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Hair and beauty insurance from £3.19 per month

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Rated 4.7/5

Based on 39,755 reviews

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Claims paid in 24 hours

For 80% of settled claims

What's on this page

  • Why is insurance important?
  • What does it cover?
  • How much does it cost?
  • How do I choose insurance?
  • How do claims work?
  • FAQs
  • Helpful articles

Why is professional beauty insurance important?

Insurance for hair and beauty professionals can go much further than slips, spills, or treatments gone-wrong. Third party accidents are a primary risk for your trade, but so is damage to your essential stock, your salon building, employee claims, and accidents which stop you working. Compare salon insurance using our quick form, or freelance cover if that’s what you do.

  • professional hair and beauty insurance, compare cover from expert brands
  • rated 4.7/5 based on 39K+ public liability customer reviews
  • optional personal accident cover for your own injuries, or anyone on the policy

Start your quote

What does hair and beauty insurance cover?

We’ll start with public and product liability insurance, designed to cover you against slips, spills, and injuries. Lots of hair and beauty professionals add cover for their stock and supplies, plus personal accidents which could stop the business running. And if you do employ anyone, a beauty insurance comparison which factors in employers’ liability cover is usually a must-have, as a legal requirement.

Public liability insurance for hair and beauty

In case you or your employee injure someone or damage their property.

What’s typically covered by public liability insurance?

Claims against your business for:

  • damage to someone’s property, caused by your hair and beauty business
  • an injury or illness caused by your business activities or products
  • accidental damage or injuries caused by your employees

If you do employ anyone, you’re usually required by law to have employers’ liability insurance too.

For example:

  • a client suffers an allergic reaction to a hair dye you’ve used, and makes a claim against you
  • a maintenance professional slips on your salon floor before you’ve had a chance to clean it, injuring their lower back

Read more about public liability insurance

Employers’ liability insurance

In case anyone gets ill or injured while working for your business.

What’s typically covered by employers’ liability insurance?

Claims against your business for:

  • an injury or illness that happens as a result of working for you (including temps and casual workers)

**Employers’ liability insurance is required by law if you have people working for you. Without it, you could be fined up to £2,500 a day for each employee.**

For example:

  • an employee claims she suffered from frequent migraines as a result of her working conditions with you, and sues for damages
  • your trainee nail technician slips on the busy salon floor, breaking their arm

Business and office equipment insurance

In case something happens to equipment like your tablet, or your furniture.

What’s typically covered by business and office equipment insurance?

  • accidental damage to your fixtures and fittings, or the equipment you use to run your hair and beauty business
  • theft, flood, and fire damage

For example:

  • there’s a break-in at your premises, and your laptop and bookings tablet are stolen, as well as the phone you use for work
  • your furniture is badly damaged after a pipe bursts overnight, and needs to be replaced

Read more about business and office equipment insurance

Tools insurance

In case your hair and beauty tools are lost, stolen, or damaged.

What’s typically covered by tools insurance?

  • loss, damage, or theft of your hair and beauty tools and equipment
  • handheld, portable tools, including electronics
  • cover for your tools in transit in any vehicle owned or leased by you, anywhere in the UK

For example:

  • your kit is stolen from your car while you’re at a motorway services
  • an employee leaves their bag of styling equipment in a coffee shop, and it’s never recovered

Read more about tools insurance

Stock insurance

In case the products you and your clients rely on are lost, stolen, or damaged.

What’s typically covered by stock insurance?

  • loss, damage, or theft of the essentials you keep in stock, like makeup products

For example:

  • you’ve just had all your new wedding season stock delivered to your premises, which gets stolen while you’re unboxing
  • someone breaks into your salon and vandalises your stock, which needs replacing before your fully-booked weekend schedule

Read more about stock insurance

Legal expenses insurance

In case you’re faced with legal costs while running your business.

  • legal costs that you’re responsible for, within your business
  • property damage, nuisance, or trespass – specifically, the associated legal claims and compensation payouts
  • tax and compliance disputes and investigations you need help with
  • access to expert advice – including a tax advice phone line, confidential 24/7 legal phone line, and crisis PR support to help you protect your reputation as a popular hair and beauty professional

For example:

  • HMRC begin a randomised investigation into your tax affairs, and you need to cover the costs
  • an employee sues you for unfair dismissal and you need to pay for legal representation

Read more about legal expenses insurance

Personal accident insurance

In case you or anyone you’ve covered has an accident, at work or elsewhere.

What’s typically covered by personal accident insurance?

