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Hairdressing Insurance Quote

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  • A specialist policy can cover financially against a wide range of hairy events!
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Cover For 1,000 Business Types

  • Essential cover

    Protection if someone is injured or their property is damaged because of your business.

    • Public Liability Insurance
    • Employers Liability Insurance
    • Business Contents Insurance
  • Professional cover

    Legal fees and compensation payments if you make a mistake in your work and a client suffers a financial loss.

    • Professional Indemnity Insurance
    • Cyber Insurance
  • Management cover

    Cover for legal fees and compensation payments if you make a mistake in your work and a client suffers a financial loss.

    • Directors and Officers Insurance

How it works

1
Tell us about your business
Answer a few questions about your business.
2
Create a tailored insurance policy
Our partner Superscript will create a tailored insurance policy based on what you tell us.
3
Get your business covered
If the policy suits your needs, you can take it out and get cover immediately.

What our Nerds say about hairdressing insurance

CONNOR

BUSINESS NERD

Worse things can go wrong as a hairdresser than a bad perm or poor colour treatment. Injuries, illnesses, property damage and theft can affect both you and your clients.

But there are ways you can protect yourself as a business, while signalling to your customers that you take their well-being seriously. Hairdressing insurance can cover you in a range of situations, paying for the compensation costs and legal fees related to claims made against you or your business.

NerdWallet, in partnership with Superscript, can assist you in finding the right level of hairdressing insurance for your business, whether you own your salon, are a mobile hairdresser, work as a freelancer, or are learning the trade.

What is hairdressing insurance?

It may sound like a trivial point to make, but scissors are sharp. Floors are slippery when wet. And accidents can happen, even in the safest of working environments.

That’s why, whether you work in a salon or in people’s homes, hairdressing insurance is worth looking into. With the right level of protection, it can help turn a worst-case scenario into a manageable problem.

General hairdressing insurance

At the centre of most policies will be public liability insurance for hairdressers. This type of hairdressing insurance is designed to pay for the compensation costs and legal fees if a customer or member of the public was injured, made ill, or had their property damaged during the course of your work, or at your business premises.

» COMPARE: Public liability insurance

Just as important is professional treatment liability, or professional treatment risk, insurance. This will cover you if a customer suffers a physical or mental injury or illness due to a treatment you have carried out – whether it is free or paid for.

There is also a high chance as a hairdresser that you will be in a position to supply or sell haircare products to your clients. Even if you don’t manufacture these items yourself, you may want to consider product liability insurance. This is in case a product you have sold or given away causes a client injury or illness, or damages their property, and they decide to make a claim against you.

Hairdressing insurance isn’t just about your clients, however. Tools and equipment insurance can cover the cost of replacing stolen, lost or accidentally damaged equipment vital to your business, while personal accident insurance is there in case you yourself suffer a life-changing injury or illness.

Hair salon insurance

If you own your own salon, there will be other forms of hairdressing insurance to consider that differ from a mobile or freelance hairdresser.

If you employ anyone that isn’t a family member, you are legally required to take out an employers’ liability policy worth £5 million from an authorised insurer. This is to cover if an employee suffers an injury or illness while carrying out their work.

You may also want business buildings and contents insurance to protect not only your business premises, but the contents inside, from theft, accidental damage and vandalism. This can include stock held at your business premises. You can buy separate commercial building insurance and business contents insurance if you find you only need one or the other.

Similarly, if a flood, fire or other unexpected event prevented you from working at your business premises, business interruption insurance can help with your loss of income.

Mobile hairdressing insurance

As a mobile hairdresser or freelance hairdresser, you may not need employers’ liability or commercial buildings insurance.

You might, however, need to look into business car insurance, to make sure you have the right level of cover on the roads.

Similarly, portable equipment insurance can help if any business equipment, potentially including work laptops, is damaged or stolen when you are making the rounds.

Do I need hairdressing insurance?

If you employ one person or more – including students and trainees – you are legally required to take out employers’ liability insurance. Say if an employee were to slip on a wet floor and break their wrist. Employers’ liability insurance would pay their compensation costs, and any legal fees you incurred if they made a claim.

» COMPARE: Employers’ liability insurance

While employers’ liability insurance is the only form of insurance you must have, it doesn’t mean it is the only form of business insurance you could consider taking out.

It is not a stretch to imagine a situation where a bottle of shampoo accidentally leaks over your client’s designer handbag. If that client decided to make a claim against you, business public liability insurance would pay for replacing the bag, as well as any legal fees that may arise.

It’s also not out of the realms of possibility for a client to have an allergic reaction to the hair dye you use. This simple mistake could still lead to a claim made against you, the cost of which would be covered by professional treatment liability insurance.

If, instead, you had sold or given away that hair dye to your customer, and they had the same allergic reaction at home, product liability insurance would also cover the costs of your client’s claim.

Meanwhile, if you took our mobile hairdressing insurance, which included portable equipment cover, and your hairdressing kit was then stolen from your car, your insurance would pay for the replacements.

The same is true if your salon front window is smashed overnight, and your policy includes business buildings insurance.

What does hairdressing insurance cover?

Below, we detail at a glance the policies you can usually expect to find in a hairdressing insurance package, which treatments may be covered, and what might not normally be included.

What is usually included in hairdressing insurance?

