On of your regular customers comes to the hairdresser for her regular hair tint, and she comes out looking gorgeous time after time. Then, one day a hairdressing apprentice while applying her root tint, her hand slips and your customer’s brand new expensive dress is covered with icky sticky tint! True, she do have a cape on as protection, but it is not enough to prevent the tint seeping through it and on to her clothing. Simply furious, she decides to sue.

Fortunately, for you and the apprentice concerned, you have taken out salon insurance for such an event, so you can replace the dress and the salon does not have an expensive account to pay.

Then there is someone else, who goes to a beauty salon every two months, for waxing, together with a facial that includes eyelash and eyebrow tinting. She thoroughly enjoys the pampering and fuss, suddenly; she has her eyelashes and eyebrows singed. Of course, this is a mistake, but she considers it an infringement of her person, and sues. There again, insurance comes to the beauty salons rescue.

The importance of public liability insurance for salons

Accidents can and do occur, and hairdressing and beauty salons in particular have to protect themselves against any litigation, by taking out adequate insurance for the business and for their staff. This insurance must cover legal liability for injury to a third party or any damage to their property arising from work at your premises.

Furthermore, the salon owner needs salon insurance that covers content, for all the equipment that they use as part of the business. Many salons have large glass windows, should this be smashed for any reason, replacing it yourself is an expensive exercise. It is usually an inclusion in the lease that you are responsible for replacing any broken glass. This is another reason why insurance is a necessity.

Employers insurance

It is a law that employers have insurance for anybody working for them against liability claims. There are heavy fines if employers found to be without it. With both beauty and hair salons the insurance covers liability.

If you are a beauty salon owner, make sure you have the right types of salon insurance by visiting Specialistrisks.

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Should an injury occur during a treatment, is it covered by the public liability section of the policy?

The answer is no, as the public liability section does not include such a claim. However, a Treatment Risks extension is available as an extension for the shop insurance policy covering you and your employees for an amount up to £1,000,000 per incident of injury occurring during a treatment.

What happens if I cannot open the salon?

In the event of circumstances beyond your control occurring so that it is impossible to open shop, through equipment breakdown, damage to the property, or a power failure; the cover will be for the loss of the Gross Profit, with any expenses incurring of further losses within a twenty-four month period, up to £500,000. This is only applicable should the events cause interruption or interference to the business resulting in a loss of profit.

Does the cover hold if a client accidentally breaks an item in the salon?

Your beauty salon insurance policy covers on an All Risk basis, meaning that as well as fire, theft storm or flood damage you will have cover through accidental damage.

Is there cover in the event of a customer hurting themselves on the premises?

Public liability is standard on the shop cover policy, which also includes any legal defence costs. When you take out this policy, you have selections of a level of cover of £1,000,000 / £2,000,000 / £3,000,000 or £5,000,000. The excess payment per claim is only £100. In an event of an employee pressing charges against you, an Employers Liability section will cover you for an amount of up to £10,000,000.

Make sure that you have an effective and sufficient salon insurance policy, covering a successful running of your beauty salon, allowing you to have peace of mind knowing that any problems that arise where result for accessing insurance is necessary, will be dealt with efficiently and quickly.

Specialist Risks provides quotes for Beauty Salon Insurance from top UK providers

Any business that provides services to customers will need to invest in adequate insurance, and salons are no exception. If you own any kind of salon, be it a hairdressers, a nail bar or beauty treatment room, you should put salon insurance at the top of the agenda – doing so ensures you’re doing the best you can for your business, offering valuable financial protection when you need it most.

Investing in this type of insurance isn’t something that should be taken lightly. Not only is having a certain level of cover a legal requirement, but it makes sound business sense to be prepared. If anything were to go wrong or if claims were made against you the financial cost could be devastating to your business, but with the right level of protection in place you won’t have to worry. Adequate cover will make sure that you’re completely prepared for any eventuality, ensuring you’re not held financially responsible for anything untoward happening.

