What does hairdresser insurance cover?
Our insurance for hairdressers includes the necessary cover to secure your business from incidents beyond your control. You’ll find public liability for hairdressing for claims up to £10 million included. There’s also option to boost your cover with extras such as personal accident, employers’ liability and legal expenses cover. All cover can be adapted to suit the scale of your businesses, so you pay the best price for your requirements.
Whether you’re self-employed working in a salon, a mobile hairdresser, a barber, or working at home our hairdressing insurance provides financial protection should an incident occur that results in a claim against you.
Make sure you have the correct insurance for your activities and be sure to check if any exclusions are relevant to what you have planned in policy documentation.
Public Liability
Equipment & Stock
Employers' Liability
Personal Accident
Public Liability for Professional Treatment
- From £2 million to £10 million of cover.
- Protection from claims by a third-party who gets injured during an appointment or has their property damaged.
- Cover for the professional treatments you provide including protection if a treatment you perform causes injury or damage, such as harm to a client’s hair or an adverse reaction to a product.
Equipment & Stock
- Up to £250 of cover included, with a £75 excess.
- Add up to £12,000 worth of cover at additional rates.
- Cover is provided on a new for old basis for items under three years old, meaning that regardless of whether you have had the item for three months or three years, we will replace it with a brand-new equivalent if the damage is irreparable.
Equipment Hire
- Cover for the cost of temporarily hiring equipment, if you make a valid claim under the Equipment and Stock section of your policy.
- This will occur whilst your items are being repaired or until your claim is settled, whichever happens first.
Third Party Property Damage
- Cover for any non-negligent loss or damage to others’ property that you may cause while providing your barber services.
Employers’ Liability
- Up to £10 million of cover.
- Protection from claims against employee incidents if someone suffers a work-related injury and brings a claim against you.
Personal Accident
- Protection from workplace accidents.
- A selection of incidents can be claimed for under this benefit including accidental death, permanent total disablement and temporary total disablement.
Legal Expenses
- Access to a legal helpline and a counselling service in addition to legal defence costs.
- The cover can be upgraded further to include employment disputes, property disputes, health and safety disputes and more.
- Treatments you are not qualified to do.
- If a customer dislikes their cut or treatment.
- Damage to electrical equipment, mobile phones and computer equipment used to support your business.
- Any liability cover for a premise used for the provision of the business.
- Injury to customers resulting from the use of substances, unless a sensitivity patch test has been done on those customers, at least 24 hours before you use it.
- Treatments and activities performed overseas.
For further information on exclusions in your cover please refer to policy documentation.
Why do hairdressers need insurance?
Clients will be coming to you for various hairstyling services and rely on your expertise and you, no doubt provide an excellent experience. Whilst accidents are low risk in hairdressing, things do go wrong from time to time and often in unexpected circumstances.
Specialist hairdresser insurance can allow you to offer your services securely and confidently, knowing you’re protected if a claim is made against you. There are various situations where hairdresser insurance can provide a safety net for you.
Cover against claims should a member of the public get injured.
Whilst the probability of injury to a client or a member of the public is low, a client may suffer an accident such as tripping over a salon chair and hold you responsible.
Public liability insurance for hairdressers will protect should someone get hurt whilst in your place of work and holds you accountable.
Damage to a clients’ property.
A mobile hairdresser might need insurance due to the risk of someone’s property being damaged. For instance, if you visit a client’s home for a haircut but accidentally spills hair dye on their carpet, the repairs could be expensive, and a client could claim against you for the costs. Public liability would also protect you in such instances.
Avoid costly hairdressing equipment repairs and replacements.
A client may walk off with a piece of equipment you own or if you store hair products, they might become damaged from situations such as flooding.
Hairdresser equipment cover can avoid costly replacements in case your equipment is lost, damaged or stolen.
A salon requires public liability for contracted hairdressers
If you are contracted by salon or spa to provide services as a hairdresser. Having suitable public liability cover will likely be a minimum requirement.
Our experts explain why...
“Our hairdressing and barbers’ policy is designed to protect you financially, should you accidently cause an injury or damage your customers property or the property of another party. We cater for freelancers and those people that do not have their own premises they manage themselves, a lot of our customers work for other companies as contractors, they have a chair at a salon or a barber shop for example, we can also cater for those people that do home visits to cut their customers hair. We have built our policy over the years, to not just protect you from incidences that you could be liable to pay damages but also for your specialist equipment and stock and even to cover you should you have an accident when providing hairdressing and barbering services, so you can claim for loss of earnings and much more.”
Chris Trotman, Protectivity Underwriting Manager
How much does hairdressing insurance cost?
The cost of insurance for hairdressers can vary depending on the level of cover you need. For example, if you use specialist equipment you may need to increase the value of cover.
At Protectivity policies start at just £3.76 per month *.
Prices from
£3.76* a month
Explainer quote
Policy cost
£3.76* a month
Policy type
Hairdressing
Turnover
Up to £35,000
Public Liability
£2,000,000
Product Liability
£2,000,000
Equipment & Stock
£250
Equipment Hire
£750
Third Party Property Damage
£750
This example is based on a real quote from our website on 1/10/2024. If your circumstances and cover needs differ, your quote may be more or less expensive than the above example. The quote you receive will reflect the information you share about your event. The quoted price may vary from those displayed here.
