COVERTRADE SERVICES
Hairdressers Insurance
Comprehensive protection for salon owners, individual hairdressers, and mobile stylists.
Public Liability Is Not Treatment Liability
If a client trips over a cable in your salon, that is public liability. If a colour burns their scalp, it is not, and that distinction is the single most important thing to understand about insuring a hairdressing business.
Public liability covers accidents that happen around the treatment. Harm caused by the treatment (an allergic reaction to colour, a chemical burn from bleach, damage from a straightener) is treatment liability, and public liability is not designed to answer it. A policy advertising £5m of public liability with no treatment liability behind it leaves uninsured precisely the claims a salon is most likely to face.
So the first thing worth doing, whether or not you buy from us, is reading your schedule for the words "treatment" and "product" rather than assuming a large public liability figure has you covered. We arrange all three together, alongside contents, stock and employers' liability where you have premises.
We also insure barbers, beauty salons, & mobile hairdressers.
Patch Testing And Why Claims Turn On It
Reaction claims are the most common serious claim in hairdressing, and whether yours is paid usually comes down to one piece of paper.
Insurers treat patch testing before colour as a condition of cover, not as best practice. The standard requirement is a test at least 48 hours beforehand, for every new client, and again whenever the product changes, including when a brand reformulates. Miss it and the insurer is entitled to decline the claim however sympathetic the circumstances.
"She had it done here for years and was always fine" is not a defence. Neither is a verbal assurance from the client. What answers the claim is a dated record showing the test was offered and carried out, signed by the client, kept where you can find it two years later. Keep the record even when a client declines a test. a signed refusal is worth having.
It is the cheapest risk management in the trade, and it is the difference between a policy that pays and an argument you lose.
How Much Is Hairdressers Insurance?
It depends almost entirely on whether you have premises, and comparing the two is what makes quotes look inconsistent.
Freelance and mobile cover is advertised widely from around £45 to £60 a year. That is a real price and, for a self-employed stylist with no premises, a fair one. It is liability cover and little else.
A salon policy is a different product, because premises bring contents, stock, glass, business interruption and employers' liability with them. The salon policies we have placed have run between roughly £245 and £525 a year. That is a small sample rather than a market survey, so treat it as an indication of the order of magnitude rather than a quote.
What moves it: the treatments you offer and particularly any beauty work, your turnover, how many staff you employ, the value of your contents and stock, and your claims record.
Call 02382 000820 with your treatment list and we will go to the market for you.
Check Your Schedule
Five things worth confirming on any hair or beauty policy.
- Treatment liability, not just public liability
- Product liability for what you use and sell
- Every treatment you offer, listed
- Cover away from the salon, if you go mobile
- Chair renters declared, certificates held
- Flexible payment options
- Dedicated account managers
- Out-of-hours contact should you need to make a claim or just have a question
- A quick and easy, pain-free service
- An excellent customer experience
Chair Renters And Self-Employed Stylists
Chair rental is how a large part of the trade now works, and it changes the insurance position for both sides in ways neither usually expects.
If you rent a chair, you are self-employed. The salon’s employers’ liability does not cover you, and their public liability will generally not answer for your work. You need your own public and treatment liability, and most salons will ask to see it before handing over a key.
If you own the salon, keep a copy of every renter’s certificate and diarise the expiry. When a renter injures a client, the client comes to the salon first, and your insurer will want to know what checks you made. Renters also affect how your own policy is rated, so tell us how many chairs are let rather than leaving it to be discovered at claim time.
Beauty Treatments Alongside Hair
Most salons drift into beauty work gradually (a brow bar, then lashes, then something with a machine) and the insurance rarely keeps up. Insurers rate hair and beauty treatments separately, and the higher-risk ones are frequently excluded from a standard hairdressing policy altogether.
Laser and IPL, microblading and semi-permanent makeup, injectables and chemical peels all typically need declaring, and several require you to hold specific qualifications for cover to apply at all. Adding a treatment quietly is one of the easiest ways to find the section you most needed does not respond. Send us your treatment list at renewal and we will make the policy match it.
Salon, Mobile Or Freelance?
These are three different policies and the price gap between them is large, which is why quotes are so hard to compare.
Freelance and mobile cover is essentially liability only, which is why it is advertised so cheaply. A salon policy adds the things that come with premises: contents and equipment, stock, glass, business interruption if a fire stops you trading, and employers’ liability for staff. Working mobile as well as from a salon needs both to be declared, since cover away from the premises is not automatic. Premiums can be paid monthly or annually.
What We Need To Quote
Whether you work from premises, mobile, or both, your full treatment list including any beauty work, how many staff you employ and how many chairs are rented out, your annual turnover, the value of contents, stock and equipment if you have a salon, the qualifications held for any higher-risk treatments, and your claims record for the last three to five years.
Protect Your Business
So why wait? Protect your business today with CoverTrade's comprehensive insurance coverage. Contact us now to schedule a consultation with one of our expert advisors.
Cover that often goes with this
The gaps we most often find sitting next to this policy.
Common questions
What insurance do hairdressers need?+
Public liability for the ordinary accidents, a client slipping, a bag knocked into a mirror. Treatment liability for harm caused by the treatment itself, which public liability is not designed to answer and which is the cover that responds to a colour reaction or a chemical burn. Product liability for the products you sell or use. Employers’ liability the moment you employ anyone. If you have premises, then contents, stock and business interruption on top.
What is treatment liability, and is it different from public liability?+
Yes, and the difference matters more in hair and beauty than in almost any other trade. Public liability covers you when something goes wrong around the treatment, a client trips over a cable. Treatment liability covers harm caused by the treatment itself: an allergic reaction to colour, a chemical burn from bleach, damage from a straightener or a hot brush. A policy with £5m public liability and no treatment liability leaves the claims you are most likely to face uninsured. Check your schedule for the words rather than assuming.
Does my insurance still pay if I did not do a patch test?+
Very often not. Insurers treat patch testing before colour as a condition of cover rather than best practice, usually requiring it at least 48 hours in advance, for every new client and again when a product changes. Reaction claims are the most common serious claim in hairdressing, and “the client said they had it before and were fine” is not a defence if the record is not there. Keep a dated record with the client’s signature. That record is what pays the claim.
I rent a chair in a salon. Whose insurance covers me?+
Your own, and this catches out both sides. As a chair renter you are self-employed, so the salon’s employers’ liability does not cover you and their public liability generally does not extend to your work. You need your own public and treatment liability. If you are the salon owner, keep copies of every renter’s certificate: if a renter injures a client and has no cover, the client will look to the salon, and your insurer will ask what checks you made.
How much is hairdressers insurance?+
It depends heavily on whether you are freelance or running premises. Freelance and mobile cover is advertised widely from around £45 to £60 a year, and for a self-employed stylist with no premises that is a genuine price. A salon policy is a different product (it adds contents, stock, business interruption and employers’ liability) and the salon policies we place start at around £245 a year. Treatments offered, turnover, staff numbers and claims history move it from there.
Do I need extra cover for beauty treatments as well as hair?+
Almost certainly, and this is where salons most often find a gap. Insurers rate hair and beauty treatments separately, and the higher-risk ones (laser and IPL, microblading and semi-permanent makeup, injectables, chemical peels) are frequently excluded from a standard hairdressing policy or need specific qualifications declared. Adding a treatment without telling your insurer is one of the easiest ways to void the section you most need. Tell us what you offer and we will match the policy to your treatment list.
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