Hairdressing insurance
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For 80% of settled claims
Why do you need hairdresser insurance?
As a freelance or mobile hairdresser, you face many of the same risks larger businesses do. Mistakes and accidents, theft of your equipment, accidental damage – it can all catch you by surprise. But unlike a larger business, you might find yourself less able to absorb the costs you’re left with as a consequence. Hairdressing insurance covers you against the unexpected.
- Protection against big claims due to accidental injury or property damage
- Cover against loss, damage or theft of the equipment and materials you use to run your hairdressing business
- Reassurance that your hairdressing tools are covered while you’re in transit
What does hairdresser insurance cover?
As a hairdresser, you know the risks associated with your job. Dealing with the public on a daily basis means you could see compensation claims against your business – whether it's a dye job gone wrong or a burn from a pair of hair straighteners. Pick and choose from our range of covers and make sure you've got the insurance that's right for you.
Public liability insurance
In case you or your employee accidentally injure someone or damage their property
Employers’ liability insurance
In case your employee is involved in an accident or mistake while they’re working for you.
Tools insurance
In case your hairdressing and beauty equipment is lost, stolen or damaged.
Stock insurance
In case the products or materials you're responsible for are lost, damaged or stolen.
Business and office equipment insurance
In case your office equipment is lost, stolen, or damaged.
Legal expenses insurance
In case you’re faced with legal costs from running your business.
Personal accident insurance
In case you or anyone you've covered has an accident.
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 breaks their ankle at a running event over the weekend
Read more about personal accident insurance
How much does hairdresser 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 £5.24 per month
Get your quotes in 7 minutes – prices are guaranteed for 30 days.
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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 hairdresser insurance quotes, real prices
£5.53 /month
£35.26 /year
A self-employed hairdresser who rents a chair in a salon
- 1-2 years' experience
- sole trader
- no employees
- based in Bolton
Public liability insurance
£1,000,000
Employers’ liability insurance
Not included
Tools insurance
Not included
£30.57 /month
£271.74 /year
A small hairdressing business, renting chairs in a salon
- 5+ years' experience
- limited company
- 2 employees
- based in Cardiff
Public liability insurance
£1,000,000
Employers’ liability insurance
£10,000,000
Tools insurance
£4,000
How we work out example quotes These examples are real quotes from our online system (created 10/09/2020). 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 |
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 hairdressers 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 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 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 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
Example claim
Having hairdresser insurance through Simply Business has saved self-employed hairdressers thousands of pounds when the unexpected happened.
Alec saved over £5,000
Alec (not his real name) is a freelance hairdresser who rents a chair at a salon. He carried out a treatment for a client who later complained that the experience resulted in burns to their hair and scalp. Fortunately, Alec had hairdressing insurance in place, so his costs were covered.
Insurance payout
£5,120
Covering the cost of a claim for exposure to harmful substances.
Alec’s costs
£100
The excess amount stated in Alec’s policy terms
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Hairdresser 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 hairdressers insurance.
All hairdressers who have employees, contractors, casual workers or temporary staff are required by law to put employers’ liability insurance in place. This covers claims from employees who’ve been injured or become seriously ill as a result of working for you.
You’ll probably also want to look into public liability insurance so you’re covered against accidental damage and injury – and if you rent a chair in a salon, this may be a condition of your rental agreement.
Together, those two core covers will provide the foundation of your hairdressing insurance.
Want to make sure you’re covering the equipment you’ve invested in too? It’s worth knowing the difference between tools insurance and business and office equipment.
Other covers for self-employed hairdressers to consider include:
When you’re working directly with members of the public, there’s always a risk that you could injure someone by accident or damage their property. That’s why public liability insurance is an important type of cover for many self-employed people – including hairdressers who work in salons.
There’s also a risk of theft, loss or damage of equipment when you’re carrying out your trade in a physical environment.
And remember, if you’ve got employees, you’re required by law to take out employers’ liability insurance.
If you need to cover the salon itself, it's important to know that you'll also need to buy buildings cover. To get this, make sure you choose 'hairdressing salon' when you get a quote from us.
Insurance isn’t a legal requirement for mobile hairdressers (unless you’re bringing an employee with you, in which case you need employers’ liability insurance).
But if something happens while you’re visiting a client at their property – say you injure your client or accidentally stain their kitchen floor by spilling hairdressing chemicals on the floorboards – you could be responsible for the consequences. Having hairdresser insurance in place could mean you don’t need to bear all of those costs yourself.
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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