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Hair salon insurance

Join over 14,000 beauty salons & hairdressers like you with public liability cover from £3.19 per month*

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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 do you need hair salon insurance?

The work that happens at your hairdressing salon can make someone's day – and while your customers aren’t thinking about what could go wrong, you need to make sure you're prepared. From slippages to allergic reactions, from customers to staff, insurance helps you guard your business against mishaps.

  • Cover against legal and medical costs due to mistakes, accidents, injury and damage
  • Confidence to keep going when an unexpected event gets in the way
  • Protect what makes your salon special, including equipment, furniture, and the premises

Start your quote

What does hair salon insurance cover?

You have a range of options to choose between, so we’ll help you tailor your policy. Many hair salons consider public and product liability insurance essential. And if you employ people, the law says employers’ liability insurance is a must-have. Beyond that, you can tailor your cover to meet the needs of your business.

Hair salon public liability insurance

In case someone suffers injury or property damage as a result of your hair salon business.

What’s typically covered by public liability insurance?

Claims against your business for:

  • damage caused by you to someone else’s belongings while they’re at your hairdressing salon, or as a consequence of a product you’ve sold to them
  • injury caused by you to someone else while they’re at your hairdressing salon, or as a consequence of a product you’ve sold to them
  • accidental damage or injury caused by your employee (remember, if you employ people at your hair salon, you must have employers' liability insurance – it’s a legal requirement)

For example:

  • a customer suffers an allergic reaction to a chemical in the dye you’ve used on their hair
  • the elderly mother of one of your regular customers slips on a shampoo spillage on the floor and dislocates her knee
  • your salon assistant spills coffee over a customer’s cashmere scarf, and they’re holding you responsible for the cost of a replacement
  • a customer reacts badly to a bottle of body lotion you’ve sold them

Read more about public liability insurance

Employers’ liability insurance

In case your employee gets sick or injured as a result of working for your hair salon.

What’s typically covered by employers’ liability insurance?

Claims against your business for:

  • staff members (including temps as well as permanent employees) suffering an injury as a result of working for you
  • employees becoming ill as a result of the work they do for you

**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 trainee hairdresser has an allergic reaction after washing the highlight foils out of a customer’s hair
  • your receptionist alleges that his sciatica has worsened due to being on his feet all day, so he’s suing you for damages

Building insurance

In case something happens to the premises where you run your hairdressing salon.

What’s typically covered by building insurance?

  • the cost of repairing the structure of the building (or in the worst case scenario, rebuilding it from the ground up)
  • damage to the fixtures and fittings in or on your hair salon
  • damage to the underground pipes and cables you’re responsible for as the business owner
  • flood, fire, accidental, or malicious damage

For example:

  • water damage from a burst pipe means you need to rebuild the interior of your salon
  • graffiti is sprayed all over the front of your salon overnight, so you need to get it professionally cleaned

What you’ll need additional cover for

  • any changes to the structure of your hair salon that you’ve arranged and paid for yourself, such as partition walls or wooden flooring – these are called “tenants' improvements”, and you’ll need to cover them separately

Read more about buildings insurance

Contents insurance

In case something happens to your business and office equipment.

What’s typically covered by contents insurance?

  • accidental damage to the business equipment you use at your hair salon, including the furniture
  • theft of your business equipment
  • flood, fire, and accidental damage to your business equipment

For example:

  • the tablet, laptop, and mobile phone that your salon uses for taking bookings are stolen in a break-in, so you need to replace the items
  • your designer sofas, reception counter, hair product display cabinets and sound system are destroyed in a fire

Read more about business contents insurance

Stock insurance

In case something happens to the hair products you sell or the materials you keep in stock.

What’s typically covered by stock insurance?

  • the cost of replacing your stock (i.e. the hair products you keep at your salon to sell to customers) if it’s lost, stolen or damaged – either at your salon or in transit
  • the cost of replacing the materials you need for carrying out hair appointments if they’re lost, stolen or damaged

For example:

  • a fire destroys the hair colouring liquids and bleach powder that you store in a cupboard at the back of the salon, so you need to buy more
  • there’s a burglary overnight at your hair salon, and your shampoos, conditions, hair masks and styling products are stolen from your display cabinet

Read more about stock insurance

Legal expenses insurance

In case you’re faced with legal costs in the day-to-day running of your hair salon.

  • the cost of resolving tax and compliance issues
  • the cost of resolving disputes with salon employees
  • support from relevant experts – this may include telephone helplines for tax and legal advice, and crisis PR support to help you rebuild trust in your salon’s brand reputation
  • property damage, nuisance, or trespass, resulting in legal claims and associated costs that are yours to bear

For example:

  • you’ve let an employee go and they’re accusing you of unfair dismissal, so you need a lawyer to help you defend your position
  • your hair salon is being investigated for suspected tax evasion, and you need an accountant to assist you with the enquiries
  • you’ve been selected randomly for an audit by HMRC, and you need an accountant to help you (and any other directors) with the enquiries into your salon business and into your personal tax affairs

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?

