Beauty public liability insurance

In case someone gets injured or their property gets damaged as a result of your beauty therapy business.

What’s typically covered by public liability insurance?

Claims against your business for:

• accidental injury you cause to someone else while you’re working as a beauty therapist, or afterwards, or due to a beauty product you’ve sold
• accidental damage you cause to someone else’s property as a consequence of your work, or because of a product you’ve sold
• damage or injury caused by your employee (remember, if you employ people, you must have employers’ liability insurance – it’s a legal requirement)

For example:

• a client sues you because they’ve suffered an allergic reaction to a face cream you used on them during a beauty treatment
• you sell someone a pot of eye serum but the glass is cracked, so they end up cutting their hand open
• you’re visiting a client at their house to carry out a cosmetics consultation, and you accidentally drop your container full of makeup – this stains an expensive beige carpet, so the client is holding you responsible for the cost of a new one

What you’ll need additional cover for

• your salon, if you have one (you need building insurance in the mix if you want to cover your business premises, so to make sure you get this, please select ‘beauty salon’ as your trade when you get a quote from us)
• invasive beauty treatments such as chemical peels and permanent makeup

Read more about public liability insurance

Employers’ liability insurance

In case an employee gets sick or injured while working for you.

What’s typically covered by employers’ liability insurance?

Claims against your business for:

• illness or injury experienced by a member of staff as a result of them being employed by your beauty business

**Employers’ liability insurance is required by law if you have people working for you. Without it, you could be fined up to £2,500 a day for each employee.**

For example:

• your assistant suffers an allergic reaction or burns to the skin as a result of a chemical in a new beauty product you’re both sampling
• your trainee beautician breaks their arm by falling down the stairs at a client’s house, so you’re being sued for damages

Tools insurance

In case something happens to your beautician tools.

What’s typically covered by tools insurance?

• the specialist tools you use to carry out your work as a beautician (especially handheld tools and portable electronic tools), whether stored at your business premises, travelling to a beauty consultation, or at a client’s home
• theft of your beauty tools
• accidental damage to your beauty tools

For example:

• your manicure equipment is stolen in a break-in at your business premises
• your acupuncture kit gets broken because you sit on it by accident when you’re on a train to see a client

Read more about tools insurance

Stock insurance

In case something happens to the beauty therapy items you keep in stock.

What’s typically covered by stock insurance?

• loss, damage or theft of the products or materials you use to carry out your beauty therapy consultations
• loss, damage or theft of beauty products you’re planning to sell to customers

For example:

• you forget to bring your suitcase full of high-end cosmetics with you when you get off the bus, so you need to replace them all
• the makeup brushes, face creams and spray tans you keep in your sales inventory are stolen from your business premises

Read more about stock insurance

Business and office equipment insurance

In case something happens to your business and office equipment.

What’s typically covered by business and office equipment insurance?

• the equipment you use to run your beauty business (mainly operational equipment, not tools of the trade) – while stored at your business premises, travelling to a beauty consultation, or at a client’s home
• theft or accidental loss of your equipment
• flood, fire, or accidental damage to your equipment

For example:

• the laptop you use to manage your beauty bookings is stolen from your car while you’re visiting a client
• you accidentally smash your glass product display unit when you drop it on the way to an industry event

Read more about business and office equipment insurance

Legal expenses insurance

In case you’re faced with legal costs in the day-to-day running of your business.

What’s typically covered by legal expenses insurance?

• the cost of resolving tax and compliance disputes
• the cost of resolving disputes with your employees
• legal costs you’re liable for due to property damage, nuisance or trespass
• support from experts over the phone – such as public relations guidance, and helplines for tax and legal advice to help you control the damage to your reputation

For example:

• your company’s tax affairs are being investigated by HMRC and you need help fielding their enquiries
• you’ve been selected at random for an audit and you need to pay an accountant to sort out your bookkeeping
• you fired your trainee beautician on the grounds of inappropriate behaviour at an industry event, but they’re alleging unfair dismissal, so you have to engage a lawyer to defend your legal rights

Read more about legal expenses insurance

Personal accident insurance

In case you or anyone you’ve covered has an accident.

What’s typically covered by personal accident insurance?

• claims due to injury or death – whether at work or outside of work – for anyone you’ve named in your policy
• lost income, medical costs and hospitalisation benefit

For example:

• you break your wrist by tripping over a client’s cat while you’re carrying out a massage appointment at their home, so you have to cancel all your upcoming bookings for the next month
• you suffer a slipped disc at a yoga class at the weekend

Read more about personal accident insurance

Can I just cover my most expensive tools?

Make sure you cover the total cost of replacing all your tools or you’ll only get a proportion of your claim paid out if something happens to them. Learn about tool cover.

Which type of workers do I need insurance for?

Employers’ liability insurance is a legal requirement if you employ people.

If you have people working for you, including bona fide subcontractors (BFSC), labour-only subcontractors (LOSC), part-timers, or full-time staff, employers’ liability insurance is required by law.

Read on for our simplified guide to the difference between labour-only subcontractors and bona fide subcontractors.

Will tools insurance cover all my equipment?

Depending on what you use to do your work, you may need other covers.

You may need more than tools insurance – for example, business equipment insurance if you have a work laptop, plant insurance if you use machinery.

Does beauty therapists insurance cover my work correctly?

Make sure you’re picking the right cover to protect you properly. It’s important to know that if you have another trade or job, you’ll need additional cover. For example, do you need to consider massage insurance or hairdressing insurance?

Do I need cover for other types of work?

If you provide these services alongside your main work, make sure you’re covered:

• Acupuncture insurance

• Reflexology insurance

• Physiotherapy insurance

• Reiki insurance

• Pedicurist insurance

• Chiropodist insurance

• Insurance for homeopaths

• Mobile beauty insurance

• Beauty consultant insurance

• Barbers insurance

• Hair salon insurance

• Hairdressing insurance

• Mobile hairdresser insurance

• Nail salon insurance

• Nail technician insurance

• Makeup artist insurance

Other Covers

• Freelance insurance
• Consultant insurance
• Sole trader insurance
• Self employed insurance

Which public liability cover limit should I choose?

Think about the maximum possible loss your business could face in the event of a claim, and make sure you take legal fees and damages into consideration. You can choose from three levels of coverage – £1 million, £2 million, or up to £5 million.