Understanding Hairdresser Insurance

Hair salon owners have the added responsibility of having several different hairstylists work for them. They may hire them as employees by paying them a salary and ensuring they work full-time or part-time hours. This means that they will have to pay vacation and sick days as legally required.

Some hair salon owners allow independent hairstylists to rent a booth and tools. In this case, the employees will be independent contractors who are merely renting out the space for the month or the year.

In each of these cases, the hair salon owner has business and third-party claim risk that they need to protect themselves from. Since they own the property, any third-party claims for injuries like slip-and-fall can end up costing a lot of money in legal fees and settlements. As the business has more money than the independent contractors, the third parties will sue the business first.

There are chemicals, water, hair products, and just hair that is spread through the hair salon as the hairdressers do their job. Any customer or delivery person can trip and fall on it leading to bodily injury and property damage.

If the hairstylists are employees, customers can still claim that they are not providing the service the customer paid for. This could mean the wrong haircut or damaging their hair while colouring. The salon can be sued for that as well. This is where hairdresser insurance companies into play to protect hair salons.

Many hairstylists may prefer self-employment so they work on their own and don’t pay their commissions to someone else. A hairstylist has to complete a certification program in Ontario, which includes 3,500 hours of apprenticeship training. This includes 3,020 hours of on-the-job experience and 480 hours of school. 

Hairstylists have a wide range of responsibilities including shampoo, cut, and style. They can provide keratin treatments to straighten hair or perms to permanently curl hair. They also provide other hair and scalp treatments. Many hairstylists also do weaves and add hair extensions.  

In all these activities, they are using chemicals including dyes and bleaches. Not only are they toxic, but they can lead to burns and other injuries if not used correctly.

If you damage your customer’s hair by using these chemicals incorrectly, they can sue you for medical costs. If they have a job that they can’t go to because of the condition of their hair, you may also have to cover their living expenses until they are ready to go back to work.

Hairdresser insurance covers self-employed hairstylists who deal with professional liability claims.

You may have hairdressers that move from salon to salon. You may invite a well-known hairdresser to your salon to increase sales for a week or a month. This temporary employee will be covered under the hairdresser insurance by extending your coverage to them.

A mobile hairdresser may want to ensure that they are covered under a separate hairdresser insurance policy. This is because you don’t know what the coverage of the hair salon is. The policy could have exceptions and limitations, which means that you may have to pay out of pocket for some expenses.

This is why having a separate hairdresser insurance coverage gives you more control over your protection. You will know exactly what is covered and for how much.

Hairdresser insurance covers general commercial liability. This is basically what any business will have to consider.

These cover the regular risks of any business including bodily injury or property damage that third parties like customers, delivery persons or maintenance personnel. They can fall on your slippery floor where chemicals or products have been spilled. They can simply slip on the sidewalk right outside your door because of bad weather.

Customers can also get injured because of equipment. For example, if the equipment malfunctions while the customer is using it and injures them. An electrical malfunction can also lead to electrocutions or other injuries. A hairdryer or a straightener set at too high of a level can cause burns and damage to hair.

Customers can also file a negligence lawsuit for not taking enough care to protect customers and third parties.

This is customized insurance for hairdressers that protects them from claims that the professional advice or services provided by the hairstylist caused a client financial harm. Every business that provides professional services can have a different type of claim in these circumstances.

For hairdressers, these are the claims that customers can make not providing the full level of service they are paying for. If your customer sustains an allergic reaction to a product, the customer can sue you for medical costs. Even if you ask your customer if they have any allergies and they say no, you can still get sued.

You may even be held responsible if a customer doesn’t like how the hair colour looks on them. While these may be frivolous claims without any basis, you still have to deal with the legal costs of addressing them. This is where professional liability insurance can help you.

Your customers trust you and your abilities. As a hairdresser, you want to provide the best service to make sure your customers are happy and keep coming back.

Unfortunately, there can be situations where your customers are not happy with your service. If you’re providing a luxury service, your customer will have higher expectations. Professional liability insurance protects you if your customers sue you for not meeting their expectations.

Professional liability insurance is especially important if you provide professional advice. If your customer relies on your advice and gets injured, you will be covered.

General liability insurance covers third-party claims for bodily injuries or property damage. It’s an important level of coverage for hairdressers because this is a common type of claim that a lot of businesses face.

If your equipment malfunctions and starts a fire, you can end up damaging your neighbour’s property. This is where your general liability insurance because will cover the costs of repairing your neighbour’s property. General liability insurance will also cover defamations claims.

Contents insurance is also known as commercial property insurance. Contents insurance provides coverage for your business property and all of your content. With this coverage, you will be protected if your property or equipment gets damaged by unexpected events like fire, theft, vandalism or natural disasters.

You should ensure that you review the fine print of your contents insurance policy because damage from backup or overflow from sewers and drains are generally not included in the basic policy. This is something you would need to add as additional coverage.

You can save money on hairdresser insurance by contacting many different companies. Because hairdresser insurance is more customized to your particular needs, you may end up with companies offering different premiums.

You should consider what type of coverage is good for you and what deductible you’re comfortable paying. Understanding these and choosing the right option can save you some money on hairdresser insurance.