Hair stylist insurance

Business insurance for hairdressers & stylists

Making your clients look and feel good is what you do best. Make a mistake though and the results can be hair-raising.

A botched highlight job, an allergic reaction, a slip and fall in the salon. Before you know it, someone’s blaming you and taking you to court.

Hair stylists’ insurance is on your side. It covers your legal fees and any medical bills or compensation you’re liable for. And it spares you the stress and expense of fighting a claim on your own.

The long and short of it? It protects your business and your reputation. So you stay a cut above the rest.

• What kinds of insurance does a hair stylist need?

  If you regularly see paying clients, professional liability insurance is a must-have. It covers you if one of them claims injury and sues for damages over how you’ve done your job.

  General liability insurance (GL) is for spontaneous accidents in the salon. A customer slipping next to the shampoo station and injuring their back. Or an assistant spilling coffee over a client’s flashy phone.

  When buying GL, it’s handy to add on business personal property insurance. It pays to fix or replace your hairdressing equipment if it gets lost, damaged or stolen when you’re out and about – essential cover for mobile hairdressers.

  And don’t forget workers’ compensation insurance to protect your employees if they get sick or injured at work. It’s the law in most US states.

• Who needs hair stylist insurance?

  Hair stylist insurance is for anyone in the hair biz: whether you’re a stylist or salon owner; a mobile hairdresser or renting a chair in a salon; your own boss or you employ many stylists.

  Either way, you’re around scissors, trimmers, bleach and chemicals all day. Things that can injure or trigger an allergic reaction. What’s more, hair stylists can be sued even when they don’t do anything wrong.

  And if you rent a chair or booth in a salon or spa, you’ll need chair rental insurance. Because your business is separate, you’re left to deal with any slip-ups on your own. Best not leave anything to chance, then.

• What does hair stylists’ professional liability (E&O) insurance cover?

  Professional liability insurance (also known as errors and omissions insurance) takes care of your medical bills, legal fees and compensation if a client claims you made a mistake or did something wrong.

  Including:

  Emotional distress and bodily injury: you colour a client’s hair but chemicals in the dye trigger a painful skin reaction. Your client needs medical treatment and is off work for several weeks. She files a claim against you for medical bills, loss of earnings, as well as pain and mental suffering.

  A haircut gone wrong: you cut a client’s hair but he’s less than pleased with the final look. He cancels his modeling job and sues you for loss of earnings.

  Personal data loss: you accidentally lose a file containing sensitive client data. Your client sues you for releasing their personally identifiable information.

• What does hair stylists’ general liability insurance cover?

  General liability insurance covers accidents in the workplace – whether at the salon, your home studio, a booth you rent or at your client’s premises.

  It protects hair stylists from the cost of claims for:

  Bodily injury: A customer trips over a hairdryer cord and needs treatment for a broken ankle. They demand you pay their medical bills.

  Property damage: You accidentally spill hair bleach over your client’s expensive designer handbag – they ask that you replace it. Or the salon you rent burns down overnight; the owner blames you for the accident and sues you for the damage.

  Slander or libel: One of your hair stylists bad-mouths a famous client and they sue you for slander. Or you design and distribute a flyer with a logo closely resembling that of a rival salon, infringing their copyright.

• Do mobile hairdressers need insurance?

  Working solo and in and out of clients’ homes all day long means having to protect yourself. These basic mobile hairdresser insurance policies will do the job:

  General liability insurance – to protect you from the cost of claims you caused injury or damage to someone’s property or person. Accidents caused by slips, trips and spills, mostly.

  Professional liability insurance – to protect you from the cost of medical bills, legal fees and compensation if a client claims for an injury or financial loss caused by something you’ve done. Like a disastrous haircut, an allergic reaction to a hair product or personal data loss.

  Portable business equipment coverage – to cover loss, theft or damage to your hairdressers’ equipment when you’re out and about. Also covers your portable electronics (laptops, tablets, phone etc).

  Remember: Mobile hairdresser insurance doesn’t cover auto insurance. You must arrange that separately.

• What kinds of insurance does a hair salon need?

  Professional liability insurance is essential to cover your hairstyling services. It protects you from the financially ruinous effects of someone claiming you’ve made a mistake or done something wrong.

  For slip-ups and accidents in the salon, general liability insurance (GL) is your best friend. It covers medical bills and the cost of repairing or replacing damaged property if you’re found at fault.

  When buying GL, it’s useful to add on business personal property insurance (BPP). This covers your portable tools and equipment for damage, theft and loss – from your hairdressing kit to your portable electronics, to anything that stays in the salon (hood dryers, mirrors, reclining chairs, potted plants, etc).

  If you have employees, even if they’re part-time or trainees, you’ll need workers’ compensation insurance. It protects your staff and pays their medical bills, compensation and lost wages if they’re injured at work, or say it’s made them sick. Also, it’s the law in most US states.

  And don’t forget cyber insurance. It covers the cost of recovering from a cyber-attack or data breach, including lost income if your systems go down and you lose all your appointments.

• How much does hair stylist insurance cost?

  That depends on which policies you buy and the limits of your cover. Some, like workers’ comp insurance, depend on how many people you employ.

  If you’re a salon owner worried about the cost of taking out lots of different policies, you can choose a business owner’s policy (or BOP) instead. It bundles several policies into one and is often cheaper than buying them all separately.

  Or you can call us. We’re happy to work with you to style a package that suits you.

What other kinds of insurance do hair stylists need?