Barber insurance
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Based on 39,130 reviews
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For 80% of settled claims
Why do you need barber insurance?
As a barber, you face all sorts of risks on a daily basis – whether it's working with sharp scissors and clippers, or maintaining expensive equipment. Your business is important, so you should do everything you can to protect it with the right kind of insurance.
- Protect your livelihood and make sure you’re covered for the unexpected
- Cover for big claims like accidental injury or damage
- Your tools are essential so make sure you protect them against damage or theft
What does barber insurance cover?
As a barber, you need to make sure you have the right type of insurance for your business. What happens if you hurt your customer accidentally? Or your haircutting tools get lost or stolen? Make sure your trade is covered with the right kind of barbers insurance.
Public liability insurance
In case you accidentally hurt your customer.
Employers’ liability insurance
In case your employees get injured or ill when working for you.
Tools insurance
In case your business tools are lost, stolen or damaged.
Stock insurance
In case your styling products are accidentally damaged, lost or stolen.
Business and office equipment insurance
In case your business equipment is stolen or damaged.
Public liability insurance
In case you accidentally hurt your customer.
What’s typically covered by barber public liability insurance?
Legal expenses and compensation payouts brought against your business for:
- damage you cause while you're in someone's home
- injury to someone else, such as a customer
- damage to someone else’s property, caused by an employee
For example:
- a customer hurts themselves with your hair straighteners
- you sell a beauty product that injures someone
- you accidentally cut your customer with your scissors
Read more about public liability insurance
Employers’ liability insurance
In case your employees get injured or ill when working for you.
What’s typically covered by employers’ liability insurance?
Legal expenses and compensation payouts brought against your business for:
- legal or medical costs as a result of injury at work
**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:
- your employee says their long hours have made them ill, and sues you for damages
Tools insurance
In case your business tools are lost, stolen or damaged.
What’s typically covered by tools insurance?
- theft or accidental damage of your main business tools – such as scissors, clippers, or hairdryers
For example:
- your hairdryer gets stolen at your customer’s home
- your clippers break after you drop them on the floor
Read more about tools insurance
Stock insurance
In case your styling products are accidentally damaged, lost or stolen.
What’s typically covered by stock insurance?
- accidental damage to items you sell to your customers – such as styling products
- theft of items you sell to your customers
For example:
- your styling products get damaged and you need to replace them
Read more about stock insurance
Business and office equipment insurance
In case your business equipment is stolen or damaged.
What’s typically covered by business and office equipment insurance?
- accidental damage to the equipment you use to run your business – such as laptops and printers
- stolen equipment
- fire or flood damage to your equipment
For example:
- your laptop and mobile phone are stolen
- one of your mirrors is damaged
What you’ll need additional cover for
- you'll need specific barber shop cover if you need to cover your shop and its fixtures and fittings
Read more about business and office equipment insurance
How much does barber insurance cost?
Find out how much you’ll pay by comparing 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 £5.22 per month
Get your quotes in 7 minutes – prices are guaranteed for 30 days.
Get your tailored quotes in 7 minutes
How we work out example prices We take the highest price from the bottom 10 per cent of all our customers paying in monthly instalments (based on data from 1 July - 31 December 2020). Most customers pay more than this but some pay less.
Example quotes, real prices
£5.55 /month
£35.54 /year
A barber who rents a chair in a barber shop (but doesn't own the shop)
- 1-2 years' experience
- sole trader
- based in Southend-on-Sea
Public liability insurance
£1,000,000
Employers’ liability insurance
Not included
Tools insurance
Not included
£50.92 /month
£452.63 /year
A small barber shop in rented premises (cover needed for the business and employees, but not the building)
- 5+ years' experience
- limited company
- 3 employees
- based in Derby
Public liability insurance
£1,000,000
Employers’ liability insurance
£10,000,000
Tools insurance
£5,000
How we work out example quotes These examples are real quotes from our online system (created 04/09/2020). 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 |
You'll get a complete breakdown of the excesses for each quote when you compare with us. 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
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We handle claims, so you can get on with business
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?
Which type of workers do I need insurance for?
Will tools insurance cover all my equipment?
Does barber insurance cover my work correctly?
Do I need cover for other types of work?
Which public liability cover limit should I choose?
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 barber 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 Hairdressing insurance or Beauty insurance?
Do I need cover for other types of work?
If you provide these services alongside building work, make sure you’re covered:
Other Covers
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 - 05.00pm, Sat 09.00am - 02.00pm
Call our team
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 team 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.
£30 million in claims paid out in 2019
Paying 80% of settled claims within 24 hours in 2019
Barbers insurance example claim
Having barbers insurance through Simply Business has saved barbers thousands of pounds when the unexpected happened.
Stuart saved over £16,500
Stuart (not his real name) allowed his customer to bring their dogs into the barber shop. His employee tripped over one of the dogs and broke both of their elbows. Luckily, Stuart’s insurance covered the cost of the claim.
Insurance payout
£16,834.00
Covering the cost of a slips, trips and falls claim
Stuart’s costs
£100
The excess amount stated in Stuart's policy terms
Chosen by 800,000 small businesses
We started out as a team of five back in 2005. We’ve grown since then with 800,000 customers across 1,500 trades now trusting us to provide their business insurance.
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Barber insurance UK 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 barber insurance.
Barber insurance will cover you for the work that you do – whether it's protecting you against customer claims, or making sure you're not out of pocket if something happens to your styling tools.
But if you have your own barber shop, you'll need to have a separate policy to make sure your business premises are also covered.
If you're buying your insurance over the phone, make sure you tell us that you want to cover your barber shop too. If you're buying your insurance online, you'll just need to make sure that you select 'barber shop' when choosing your cover.
Every UK business must have employers’ liability insurance if they employ people – it's a legal requirement. And although it’s the only insurance you need to have by law, it's worth looking into other types of insurance that you might need.
Even if you don't have your own barber shop, it's important to protect your tools – but also to protect yourself against customer claims. If you don’t have insurance and your hairdryer or styling products get damaged, you’d have to pay out of your own pocket to replace them.
There are four types of self-employed barber insurance that you may need:
- public liability insurance
- employers’ liability insurance (if you have staff)
- tools insurance
- stock insurance
If your business is home-based and you don’t employ staff, you're not legally required to take out insurance. Insurance covers those unexpected moments – so if someone steals your hairdryer or you injure a customer and you’re not covered, you could be out of pocket.
If you work from home, don’t assume your home insurance policy covers your business. Some home policies don't cover you for liability and stock insurance.
Simply Business offers three ways for you to pay for your policy, so you can choose the payment type that suits your business best. You might prefer to pay in one go or you’d rather pay a regular monthly amount, it’s your choice.
Here are the three ways you can pay for your policy:
- one-off credit or debit card payment
- BACS payment
- Direct Debit
If you choose to pay by Direct Debit, our credit provider, Premium Credit, pays Simply Business the full amount for your policy up front. You then repay Premium Credit in 10 monthly instalments.
If you have unspent convictions it’s important you disclose these to your insurer. But having a CCJ or IVA doesn’t mean you won’t be able to buy insurance for your business. All insurers look at CCJs and IVAs differently – with some applying stricter rules than others.
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 take professional advice. Read our full disclaimer
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