It’s impossible to anticipate everything that can go wrong when running a hairstylist business.
Choosing what insurance you need to cover the damage can be just as tricky. You need to ask yourself the right questions, so you can figure out what you need and what you don’t.
You’re a hairstylist, not an insurance expert. So where do you start? A quick read of our Q&A guide should help you tie up your hairstylist insurance needs.
Do I ever make mistakes at work? Do I need my hairdressers’ insurance to cover them?
We all make mistakes sometimes, regardless of experience. Whether you need insurance to cover them depends on whether you’re happy paying to fix them yourself. If not, you need insurance.
Mistakes you definitely should consider covering:
- Bodily injury (an allergy to a product leaves your customer with sore eyes, itchy skin, and in urgent need of medical care)
- Emotional injury (some botched highlights leave a client’s hair looking frazzled — and their nerves frazzled too)
- Loss of personal data (a client sues you for accidentally losing a file containing their personal information).
These fall under ‘negligence’ (where you’re accused of doing something that’s injured your client) and are covered by professional liability insurance.
Whether or not you’ve actually done something wrong doesn’t matter. If a claim goes to court, you could be liable for your client’s medical bills, compensation and legal defense. That’s on top of your own legal defense too.
Unless you have professional liability insurance, that is, to cover all those things.
How safe is my salon? Can I protect my clients from slips, trips, spills etc?
Accidents can be hard to predict or prevent. Salons are often hectic and busy and you can’t be in two places at once.
We’ve seen it all before. Electric cords trailing on the floor, water splashes around sinks, hot drinks tipped over clients’ laps.
Sound familiar? Then you need general liability insurance. This covers you for:
- Bodily injury (if it’s not related to your professional services)
- Damage to a client’s property
- Personal injury (slander/libel).
What happens if a client slips on a wet floor, breaks their ankle and demands you reimburse them for their medical care? Or an intern spills coffee over a customer’s designer handbag and you’re asked to replace it? Or a celebrity client overhears your stylist gossiping about them and sues you for slander?
In any of these scenarios, your policy kicks in to cover your legal defense. Plus any medical bills or compensation you’re liable for. You don’t have to worry about your salon’s finances or reputation getting damaged.
Do I need extra cover when visiting clients at their premises?
Working as a mobile hairstylist is risky. Because you’re visiting clients outside of your own home or salon, you can’t predict the environment you’ll be walking into.
This ups the chances of the unexpected happening. And because you’re a sole operator, you’ll be held responsible for any damage or distress.
Maybe your hair straighteners burn a hole in someone’s designer table. Or you knock over an expensive vase. Or your client flips out over her new hairdo, cancels her modeling job and insists you cover her lost wages.
Mobile hairstylist insurance should include:
- General liability insurance (for accidents relating to bodily injury, property damage, slander/libel)
- Professional liability insurance (for botched treatments, emotional distress and data loss)
Can I afford to replace all my equipment if it’s lost or stolen?
A business owner’s policy (BOP) typically includes general liability and property insurance. As well as optional extras like business interruption and equipment breakdown.
You can add on or remove optional coverages and it often works out cheaper than buying lots of different policies.
Do I have employees to look after? What insurance do I need to cover them?
Most states require you to have workers’ compensation insurance even if you have just one employee.
Hair salons are rife with hot stylist tools and corrosive chemicals. Because of the equipment involved, there’s potential for accidents. If an employee gets injured, an expensive workplace injury lawsuit could soon follow.
Workers’ comp insurance helps settle the claim. It can pay for medical bills and lost wages, as well as your own legal defense.
Hairstylist insurance quotes online
Still have more questions? Call us at 978.344.4215 and we’ll be happy to answer them.
Otherwise, get a quote online now.