There’s nothing better than leaving a hairdresser appointment with a spring in your step, thanks to the confidence boost a new style gives you. For your customers, your hairdressing skills can seem akin to magic as you transform their look with deft snips of your scissors, expert mixing of your hair colourants and the twirling of your styling tools. Happy customers will spread the word about your services, and you will know all too well the importance of word-of-mouth advertising when building a client base. To help protect your all-important reputation, hairdresser insurance offers the reassurance that should a claim be made against your business, you’ll be covered.
Liability insurance for hairdressers reflects the risks associated with hairdressing, including the equipment and chemicals used. The fear of triggering an allergic reaction, damaging the hair or staining personal property can all hang over a hairdresser. A comprehensive insurance policy can take that weight off your mind, allowing you to focus on doing the best job for your customers.
Do I need public liability insurance for hairdressers?
Whether you run a multi-station hair salon, hire a seat within someone else’s premises, work from your own home or offer a mobile hairdressing service, hairdresser insurance provides you peace of mind while you work. Though hairdressing may not appear to be a high-risk profession, accidents, injuries and damage can occur in this environment. A customer could slip on water splashed out of one of the hair-washing sinks, or a styling tool could burn an item of their clothing.
Whether you’re taking out a hair salon insurance policy or seeking mobile hairdresser insurance, the core of the policy will be the public liability cover. This coverage will protect you financially should a customer or member of the public accuse you of causing them an injury or damaging their personal property while they are in your salon or working environment.
Public liability insurance can be used to cover the legal costs of dealing with a claim made against you, along with any compensation you are found liable to pay. The level of public liability cover you take out will depend upon the nature of your hairdressing work – but a starting point of £1 million of cover is standard.
Are treatments going wrong covered by public liability insurance?
You may wish to add treatment risk cover to your hairdresser insurance because, unlike public liability cover, this will protect you financially against treatments going wrong. This can be used to deal with the likes of an allergic reaction to a product you’ve used or an injury inflicted during the course of a treatment – such as a heat or chemical burn.
Do I need product liability cover?
From shampoos, conditioners and styling products to dyes and permanent hair treatment chemicals, you probably work daily with a wide range of products. Though you take great care to ensure the safety of your customers with measures such as patch testing, a faulty product can still lead to problems.
Product liability cover can be used if any product you use during your hairdressing work or supply to your customer causes an injury.
What cover do I need if I employ staff at my hair salon?
Hair salon insurance can be tailored to include employer’s liability cover. It is a legal requirement in the UK to hold at least £5 million of employer’s liability cover. This can be added to your hairdresser insurance policy and is a requirement even if you only employ part-time staff or are using trainees.
Employer’s liability cover will be used if a staff member claims that working for your business resulted in illness or injury.
Will hairdresser insurance cover the contents of my salon?
Your hairdresser’s equipment is invaluable to your work. Whether you have a large salon full of state-of-the-art equipment or carry the tools of your trade with you in your mobile service, you need to protect these assets.
In addition to equipment such as hairdryers and styling tools, contents cover can also protect your sinks, styling chairs and mirrors. You can also ask to cover the cost of your stock – both the products you use on clients and those that you sell.
I work from home. Will my home insurance cover my hairdressing business?
Your home insurance will not financially protect your hairdressing business. Furthermore, if you haven’t let your home insurer know that you’re running a business from the property, you may find that your home insurance policy is invalidated.
Taking out self-employed hairdresser insurance after discussing your business operations with your home insurer will ensure that your business and home are fully protected.
Should I take out financial loss cover?
Financial loss cover is sometimes taken out by hairdressers who work in the modelling or entertainment industry. If a hairdresser’s error doesn’t physically injure an individual but instead leaves them with a hairstyle that they’re unhappy with, there is the potential that both the talent and the company who hired them could make a claim. The talent could claim for loss of earnings, while the hiring company could claim for studio and equipment costs.
Will mobile hairdresser insurance help me if I’m unable to work?
For the self-employed hairdresser, the thought of suddenly being unable to work is a genuine concern. Likewise, salon owners and those with critical members of staff have the uncertainty of an unexpected accident leaving the business short-handed.
Including personal accident cover in your self-employed hairdresser insurance will offer financial protection if you or one of your employees find themselves unable to work because of an accident either within or outside the workplace.
At Park Insurance, we have decades of experience working with small business owners, creating bespoke insurance policies that meet their individual needs. Give one of our friendly insurance experts a call today to chat about how you can best protect the hairdressing business. We know how much time and effort went into building your business, so let us provide the comprehensive protection it deserves.