Hairdressing salon insurance, priced on what insurers publish

What insurers print for this trade

Buying cover for a hair salon

1. Treat the patch test clause as the policy. Colour and relaxer claims are decided on the patch test. Policies require a test at a stated interval before a colour service and a record of it, and a salon that tests informally without recording it is, for claim purposes, a salon that did not test. Build the record into the booking system rather than the stylist's memory.
2. Declare the whole service list, including add ons. Extensions, keratin and chemical straightening, lash and brow work and barbering with a cut throat razor are each rated separately from a standard cut and colour. A salon that quietly added a service after buying the policy is the most common uninsured salon there is.
3. Get the chair renters on the record. A stylist renting a chair is a separate business and needs separate liability cover. The salon should hold each renter's certificate on file, because the salon's own policy answers for the salon's work and a client injured by a renter will pursue whoever they can identify.
4. Cover the fit out at replacement cost. Basins, chairs, mirrors, colour bars and stock are expensive to replace and are what a fire or a flood destroys. Work out the real replacement figure rather than the written down book value, since a contents section set too low is reduced proportionately when it pays.
5. Check the business interruption wording. A salon that cannot open loses its whole income, and the cover that answers for that is business interruption rather than liability. Look at the indemnity period offered and ask whether it is long enough to refit a burnt out shop, which is usually longer than people expect.

Common questions

Do I need insurance to rent a chair in a salon?

In practice yes. Chair renters are self employed, so the salon's own liability policy does not answer for their work, and most salon agreements now require the renter to hold their own public and treatment liability and to show a certificate before they start.

Will a hair colour claim be paid if we did not patch test?

Usually not. Insurers write patch testing in as a policy condition rather than a recommendation, and where the condition was not met the reaction claim is normally declined. That is why the record of the test matters as much as the test itself.

Is a barber shop insured on the same terms as a hair salon?

Broadly, though the rating differs. Wet shaving with an open blade is treated as a higher risk than cutting and is sometimes excluded unless declared, so a barber shop should check that the service appears on its own schedule by name.

Does salon cover include the products we sell over the counter?

Retail sales bring in product liability, which answers for harm caused by a product you supplied even though somebody else made it. Most salon packages include it; a few price it separately, and a salon with a shelf of retail stock should confirm which it has.

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