scene records are the decisive allocation evidence, and the insurer must be notified in time to preserve payment rights.
This article has been quality-reviewed by the FLAW AI Legal Council