Hairdressing insurance

Public liability insurance

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

What’s typically covered by public liability insurance for hairdressers?

Claims against your business for:

• damage to someone else’s property caused by you as a result of your hairdressing work
• damage to someone else’s property caused by your employee (remember, if you employ people, you’re legally required to have employers’ liability insurance)
• injury caused to someone else by you or your employee as a result of your hairdressing work

For example:

• a client suffers an allergic reaction to the hair dye you’ve used and they have to go to hospital
• a client you’re serving slips on some spilled shampoo and they injure their spine
• you sell a customer a pair of hair straighteners and they burn their scalp
• your trainee hairdresser stains a customer’s cashmere jumper while carrying out a colour service, and the jumper has to go to a professional cleaning service

What you’ll need additional cover for

• your salon – you’ll need buildings cover if you also need to cover your business premises. To do this, make sure you choose ‘hairdressing salon’ when you get a quote from us
• invasive beauty treatments (such as chemical peels and permanent make-up)

Read more about public liability insurance

Employers’ liability insurance

In case your employee is involved in an accident or mistake while they’re working for you.

What’s typically covered by employers’ liability insurance?

Claims against your business for:

• your employee injuring themselves or getting sick over the course of their work for you

For example:

• your assistant claims she’s suffering from migraines due to working long hours on her feet and is suing you for damages
• a trainee hairdresser injures themselves because they didn’t receive the right level of health and safety training

**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.**

Tools insurance

In case your hairdressing and beauty equipment is lost, stolen or damaged.

What’s typically covered by tools insurance?

• theft of your hairdressing and beauty equipment, especially handheld tools and portable electronics
• accidental damage to your hairdressing tools
• provides cover for tools while in transit in any vehicle that you own or lease, anywhere in the UK

For example:

• there’s a flood at your business premises and your hairdryer, curling tongs and straighteners are damaged by water
• you’re driving to a client’s house to cut their hair, and while you’re waiting at a red light, the bag containing your hairdressing scissors and hairdryer is stolen from your front passenger seat

Read more about tools insurance

Stock insurance

In case the products or materials you’re responsible for are lost, damaged or stolen.

What’s typically covered by stock insurance?

• accidental damage to the materials you use to carry out your hairdressing services
• theft of the materials you use to carry out your hairdressing services
• theft of items you sell to customers as part of your hairdressing business

For example:

• there’s a burglary at your business premises, and your styling products and hair accessories are stolen from your sales inventory
• a fire at your business premises damages your bleach and hair dye, so you have to throw the materials away and replace them

Read more about stock insurance

Business and office equipment insurance

In case your office equipment is lost, stolen, or damaged.

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

• loss, damage or theft of the things you use to run your hairdressing business that you keep at the address you’ve specified in your policy

For example:

• the tablet and business mobile phone you use to manage your hairdressing bookings are stolen in a burglary
• your hairdressing chair gets damaged in a fire and you need to replace it

What you’ll need additional cover for

• your handheld hairdressing equipment, such as scissors and curling tongs – this would be covered by tools insurance instead

Read more about business and office equipment insurance

Legal expenses insurance

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

What’s typically covered by legal expenses insurance?

• legal expenses resulting from your day-to-day business activities, like disputes with employees
• the cost of legal claims relating to property damage, nuisance or trespass
• HMRC investigations, and tax and compliance disputes
• includes a tax advice helpline, a 24/7 confidential legal helpline, and crisis PR support to help you protect your business’s reputation

For example:

• if you’re investigated by HMRC (or selected at random for an audit), this cover could help with the tax enquiries – for you and any other directors, as well as for the business
• you need to defend your legal rights following the dismissal of an employee

Read more about legal expenses insurance

Personal accident insurance

In case you or anyone you’ve covered has an accident.

What’s typically covered by personal accident insurance?

• injury or death at work or outside of work, for anyone covered on the policy
• lost income, medical costs and hospitalisation benefit

For example:

• you slip on a puddle of water that’s overflowed from a hair-washing basin and break your wrist
• one of your employees trips and breaks their ankle at a running event over the weekend

Read more about personal accident insurance

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 tools 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 hairdressers 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 beauty insurance or makeup artist insurance?

Do I need cover for other types of work?

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

• Hair salon insurance
• Mobile hairdresser insurance
• Barber insurance
• Beauty salon insurance
• Mobile beauty insurance
• Nail salon insurance
• Nail technician insurance
• Pedicurist insurance

Other Covers

• Freelance insurance
• Consultant insurance
• Sole trader insurance
• Self employed insurance

Which hairdressing public liability insurance 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.