Hairdressing is a trade where the ordinary public liability claim, somebody tripping over a bag in a salon, is far less likely than the claim that actually comes in: a colour or a chemical service that went wrong on a client who was sitting in the chair by invitation. Those are different sections of a policy, and buying the first without the second is the usual mistake.
Treatment risk is the cover that earns its keep
Public liability answers for injury or damage to a member of the public. The moment you are actively working on somebody, many wordings step aside and treatment risk cover takes over: an allergic reaction to a tint, a scalp burn from a relaxer, breakage from a bleach that was left on too long, a cut from scissors or a razor. A general salon policy usually includes it, but a bare public liability policy bought online because a landlord asked for one frequently does not, and the certificate gives no clue either way.
Patch testing, and why insurers keep asking
Colour claims are the ones insurers see most, and almost every wording written for this trade carries a condition about manufacturer instructions and patch testing before a chemical service. That condition is not decorative. If the test was not done, or was not recorded, an insurer can decline a claim that would otherwise have been paid. Keeping a dated record against the client, including the ones who insist they have had it a hundred times before, is the cheapest risk management available to a salon.
Renting a chair changes who insures what
Chair renting is common and it quietly rearranges the liabilities. A genuinely self employed stylist renting space is running their own business and needs their own public liability and treatment risk cover, because the salon's policy is written for the salon's own work. The salon owner still needs cover for the premises and for anybody actually employed. The arrangements go wrong when the salon assumes its policy stretches over the renters, or when the renter assumes the salon's certificate covers them. It is worth both sides holding their own and saying so in the rental agreement.
The salon itself, and the things in it
Beyond liability there is the physical business: the fit out, the backwashes, the stock of professional product, the tills and the tools. Contents and stock cover deal with those, and a business interruption section covers the trade lost if the salon has to close after a fire or a flood. Mobile hairdressers have the opposite shape of problem, with little premises risk and a kit that travels, so their cover leans on tools and equipment away from a fixed address.
Questions people ask about hairdresser insurance
Do self employed hairdressers need their own insurance?
Yes, if you are genuinely self employed, including when you rent a chair inside somebody else's salon. The salon's policy insures the salon's business, not yours, and a client who brings a claim will bring it against the person who did the work.
Does hairdresser insurance cover a colour that goes wrong?
It is covered by the treatment risk section rather than by plain public liability. Check the schedule names treatment risk, and check the patch testing condition, because that condition is usually where a declined colour claim is decided.
Is employers' liability needed if I only have an apprentice?
Yes. Apprentices count as employees for this purpose, and employers' liability is compulsory once you employ anyone. It is enforced separately from any commercial requirement a landlord might impose.
Am I covered for mobile work at a client's home?
Only if the policy says so. Many salon policies are written around a stated address, and working at clients' homes or at weddings needs the cover extended to work away from the premises. It is a common and inexpensive extension, but it has to be asked for.
Does the policy cover my scissors and kit?
Tools and equipment are a separate section from liability, and for mobile stylists they usually need to be specified as cover away from the premises. High value shears are often listed individually rather than covered under a blanket figure.