  • accidental injury or death of anyone you’ve chosen to cover in your policy – whether this happens at work or elsewhere
  • lost income, hospital bills, or other medical costs associated with the accident

For example:

  • you slip on some water that’s spilled from a basin and break your wrist
  • your employee (who you’ve covered on the policy) breaks their ankle while running at the weekend

Read more about personal accident insurance

Building insurance

In case something happens to your business or salon premises.

What’s typically covered by building insurance?

  • the cost of repairing damage to the structure of your building (or rebuilding it from scratch)
  • damage to fixtures and fittings
  • damage to underground pipes and cables you’re responsible for

For example:

  • you need to replace your salon’s wooden floor after flooding
  • someone graffitis your building, and you need to repair the damage ahead of a new product launch

What you’ll need additional cover for

  • tenants’ improvements – changes to the property’s structure which you’ve organised and paid for yourself, like partition walls or wooden flooring

Read more about buildings insurance

This content has been created for general information purposes. Make sure you have the right level of business insurance by checking your policy documentation for details. Read our full Terms and Conditions

How much does professional beauty insurance insurance cost?

To find out how much you’ll pay for beauty and salon insurance, compare prices from a range of trusted insurers. You choose what goes into your policy, so you only pay for what you need.

Prices start from £3.19 per month

Get your quotes in 7 minutes – prices are guaranteed for 30 days.

Get your tailored quotes in 7 minutes

Start your quote

10% of our customers paid up to £38.32 a year for a public liability insurance policy between 1st April 2023 - 30th June 2023. Equivalent to £3.19 per month based on a monthly cost when paying for the policy in one annual payment. Paying monthly is usually more expensive as you'll pay interest. Most customers pay more than this but some pay less.

Example hair and beauty insurance quotes, real prices

churchill insurance

£6.77 /month

£52.57 /year

Freelance hair and beauty consultant focus primarily on fashion events

  • 2-3 years' experience
  • Sole trader
  • No employees
  • Based in Leeds
  • Public liability

    £1,000,000

  • Employers’ liability

    Not included

  • Tools

    Not included

axa insurance

£45.60 /month

£405.30 /year

Beauty consultant business with 2 employees working nationally

  • 5+ years' experience
  • Limited company
  • 2 employees
  • Based in Nottingham
  • Public liability

    £5,000,000

  • Employers’ liability

    £10,000,000

  • Tools

    £3,000

How we work out example quotes These examples are real quotes from our online system (created 25/10/2022). They’re based on a range of factors, like employees and location. Your own quote will be based on what you tell us about your business. Prices may go up or down from day to day, so the prices you’re quoted may differ to the ones you see here.

What kind of excess should I expect?

An excess is an amount you pay towards any claim you make on your insurance. For example, if your excess is £250 and you make a claim worth £1000, your payout will be a maximum of £750.

Insurance cover

Lowest excess

Highest excess

Public liability

£100

£2500

Employers' liability

No excess

No excess

Tools

£60

£500

Stock

£100

£500

Business and office equipment

£50

£750

The figures above are for guidance only and any excess applying to your quote may differ. You’ll get a breakdown of the excesses for each quote when you compare with us.

How it works

  • Pick what goes into your policy

    Only pay for what you need

  • Get prices from a range of insurers

    Choose the best fit for you

  • Buy online in minutes

    Get your documents the same day

Start your quote

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How do I choose insurance?

Making sure you have the right type and level of business insurance can be the difference between getting a claim paid and having to cover the cost of an expensive accident yourself. Read our tips for guidance on what to consider when buying a policy.

Can I just cover my most expensive tools?

Make sure you cover the total cost of replacing all your tools or you’ll only get a proportion of your claim paid out if something happens to them. Learn about tool cover.

Which type of workers do I need insurance for?

Employers’ liability insurance is a legal requirement if you employ people.

If you have people working for you, including bona fide subcontractors (BFSC), labour-only subcontractors (LOSC), part-timers, or full-time staff, employers’ liability insurance is required by law.

Read on for our simplified guide to the difference between labour-only subcontractors and bona fide subcontractors.

Will tools insurance cover all my equipment?

Depending on what you use to do your work, you may need other covers.

You may need more than tools insurance – for example, business equipment insurance if you have a work laptop, plant insurance if you use machinery.

Does hair and beauty insurance cover my work correctly?

Make sure you're picking the right cover to protect you properly. It's important to know that if you have another trade or job, you'll need additional cover. For example, do you need to consider mobile beauty insurance or hairdressing insurance?

Do I need cover for other types of work?

If you provide other services, make sure you’re covered:

Other types of insurance

Which public liability cover limit should I choose?