  • claims due to injury or death (both at work and outside of work) for any person who you’ve named in your policy
  • lost income, medical costs, and hospitalisation benefit

For example:

  • you trip over a customer's bag in the salon and break your wrist, leaving you unable to do any haircutting for over a month
  • your employee shuts their hand in the car door on the way into work
  • your assistant gets food poisoning at an event at the weekend

Read more about personal accident insurance

Business interruption insurance

In case your hair salon is unable to trade for a period of time.

What’s typically covered by business interruption insurance?

  • loss of income following a fire, flood, theft, or accidental damage that forces you to close up for a while

For example:

  • your hair salon is destroyed in a fire and you have to rebuild and redecorate the interior, so you can’t fulfil any bookings for a month

Read more about business interruption insurance

How much does hair salon 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 £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 salon insurance quotes, real prices

churchill insurance

£30.49 /month

£271.03 /year

A local hair salon situated on the high-street with 1 employee (who is qualified)

  • 3-4 years' experience
  • Limited company
  • 1 employee
  • Based in Newcastle upon Tyne
  • Public liability insurance

    £2,000,000

  • Employers’ liability insurance

    £10,000,000

  • Contents

    Not included

chiswell insurance

£52.26 /month

£464.52 /year

An independent hair salon situated within a shopping centre with 3 employees (who is qualified)

  • 5+ years' experience
  • Limited company
  • 3 employees
  • Based in Newtownabbey
  • Public liability insurance

    £2,000,000

  • Employers’ liability insurance

    £10,000,000

  • Contents

    £15,000

How we work out example quotes These examples are real quotes from our online system (created 30/03/2022). 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

Stock

£100

£500

Contents

£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.

Is public liability enough for third party property damage?

In some situations you may need more than public liability to cover certain kinds of property damage. Learn about buildings and contents.

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.

Does hair salon 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 mobile beauty insurance?

Do I need cover for other types of work?

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

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 two levels of coverage – £2 million or £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 hairdressing salon insurance through Simply Business has saved hair salons thousands of pounds when the unexpected happened.

Adeyinka saved more than £10,500

At Adeyinka’s hairdressing salon (name changed for privacy), a customer asked to go a lighter shade of brown. A patch test was carried out for the brown dye. The customer then returned for the colouring appointment a few days later and unfortunately suffered a reaction to the bleach. Fortunately however, when the customer claimed for damages, Adeyinka’s insurance took care of the expense.

  • Insurance payout

    £10,549.87

    Covering the cost of exposure to harmful substances

  • Adeyinka costs

    £100

    The excess amount stated in Adeyinka 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 salon 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 hairdressing salon insurance. You can also check out our business insurance FAQs.

  • There’s one type of insurance that you may be required by law to have in place, and that’s employers’ liability insurance. This applies to all salon owners who employ people, whether permanent members of staff or temps. It offers protection in case a member of your team gets injured or becomes seriously ill as a result of working for you.

    You’ll probably also be interested in public and product liability insurance. This covers you against accidental damage and injuries that could crop up in the life of a salon, so many salon owners consider it essential for safeguarding their business against the unwelcome costs of things going wrong.

    And as the salon owner, you may be responsible for the salon premises itself, so do remember to think about building insurance.

    Together, those three core covers will likely provide the foundation of the hair salon insurance you’re looking for.

    Other covers that are worth considering for hair salon owners include:

  • Whenever your work involves contact with members of the public, there’s always a risk that you (or the products you sell) could injure someone or damage their belongings by accident. That’s why public and product liability insurance is an important type of cover for many hair salons.

    And remember, if you’ve got employees working for you at your hair salon, you’re required by law to take out employers’ liability insurance.

    Are you responsible for the salon premises itself? If so, it's important to know that you may also need to buy building cover.

    There’s also a risk that the equipment and tools you’ve invested in could get stolen or damaged, so contents cover is worth considering too.

  • It’s partly a question of choice, and partly a question of obligation.

    Have employees? You’re legally obliged to take out employers’ liability insurance. This covers claims from employees who’ve been injured or become seriously ill over the course of their work for you.

    Worried about causing accidental damage and injury? You’ll want to look into public and product liability insurance. In fact, if you rent a chair in a salon, this may be a condition of your rental agreement.

    Want to make sure you’re covering the equipment you’ve invested in? It’s worth knowing about tools insurance and business and office equipment.

    And keep in mind, if you’re a self-employed hairdresser who isn’t personally responsible for the salon premises where you work, you wouldn’t need to include building cover in your policy. This means that hairdresser insurance might be a more appropriate solution than hair salon insurance. Sounds like you? Make sure you set your trade to 'hairdresser’ instead of ‘hair salon’ when you get a quote from us.

  • 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 0146 683. 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

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21 Nov 2019 • 5-minute read

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