Hair Salon and Barber Liability Insurance
Liability insurance is one of the most common insurance you’ll see offered in barber shop and hair salon insurance quotes. Barber and hair salon liability insurance come in different types. However, the ones offering the best first line of defense against exposures are:
General Liability Insurance for Barber Shops and Hair Salons
General liability insurance is the liability insurance policy that provides primary protection for your business against:
Third-party personal injuries - A client suddenly twitched while an employee is cutting her hair with a razor. As a result, the razor slipped and cut the client’s ear. In this situation, general liability insurance covers the medical treatment of the injured client. It will also pay for attorney fees, and other legal costs if the client decides to take legal action
Third-party property damage - An employee spilled dye on a client’s leather strapped watch. The leather strap is a high-end piece imported from France, it’s very expensive. The client demands your business reimburse the value of his soiled watch strap. In this situation, general liability insurance will pay the client on your behalf. It will also cover fees if legal action is taken
Note that personal injuries and property damage aren’t the only perils general liability insurance takes care of. General liability insurance has the following add-ons that provide more protection for your business:
Advertising injury coverage
Rented premises liability coverage
Products and completed operations coverage
Someone might file a claim because a hair salon or barber shop committed advertising or reputational harm. This is a peril that advertising injury coverage protects you against. Advertising injury coverage will cover attorney fees, compensatory payments the court orders, and other legal costs if a client files a claim for:
Slander
Libel
False advertising
Copyright infringement
Are you leasing or renting a commercial space to run a hair salon or barber shop? If this is the case, rented premises liability coverage is useful. Rented premises liability coverage will kick in if fire damages the commercial space you’re renting. In practice, it will shoulder expenses on your behalf if the property owner files a claim.
Finally, products and completed operations coverage will cover personal injuries or property damage a completed service caused. This insurance will help if a past client demands compensation from your business.
Hair Salon and Barber Public Liability Insurance
Public liability insurance works the same way as general liability insurance - take care of personal injury claims and property damage claims against your business. However, compared to general liability, the protection public liability insurance provides is very limited. It’s because this can’t be added with advertising injury coverage, and other add-ons we discussed earlier.
Other Insurance Hair Salons and Barber Shops Need
Commercial Property Insurance for Barber Shops & Hair Salons
Commercial property insurance will cover the building you’re owning, renting, or leasing. It provides help in two ways:
Reimburse your losses if the commercial building is destroyed by fire, extreme weather, and other related events
Reimburse your losses if the commercial building is destroyed by fire, extreme weather, theft, vandalism, and other covered perils
Commercial property insurance for barber shops and hair salons has stocks and contents coverage. What this does is pay for replacements and repair of glass panes, swivel chairs, mirrors, and other valuables that got lost or damaged due to fire, theft, vandalism, and other covered perils.
Additionally, business equipment and tools coverage is also included in commercial property insurance. This will reimburse your losses if fire, theft, vandalism, and other covered perils cause the loss or damage of scissor sets, razors, shears, shampoo bowls, dryers, steamers, and other related items.
Workers' Compensation Insurance for Hair Salons and Barber Shops
Employees working in barber shops and salons commonly experience cuts, scalding, burns, and rashes. Sometimes, they also contract hepatitis and blood-borne infections. If you employ one or more people in your barber shop and hair salon, then you'll need to purchase workers' compensation insurance.
Workers' compensation insurance will help if an employee suffers from a work-related injury or disease. This type of haircut insurance will pay for treatment, rehabilitation, hospitalization, and lost income compensation. Lost income compensation will be equal to two-thirds or 67% of the average weekly wage. This means that if the employee earns $1,323 per week, compensation for lost income will be $886.41
In case of death, workers' compensation insurance will provide death benefits to the dependents of the employee. Death benefits come in the form of payment for funeral expenses and a weekly allowance equal to 67% of the dead employee’s average weekly wage.
Employee Dishonesty Insurance
Crimes committed by an employee will surely result in financial losses. This is why insurance companies offer employee dishonesty insurance for barber shops and hair salons. Employee dishonesty insurance will cover losses if an employee or group of employees commit the following against your business.