What treatments are covered with hairdressing insurance?
Our policy covers a wide range of hairdressing and beauty treatments. To check the full extent of our cover, please request a quote and be sure to check policy documentation.
Treatments covered.
- Washing, cutting, styling, and drying of hair
- Use of clippers/trimmers and cut-throat razors
- Use of electrical equipment such as curlers, straighteners, hairdryers, and tongs
- Application of bleaches, dyes, perms, and tints
- Hair extensions (if qualified for the method used)
- Application of false eyelashes and semi-permanent eyelash extensions
- Eyebrow plucking, threading, waxing, shaping, dyeing, tinting, and perming (including semi-permanent mascara)
Have a question?
For further information on your policy, renewals, making a claim and contacting us, you’ll find an extensive list of FAQs on our Help & Support page.
Why choose Protectivity for your hairdressing insurance policy?
Let the reviews of over 3,500 customers explain why you should choose us.¹
Trusted by over 150,000 customers.
Experienced insurance providers for over 30 years.
Over 3,500 highly rated reviews.
Proof of our excellent customer service.
Experienced Claims Handling
A smooth and efficient claims process.
UK Based Customer Support
Our UK sales team are here to help.
Frequently
Asked Questions
Does my policy cover my employees?
If you have employees, you’re legally required to have employers’ liability insurance. This can be included in your policy and covers you if an employee is injured or becomes ill as a result of working for you.
How much public liability cover do hairdressers need?
We offer up to £5 million in public liability cover. The amount you need may depend on your specific business activities and any contractual requirements. Consider the maximum possible loss your business could face in the event of a claim.
Does my policy include product liability insurance?
Product liability is included in your policy. This covers you if a product you’ve sold or used causes injury or damage, subject to policy limits.
Am I covered for mobile hairdressing?
Yes, our policy covers mobile hairdressers. You’re protected while working at clients’ homes or other locations, and your equipment is covered during transit.
What activities can you cover me for?
We can cover the following activities as standard under our Hairdressing Insurance policy:
The use of:
– Clippers/trimmers and cut-throat razors
– Electrical equipment such as curlers, straighteners, hairdryers and tongs
The application of:
– Bleaches, dyes, perms and tints
– Hair extensions (subject to you being qualified for the extension method you are using)
– Nail polish (including the application of acrylic coatings, cutting and shaping of nails), false eyelashes and semi-permanent eyelash extensions
– Tooth jewellery
The activities of:
– Ear piercing using a gun and stud
– Eyebrow plucking (including threading and waxing), shaping, dyeing, tinting and perming including semi-permanent mascara
– Washing, cutting, styling and drying of hair
If your chosen treatment is not listed, just get in touch and speak to one of our friendly advisors to see if we can cover you.
Do you need to see my qualifications/certificates?
We do not need to see proof of your qualifications for you to be able to take out our insurance. We do, however, require you and any employees to hold the relevant qualifications or certificates for the services you are providing. Please note, that we do not accept qualifications that are obtained by a method of remote learning (e.g. internet-based training courses). If you need to make a claim on your Hairdressing Insurance policy then we may request to see these documents. Should we discover that you are not qualified to carry out the insured activities, we may reject your claim.
Am I covered if a customer doesn’t like their hair cut/treatment?
No, this is something that is not covered. Our policy is designed to cover Liability issues, such as injury to a third party, such as a customer, or damage to their property. For example, our policy would cover a mobile hairdresser if they were to burn a client’s scalp with curling tongs, or with an erroneously applied bleach.
Do I need to do a patch test on a client prior to using hair dye or other such products?
You would need to do a patch test at least 24 hours prior to using a product on a client for the first time and follow the manufacturer’s instructions. However, if the manufacturer states that patch testing should be done more regularly, or each time that a product is to be used, then you should adhere to those instructions.
Can you insure my hair products and stock?
Yes, our Equipment Cover benefit includes protection for things such as styling products, treatment items and other stock you may use or sell in your salon. Like your specific hairdressing equipment, it is covered against loss, theft and damage up to the value selected on your policy. We even provide £250 worth of cover free of charge with every policy taken out.
I have students working for me while they study to become a hairdresser, are they covered under this policy?
If you include Employers’ Liability on your policy, we can provide cover for students as long as they are supervised.
What happens if I have a claim under the Equipment Cover section of my policy?
If your equipment requires repair or is deemed to be broken and you have a valid claim, we will cover the costs of hiring new equipment to replace it while the original item is being replaced, or until your claim is settled, whichever is soonest.
Are my work phone and laptop covered under the equipment cover section?
No, we only provide cover for the items you use to provide your insured treatments, such as scissors, clippers, salon chair and razors.
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This page content has been created for general information and should not be taken as advice.
*Prices quoted refer to a quote raised from our website 01/10/2024. Prices will differ depending on requirements. Make sure you have the correct level of cover for what you need. For the most accurate pricing, please get a quote and for full details on what is covered refer to our policy documentation with your quote.
** Based on Protectivity sales data from 2007 to Sep 2024
ˆ10% discount for policies bought online and applies only to the first-year of your policy premium. Protectivity reserves the right to amend or withdraw this offer at any time. Available to UK residents only.
¹Based on live Feefo data