Insurance for hairdressers

Why do hairdressers need professional insurance?

Although you’re confident you have all the skills you need to deliver a great look for your clients, it’s a fact of life that things don’t always go according to plan.

Say a hair colour goes disastrously wrong, and your client gets a nasty shock when they look in the mirror. Or maybe someone has a bad allergic reaction to a product.

The trouble is, mistakes and accidents can be both expensive to fix and damaging to your hard-earned reputation. And if the bookings dry up because rumour is rife, or a claim ends up sapping all your time and resources, then your business can suffer.

Professional insurance helps take the weight off by providing both practical and financial help. That means hands-on expertise to deal with the legal side of a claim, and money to cover costs and compensation.

Beauty treatments like manicures, pedicures, waxing and fake tans are included too. So that’s pretty much everything covered – from head to toe.

How much treatment and public liability insurance do I need?

These policies protect your business, no one else’s. And since it’s you who knows your business best, you’re the one best-placed to decide on the right level of cover.

A good starting point is to think about what you do, how you do it, and what could go wrong. How many clients do you have and where do you style their hair? What’s the worst that could happen or the most expensive mistake you could make (or be accused of making)?

Bear in mind that your legal defence can cost many tens of thousands of pounds... and that’s before the compensation bill from your client rolls in. Your level of cover has to be enough to take care of the lot – so really, you can’t ever have too much.

What does treatment and public liability insurance cover?

Treatment and public liability insurance provides cover for mistakes you make in the course of your work and any accidental mishaps involving members of the public. It has two crucial components:

Malpractice: covers physical or mental injury, illness or death of clients caused by negligence or error. Like accidentally cutting a client’s ear with your scissors during a trim.

Liability: covers physical damage and injuries caused by your business and the services or products you supply. Like a client slipping on a wet floor in your salon and being injured.

Why do I need public liability insurance?

Because it covers your business against third-party claims for injuries or property damage.

And that means you’re insured every which way – whether you’re operating out of your own home or salon, renting a chair in someone else’s salon, or visiting clients in their homes.

Let’s say you’re giving a client a new colour in her own home, but dye somehow ends up on the carpet, ruining it. You’re covered. Or you leave a blow-drier lead trailing across the floor and someone trips over it, injuring themselves. Again, you’re covered.

Your public liability policy picks up the tab and pays to defend you, to fix whatever’s wrong and to compensate someone if needs be.

What else do I need?

Employers’ liability insurance covers your business if an employee sues it for damages. Claims are usually because they’ve suffered injuries and illnesses as a consequence of working for you. It’s a legal requirement for UK businesses with employees.

Office and property insurance covers the things in your office (furniture, plants, fixed IT equipment etc) and portable insurance covers gadgets and technical equipment away from the office (laptops, tablets, projectors etc). If you’re not sure it’s worth insuring, add it all up – it’s probably worth more than you think.

Business interruption insurance means you can still work when your office is out of action. Be it flood, fire or flea infestation, you’re covered for the costs of setting up elsewhere and for any lost revenue in that time.

Directors’ and officers’ insurance covers your company bosses. Anyone from regulators to shareholders to competitors can accuse you of not running a business with due care. Worse, directors are personally liable for their actions. The good thing is this insurance covers your defence costs and any compensation you have to pay. So you can put away your chequebook.

Why should I buy insurance from you?

Hmmm – good question. And one we’re very happy to answer.

Basically, we’re specialists – small business insurance is all we do – so we know our stuff.

We also pride ourselves on making the whole ‘buying insurance’ thing as quick and as painless as possible. And we’re anti-jargon, so you won’t find us spouting insurance gobbledygook.

That means you can buy simply and speedily online, or talk to one of our advisers for expert advice. They’re phone-friendly people with real knowledge – no call centres or phone menus here.

Oh, and you also get some great add-ons – like an ‘I’m insured’ badge for your website, for that professional touch. Plus, we’ll give you a cash bonus each time you recommend us.

But it’s customer feedback that really counts, so check ours out. We think it speaks for itself.