A guide to insurance for beauticians and salons
What insurance do beauticians and salons need?
Getting the right business insurance covers as a self-employed beautician or salon owner may seem complicated, but it doesn’t have to be. In fact, beauticians and beauty businesses in the UK generally only need to think about four or five types of business cover:
Public liability insurance
Public liability insurance can cover liability to members of the public for accidental bodily injury or damage to their property.
Equipment insurance
Equipment insurance (also known as business contents insurance) is designed to cover accidental damage, loss or theft to business equipment (including portable electronic equipment). It can cover kit belonging to you and your employees, whether you're in the workplace, working from home or out and about.
Employers' liability insurance
Employers’ liability insurance can pay legal fees and compensation costs awarded to employees for work-related sickness or bodily injury. If you have any employees, this is likely to be a legal requirement.
Accident and sickness cover
Accident and sickness insurance may pay a benefit for up to 50 weeks if you, or an employee, are signed off by a doctor on long-term sick leave, hospitalised or injured and unable to work.
Cyber insurance
You might be surprised to see this on the list, but cyber insurance is relevant to any business that holds Personally Identifiable Information (PII) or Personal Health Information (PHI). It covers your liability for processing data and costs associated with a data breach or security failure.
Choose your industry
Depending on what types of treatments you offer, you'll find these covers when building a quote for your business. To find out more about which cover you need for your specific type of business, select which most applies to you below.
Beauty therapist insurance
For those who offer all kinds of beauty treatments.
Hairdresser insurance
For mane-makers, hairdryer shakers and everything in between.
Massage therapist insurance
For stress-relievers, skin smoothers and those with magic hands.
Nail technician insurance
For anyone who gives the perfect mani-pedi, every time.
Barber insurance
For those who give a mean fade and close shave.
Beauticians and salons insurance guide
Find out more about insurance for beauticians and salons, the risks it covers and what to look out for in a policy.
Which insurance protects salon employees?
Employers’ liability insurance protects your business in the event that an employee seeks compensation as a result of injury or damage to their property while working.
Personal accident cover provides a benefit if someone working for the business suffers an accident resulting in loss of sight, hearing, speech or a limb, death or leaving them disabled and permanently unable to work.
Is insurance a legal requirement for beauty businesses?
Whether your business is a nail bar or a hair salon, if you have any employees at all (temporary, part-time or full-time), it’s a legal requirement in the UK to have employers’ liability insurance in place. This is the only business insurance which is actually a legal requirement and not having it when you need it can result in fines of up to £2,500 for each day you don’t have it. It’s also important to make sure that your employers’ liability certificate is visible either at your salon or online. Not doing this can result in a fine of £1,000.
Do mobile beauty businesses need insurance?
Many of the risks faced by mobile beauty businesses (e.g. the risk of injuring a client or their property) remain the same whether you’re working at a set business premises or as a mobile business. For this reason, if you’re a mobile beautician, you’ll still want to consider public liability insurance, tools and equipment insurance and employers’ liability insurance.
How much is insurance for a beauty business?
This very much depends on your needs as a business (e.g. things like how much of each cover you select, how many employees you have and the treatments you carry out). However, to give you a ballpark idea, Superscript beauty customers tend to spend under £10 a month* for their cover.
Things to look out for when getting insurance for your beauty business
- Treatment exclusions
- Where you are insured to work (including other countries, if relevant to you)
- Cover extending to temporary employees