Whether you’re a mobile hairdresser or beautician, or whether you operate from a salon or other business premises, you probably know that you need insurance. But other than knowing that you need that insurance to protect you against unexpected losses, you may not actually know what that insurance covers.
A hair and beauty insurance package will usually contain a property insurance section, a liability insurance section and possibly a number of different covers. But what do all of these sections cover?
Property insurance
This type of insurance is the one that most people are familiar with because it is similar to their household insurance. It covers the business premises and its contents, including the fixtures and fittings, stock and equipment.
You should make sure that your property is insured for its full value to ensure that you are not penalised if you find that you have to make a claim. You should also make sure that your property insurance covers any property while it is away from your business premises if you are a mobile operator.
Liability insurance
Liability insurance covers any damages that have been awarded against you if a compensation claim against you has been successful. It also covers any legal costs and other associated expenses that were incurred in dealing with the claim.
Compensation claims can be expensive. A claim for a broken wrist could cost £20,000 plus the legal fees. A claim for a serious injury could cost in excess of £250,000.
There are three main types of liability insurance – employer’s liability insurance, public liability insurance and products liability insurance.
Employer’s liability insurance any covers compensation claims that are made against you by your employees. There are severe penalties if you employ anyone and you don’t have employer’s liability insurance, even if the people you employ are only employed on a casual basis.
Public liability insurance is similar, but covers compensation claims by third parties such as your clients or members of the public. Products liability is also similar, but covers compensation claims arising due to defects in any products that you have sold or supplied rather than compensation claims arising due to something that you have done or failed to do.
Treatment risk cover
Treatment risk cover is where a hair and beauty insurance package differs from a standard business insurance package.
It acts as an extension to the public liability insurance cover and it’s needed because standard public liability insurance does not cover compensation claims that arise out of professional activities. Hairdressing and providing beauty services are professional activities, so this means that a lot of the potential compensation claims that could be made against a hair or beauty professional would not be covered.
Clearly, this would leave a large gap in the cover, so it’s vital that anyone in the hair and beauty profession makes sure that their hair and beauty insurance contains this treatment risk cover extension.
Other covers
As well as the risk of having their property damaged or stolen and the risk of a compensation claim being made against them, hair and beauty professionals face a number of other risks.
One of these risks is that, rather than facing a compensation claim because someone else has been injured, they could be facing a loss of income because they’ve been injured or have fallen ill.
Personal accident insurance covers this risk. It pays a weekly benefit when you’re unable to work due to an injury or an illness, and a lump sum if you’ll be able to work on a permanent basis due to the injury or illness.
Another hurdle is the risk that you could face a large legal bill if you end up being involved in legal action. Legal expenses insurance protects you against such bills.
Both personal accident insurance and legal expenses insurance can be added to a hair and beauty insurance policy as optional extra covers.
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