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Average Cost of Hair Stylist Insurance
The average cost of hair stylist insurance is around £56 a year for basic public/product liability and treatment cover in the UK. However, insurance costs can vary depending on the features offered by different companies and depending on the types of business insurance coverage you want.
We've gathered dozens of quotes to learn how much typical insurance for a mobile or freelance hair stylist usually costs in the UK. Here's what we found.
- How much is hair stylist liability insurance in the UK?
- Cost of other insurance for a hair stylist
- How to save money on hairdresser insurance
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Average Cost of Hair Stylist Insurance
The average cost of liability insurance for a self-employed hair stylist in the UK is £56 a year. This figure reflects premiums for both public/product liability costs and treatment liability, which are the two primary types of business insurance a mobile or freelance hairstylist will need, including one who rents a chair.
As you can see, there's very little price different between policies offering £2 million of public liability cover and £5 million of cover—the extra £3 million of coverage can cost just a few quid. Keep that in mind when choosing a plan; you may decide the extra coverage is worth the extra premium, but it will depend on your risks and individual situation of course.
| How much is hair stylist insurance in the UK? | |
|---|---|
| Low End | £38.0 |
| £2 million average | £49.7 |
| £5 million average | £56.6 |
| High End | £117.0 |
| Average | £56.0 |
Note: When comparing prices of hair stylist insurance, be sure to read the fine print to see what's really covered. Sometimes a more expensive policy can include some extra coverages that you want—coverages that you'd pay extra for elsewhere. If this is the case then a more expensive policy can be cheaper in the long run for you. For example, some UK hair stylist insurance packages include stock cover, but other insurers will charge extra for this (at a cost of £20 to £60).
Cost of Other Insurance for a Hair Stylist
In addition to liability insurance, you might want to include other types of business insurance such as stock, tools cover, legal expenses, personal accident and even cover for teaching. Plus, you might need to pay an extra premium for liability cover for visitors coming to your home, or if you carry out other types of services. Here are some typical price ranges so you can get an idea of what you might need to pay.
- Stock cover: Stock insurance for a hair stylist typically costs in the range of £29 to £61 for £5,000 of coverage. Stock includes items such as shampoos, conditioners, gels, mousses, straighteners, curling wands and other hair products and tools that you keep to sell to your customers.
- Tools cover: Tools cover typically costs in the range of £58 to £109 for £5k of protection against theft, accidental damage or loss of the tools of your trade, from scissors and hair dryers to straighteners and curling wands.
- Legal expenses cover: Legal expenses insurance usually costs in the range of £10 to £70. Cheaper policies might only protect against a limited selection of perils, such as tax investigations. More comprehensive policies can provide coverage for a wider range of risks (e.g., contract disputes, employment disputes, debt recovery, etc.)
- Personal accident cover: Personal accident cover typically costs in the range of £7 to £85 per person. Coverage at the low end might be limited to accidents involving your hands only; higher end policies will cover any type of accidental damage incurred at work. And some policies even cover accidents that happen anywhere (e.g., on holiday), although this is less common.
- Extending home insurance to cover visitors: If your clients come to your home, this typically won't be covered under your normal home insurance. To cover visits to your home you'll need to extend your home insurance coverage. The cost of this can vary widely, but can cost from around £50.
- Insurance for teaching: Hair stylist who are responsible for teaching and supervising students ideally extend their liability insurance to cover this activity—you might need to pay around £60 in extra premium for this protection.
While you might be able to extend your cover to include nails for the same price, if you offer beauty services you're likely to pay a higher rate because beauty treatments are inherently riskier. In fact, including cover for beauty treatments can cost multiples of what you'll pay for hairdresser cover alone.
Here is what is usually included in a hair-only policy:
- Barbering
- Blow drying
- Crimping
- Hair Cutting
- Hair Styling
- Hair Colouring
- Permanent Waves
- Plaiting
- Extensions
- Straightening
Factors that influence your salon insurance rate
Many factors can have a bearing on the amount you pay to insure yourself as a hair stylist. For instance, your location alone can impact prices by 20% or more. Here are some common factors that can affect your hairdresser business rates:
- Location
- Coverage limits
- Add on coverages
- Previous claims history
- How you pay (monthly vs. annually)
- Type of services and treatments you offer
How to Save Money on Hairdresser Insurance
There are a few steps you can take to save money on insurance if you're a hair stylist. First, as with personal insurance it is beneficial to check prices in the wider UK market before you commit because quotes can vary significantly from insurer to insurer. For example, in our study the range of quotes for a self-employed hair stylist with public liability and treatment coverage ranged from £37 to £117. So, be sure to check quotes from multiple sources when you buy a new policy or renew an existing policy.
Second, some insurers give you the option to pay a higher excess (should you claim) in return for paying a lower premium. However the discount you achieve for doing so is often quite small, and may not worth the savings—remember, you'll be on the hook for the excess in the event of a claim so you should be able to pay the excess comfortably.
Another good way to save money on insurance is paying upfront for the whole year instead of paying monthly on an installment basis—this can save you up to 20% or more on your hairstylist insurance costs, depending on the interest rate.
Methodology
We gathered dozens of quotes for hairstylist insurance to find out what a typical self-employed hairdresser might pay for cover a year. We varied quotes by different factors like the level of cover and the optional add ons (e.g., legal expenses, stock cover, cover for other treatments like beauty).
Insurance quotes can vary noticeably from person to person depending on their claims history, where they live, the add on coverages they need and other factors. As a result, your business insurance premium might be significantly higher or lower than the rates mentioned here. Use this information just as a rough guide to help you learn more about hair stylist insurance costs and how different factors tend to affect premiums.