What you’ll need in your policy

A policy of this kind should offer a number of different features to ensure complete protection, but a lot of the time the level of cover you’ll be looking for will depend on your individual business circumstances. Likewise, different insurance companies will be able to offer different levels of protection, but at the most basic level you’ll need to look for two things as standard – public and products liability insurance and, if you have employees, employers’ liability cover as well.

Public and products liability will cover you in the event that a customer was to be injured whilst on your premises, if their property was damaged or if products they bought led to illness or injury in any way. This is a vital consideration as any claims can be incredibly costly, and while £2million is often the minimum level required you might want to look into higher levels of cover depending on your business needs.

Employers’ liability is just as important, if not more so – if you’ve got more than one employee then it’s a legal requirement to have this protection in place, as it provides valuable financial recourse in the event that an employee made a claim against you. This could be the case if they were to be injured or fell ill as a result of their employment, and again the costs could quickly add up so always opt for a high level of protection.

This is just the beginning and there are plenty of other things you’ll need to look for depending on your hairdressing salon insurance needs. Some insurance firms will offer them as standard whereas for others they’ll be seen as an optional extra (and some will even offer all risks protection so you’re ready for anything), but either way here are just a few things you’ll want to consider:

• Equipment. Salon equipment can be incredibly expensive, but with material or accidental damage cover you can be confident that you won’t have to replace anything should it be lost, stolen or damaged. This can often be extended to include fixtures and fittings, front of premises and even complete buildings insurance – always talk to your insurer to discuss your needs.
• Personal accident. Accidents can and do happen and they can have huge consequences on your livelihood, so it makes sense to invest in this level of protection to ensure you won’t suffer financial loss on top of physical discomfort should the worst happen.
• Business interruption. This can provide valuable financial backup in the event that you can’t run your salon, ensuring you don’t lose profit unnecessarily.
• Money. The prospect of losing money is never nice to consider but if you run a salon you could well have large amounts of cash on your premises, and this level of cover will ensure you won’t lose out should it be lost or stolen.
• Treatment risk. This offers recourse should a customer be injured during the course of a treatment, often being a vital extension of a basic policy.

How to find the perfect quote

These days finding the perfect quote shouldn’t be that difficult, because the internet has made it easier than ever before to source potential options. All you have to do is get searching and you’ll soon have plenty of quotes from which to make your decision, and as long as you take a close look at what each policy can offer and always make sure you’re getting one that’s built around your individual needs you can’t go wrong.

But, it’s important to remember a few things as you search, the first being that you need to check the small print. Certain exclusions and limitations will always be apparent so it’s essential to know exactly what you’re covered for to avoid any nasty shocks, because there’s nothing worse than making a claim only to find that it can’t be upheld. For example, a lot of salon owners assume that if they injure a customer during a treatment they’ll be covered via public liability insurance, but that’s not always the case – public liability doesn’t extend to this type of claim and you’ll often need the addition of “treatment risk” to be covered. It’s situations like these that you’ll need to be prepared for, so always spend the time to check the details so you know exactly what you’re getting.

Always make sure you get the best deal as well, and if you’re not totally convinced it simply means you need to keep searching. Comparing the options is essential as it increases the likelihood of you making the right decision, and always be on the lookout for any additional discounts that can be offered such as no claims bonuses or a discount if you arrange things online. Don’t be afraid to haggle either – pitting a few companies against each other can be a great way to lower your premiums as they’ll all be competing for your business, so never accept the first option and always see what else can be found.

Protect your finances while you pamper your customers

Operating in the beauty industry can be incredibly rewarding, but it’s a business like any other and as such you need to be certain that your finances are properly protected. If you don’t want to run the risk of financial loss then investing in adequate salon insurance is essential, so make sure to do your research and you’ll be able to pamper your customers whilst being safe in the knowledge that your business is as safe and secure as possible.

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