Employer’s Liability Insurance
Your employee might sue for negligence after experiencing a work-related injury or disease, and employer’s liability insurance will take care of this. In practice, this will help by taking care of attorney fees, the amount of compensation the court ordered, and other legal costs.
An employee might also sue your hair salon and barber shop for sexual harassment, wrongful termination, and discrimination. Employer’s liability insurance doesn’t cover this. Instead, what provides protection is employment practices liability insurance, which also shoulders legal expenses on your behalf.
Hair Stylist Insurance
Insurance companies offer tailored hairstylist insurance. Just like insurance for barber shops and salons, the protection this insurance provides begins with liability insurance policies.
Hair Stylist Liability Insurance
General Liability Insurance for Hair Stylist
Hairstylist general liability insurance covers third-party personal injuries and property damage. It pays for compensatory payments, attorney fees, and other legal costs on your behalf. Add-ons are products and completed operations. There’s also rented premises liability coverage that’s a very useful insurance for hairdressers renting a chair.
Professional Liability Insurance for Hairstylist
Professional liability insurance policy will cover you if a client files a claim because you committed a mistake or any other related acts. Here are situations where this applies:
You've mistakenly given a client the wrong haircut
You disregarded the instruction of the client and caused injuries
You were not paying attention while working and cut the client's cheek, face, or scalp with a scissor or razor
It's easy to understand which situations professional liability insurance works. All that you need to remember is that this inclusion in independent hair stylist insurance kicks in whenever your business committed or allegedly committed negligence, misrepresentation, violation of good faith and fair dealing, and other acts considered errors and omissions.
Hairdressing Salon Insurance
Hairdressing salon insurance offers general liability and professional liability insurance. You can also decide to add commercial property insurance and workers' compensation insurance. Some insurance companies offering this tailored coverage also include product liability insurance, which will cover expenses if a client sues your hairdressing salon for selling defective and substandard products.
Mobile Barber Insurance
Mobile barber insurance is a tailored coverage for barbers who own a mobile barber shop and go to clients’ places to provide a service. This one also offers general liability and professional liability insurance. However, what makes this different from the usual barber shop insurance is that commercial auto insurance is included in its terms.
Commercial auto insurance is a coverage for the vehicle you’re using as a mobile barber to visit clients, transport equipment, etc. It offers the following types of protection:
Vehicular accidents happen and it’s possible for you to be the one at fault. Upon causing an accident, it’s your duty to pay for the medical treatment of injured third parties. You also need to reimburse individuals who had their property damaged. In connection, auto liability coverage will help by paying for such expenses on your behalf. This will also pay for attorney fees and other related costs if an aggrieved party decides to take legal action against you.
Auto liability coverage doesn’t cover your treatment if you got injured in a vehicular accident. This is where medical payments coverage/personal injury protection kicks in. Personal injury protection covers your treatment and medication. The same is also true for medical payments coverage but it includes compensation for lost income. PIP is available if you’re in a no-fault state. On the other hand, medical payments coverage is available if you’re in a state that doesn’t adopt “no-fault” auto liability legal principles.
Physical damage coverage ensures that the vehicle you’re using as a mobile barber stays in tip-top shape. This has two types:
Collision physical damage coverage - Collision physical damage coverage will cover parts repair or replacement if the vehicle you’re using as a mobile barber incurred damage after crashing into an object or another vehicle on the road
Comprehensive physical damage coverage - Fire, extreme weather, vandalism, theft, and other covered perils might result in the loss or damage of your commercial vehicle. In this case, comprehensive physical damage coverage will cover parts repair or replacement. Remember though that comprehensive physical damage coverage won’t repair your vehicle if it’s stolen. It won’t also cover damage to aftermarket vehicle parts just like collision physical damage coverage.
BOP for Barber Shops, Hair Salons, Hairstylists, & Hairdressers
Business Owners Policy (BOP) is a combination of different types of policies that your business needs. The way this insurance works is simple to understand; it combines general liability insurance and commercial property insurance then offers additional inclusions such as workers compensation insurance, professional liability insurance, commercial property insurance, etc.