Think about the maximum possible loss your business could face in the event of a claim, and make sure you take legal fees and damages into consideration. You can choose from three levels of coverage – £1 million, £2 million, or up to £5 million.

Talk to an expert

Our team of UK-based insurance experts are here to help, Mon 09.00am - 05.30pm, Tues 09.00am - 05.30pm, Weds 09.00am - 05.30pm, Thurs 09.30am - 05.30pm, Fri 09.00am - 05.30pm, Sat 09.00am - 02.00pm

Call our team

0333 043 8527

Online

Contact us on our website whenever suits you

Phone

Call our insurance experts during office hours (calls are charged at a local rate)

FAQs

Find answers to common insurance questions

How do claims work?

Unlike price comparison websites, we take the hassle out of claims for you. We know how important it is to get your business back on track quickly – and with a minimum of fuss. That’s why you get access to your dedicated claims any time, day or night. Call them on 0333 207 0560 or claim online. They’ll do their best to be fair and supportive. The figure below is rounded across our range of products. Our claims process may vary for different products and operates on a ‘claim by claim’ basis.

£39 million in claims paid out in 2022

Paying 80% of settled claims within 24 hours in 2022

Example claim

Having hair and beauty insurance through Simply Business has saved professionals thousands of pounds when the unexpected happened.

Arthur saved more than £1,300

While on holiday, Arthur (not his real name) had a call from the salon manager, following a break-in. Thieves had kicked the door in and stolen a few items of equipment, as well as a tablet. The business and office equipment cover in his nail salon insurance policy helped cover Arthur’s replacement costs.

  • Insurance payout

    £1,368.63

    Covering the cost of theft

  • Arthur’s costs

    £100

    The excess amount stated in Arthur’s policy terms

Chosen by 900,000 small businesses and landlords

We started out as a team of five back in 2005. We’ve grown since then with 900,000 customers across 1,500 trades now trusting us to provide their business insurance.

  • Compare and buy in minutes

    Documents arrive today

  • Rated 4.7/5

    Based on 39,755 reviews

  • Here to help

    Help from UK-based experts

  • 24/7 claims

    Make a claim any time

Hair and beauty insurance FAQ

Whether you’re new to buying business insurance or you’ve been trading for a while, here are the answers to some commonly asked questions about salon insurance and comparison watch-points. You can also check out our business insurance FAQs.

  • Whether you run a salon or run a mobile business, or both, your business faces specific risks.

    Public liability insurance is a popular cover for the hair and beauty industry, as it can protect you from a claim if someone is injured or their property gets damaged because of your styling or treatment work. Lots of salons also choose to add tools, business equipment, and stock cover for the essential items they rely on.

    And you’ll usually need employers’ liability insurance if you employ anyone – for example a temp you hire during the busy wedding season or an assistant. It’s almost always a legal requirement, so don’t leave it out, even if you only employ temporary or casual workers.

  • Public liability insurance will be a key cover for many hairdressers – it’s built to cover you for injuries and property damage, if your client makes a claim.

    Alongside this important cover, you may want to add insurance for things like your essential business equipment, tools and stock. And if you employ anyone (including contractors, temporary staff, or apprentices), employers’ liability cover is usually a legal requirement.

    Skip to our specific self-employed hairdresser insurance for a closer look at our cover options.

  • If you change your business legal structure from sole trader to limited company mid-way through your policy, give us a call straight away on 0333 043 8527. It’ll only take us a few minutes to cancel your existing policy and replace it with one that correctly covers your new legal structure. It’s worth bearing in mind that your insurer and premium amount may need to change.

  • This will depend on whether you have employers’ liability insurance in place. Public liability insurance is designed to protect your business against the consequences of legal action brought by members of the public for injuries or damage to their belongings. But when it comes to your employees causing injury or damage, this protection only activates if you also have employers’ liability insurance.

    If you employ people, you’re required by law to have employers’ liability insurance.

    There’s one exception here. Family businesses that aren’t incorporated as a limited company are not legally required to have employers’ liability insurance. The government defines a “family business” as one where all your employees are closely related to you (as a spouse, civil partner, sibling, child, parent, grandparent, grandchild, step-parent, stepchild or half-sibling). So if you run an unincorporated family business and you choose not to get employers’ liability insurance, it’s important to know that your public liability insurance wouldn’t cover you against damage or injury caused by your team.

We create this content for general information purposes and it should not be taken as advice. Always check policy documentation for details and seek professional advice. Read our full Terms and Conditions

Helpful articles for hair and beauty

Hairdresser blow drying a clients hair in a hair salon

31 March 2022 • 9-minute read

A guide on how to become a hairdresser for the self-employed

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