Most hairdressing insurance packages will contain a combination of the following:

  • public liability insurance
  • professional treatment liability insurance
  • product liability insurance
  • hair and beauty tools and equipment insurance

Other types of insurance to consider, depending on your specific business, will include:

  • employers’ liability insurance
  • business buildings and contents insurance
  • business interruption insurance
  • portable equipment insurance
  • business car insurance

The same is true for many other beauty and well-being professions, including beauty therapists.

» COMPARE: Beauty therapist insurance

What treatments are covered by hairdressing insurance

When it comes to your hairdressing insurance, your provider may list the treatments they are willing to cover. This could include, but is not limited to:

  • washing, cutting, styling and drying hair of any kind, including wigs
  • dyeing, bleaching, perming and other similar chemical treatments
  • hair extensions
  • eyebrow treatments, such as plucking and threading
  • eyelash treatments, such as curling and tinting

What isn’t usually included in hairdressing insurance?

Your hairdressing insurance will first and foremost be defined by what you choose to include and exclude. So if you don’t take out a product liability insurance policy, for example, and a client makes a claim based on an allergic reaction they had to a product you sold them, you will not be covered.

Similarly, you should make sure all the treatments you regularly carry out as a hairdresser are included under your professional treatment liability policy.

Other than that, there are certain common situations that likely won’t be covered by your policy. This may include general wear and tear to your tools and equipment, and claims related to theft if the proper security measures, such as locked doors and windows, weren’t followed.

How much does hairdressing insurance cost?

The price of hairdressing insurance will vary from business to business, depending on a number of factors. This may include, but is not limited to:

  • the number of policies you choose to take out
  • the level of coverage you want from each policy
  • your number of employees
  • the location of your business
  • the years of experience you have as a hairdresser

How to choose the best hairdressing insurance policy for you

As mentioned, if you own your own salon, you may have different hairdressing insurance needs than if you work in people’s homes, or rent a chair at someone else’s shop.

You should carefully consider the activities your specific business carries out, and the risks attached, to get an idea of what level and range of cover you need.

Then you can use our hairdressing insurance comparison tool to help find the right deal for your business.

Click ‘start your quote’ and follow the step-by-step process, including letting us know:

  • whether you are a sole trader, limited company or partnership
  • your main business activity
  • your estimated turnover in the next 12 months
  • how many people work for your business

If you need any assistance with getting your quote, make sure to click on the headset icon at the top right of the widget.

Hairdressing Insurance FAQs

What types of insurance do hairdressers need?

Although the only legally required form of insurance hairdressers need is employers’ liability insurance – and that’s if you employ one person or more who is not a member of your family – there are other policies traditionally recommended for the profession. These include, but are not limited to:

  • public liability insurance
  • professional treatment liability insurance
  • product liability insurance
  • hair and beauty tools and equipment insurance

Do you need insurance to be a hairdresser?

You only technically need insurance to be a hairdresser if you employ other people. Then you would legally have to take out employers’ liability insurance.

However, just because it isn’t required, doesn’t mean it is not recommended. Things go wrong, and you may be relieved to have hairdressing insurance to cover the financial costs if they do.

This could be anything from a customer having an allergic reaction to a product you have used, to your hair and beauty equipment being stolen.

What are three types of insurance needed within the salon?

While there are a number of different forms of insurance that could be applied to working in a salon, as well as employers’ liability insurance, three of the most important policies to consider are:

  • Public liability insurance – for injuries, illnesses and property damage suffered by clients at or during your work.
  • Professional treatment liability insurance – for injuries and illnesses to a client caused during a treatment you are carrying out.
  • Product liability insurance – for injuries and illnesses to a client caused by a product you have sold, or offered as a freebie, at your salon.

Do you need insurance to work in a salon?

If you own the salon business, and have employees, you will be legally required to take out employers’ liability insurance.

If you are an employee at a salon, you will likely be covered by your employers’ insurance policies. However, you should be sure to check this with your employer.

If you are a self-employed freelancer renting a chair at someone else’s salon, there may be certain policies you need to take out yourself, such as professional treatment liability insurance. Again, you should check with the salon owner.

What insurance protects employees of the salon?

Employers’ liability insurance covers the compensation costs and legal fees related to an injury or illness your employees pick up while working at your salon.

Do mobile hairdressers need insurance in the UK?

While, unless you employ someone, mobile hairdressers are not legally required to have business insurance, it is still potentially recommended. Types of mobile hairdressing insurance to consider include:

  • public liability insurance
  • professional treatment liability insurance
  • product liability insurance
  • hair and beauty tools and equipment insurance
  • portable equipment insurance
  • business car insurance

What car insurance do I need as a mobile hairdresser?

If you are a mobile hairdresser, you may find you are not fully covered by your standard car insurance policy, and instead need business car insurance.

If you drive to multiple places of work, such as the homes of your customers, then you will likely need to get class 1 business car insurance.

If you have another person at your business that you would want to add as a named driver on your car, you would need class 2 business car insurance.

If you worked as a door-to-door salesperson, as well as a mobile hairdresser, meanwhile, you would need class 3 business car insurance.

About the author

Connor is a writer and spokesperson for NerdWallet. Previously at Spreadex, his market commentary has been quoted in the likes of the BBC, The Guardian, Evening Standard, Reuters and The Independent. Read more

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