Hours of blood, sweat and tears have gone into getting your home beauty salon up and running. But whether you made the switch from working for someone, or you started off on your own from day one, one thing you might not have taken the time to consider is insurance for your home beauty salon.
There are several things that can go wrong when running your beauty salon from home, and there are also a number of insurance policies that can help to protect against the financial consequences of these events. Let’s look at some of the events that can go wrong while running your home-based beauty business, and which insurance policies might help in each instance.
A client has a bad reaction to your treatment
Possibly every beautician’s worst nightmare. You might take every precaution to help make sure the products you use (and sell) are top-notch, but as you’d know by now, there is unfortunately no way to fully predict how someone’s skin might react to a certain treatment. If a client has a severely adverse reaction to your treatment or advice, and takes legal action against you, you might quickly find yourself receiving a claim for compensation. Unfortunately, once your business has been named in this type of legal action, it’s difficult to navigate out of such situations without incurring at least some legal fees to defend yourself.
The good news is, there is an insurance policy type that is intended to cover this type event, known as Professional Indemnity Insurance (PI). PI insurance helps to protect you against claims arising for your professional services or advice and can include your legal fees (for claims covered by the policy), as well as compensation you might be required to pay if you or your business is held liable
Your equipment is damaged by fire or storm
This might not be something that comes to mind immediately, but if your home is damaged by a major weather event, fire, or a break and enter, then it’s possible the expensive equipment at your home salon will also be damaged (or stolen). You know how much your items cost, so having to come up with the money to suddenly replace them could put significant strain on your finances. Plus, you may also find yourself without an income if you’re not able to see any clients while your equipment is being repaired or replaced.
To determine how you can protect your home beauty salon and equipment, the first step should be to find out whether there is any coverage under your home insurance policy. Some insurers may not cover your equipment at all given they are used for business purposes, whilst some may cover them up to a certain limit. It is unlikely you’ll have comprehensive cover for all your equipment under your home & contents insurance, and this is where a Business Insurance policy may be of value to your business.
A Business Insurance policy can help cover the cost to repair or replace your equipment if they’re damaged by an insured event. Items you can insure include your laptop; stock for sale; chairs and beauty beds; facial machine, and of course the products you use on your clients. If you also operate as a mobile beautician, Business Insurance can also cover your salon equipment for events like theft if you take them outside your home salon.
A client is injured at your home salon
Any business activity where you interact with people in person carries with it the possibility of being held responsible any injury they sustain while at your premises and operating a home beauty salon is no different. Say a client visits your home salon, and trips over a toy laying on the floor which you’d forgotten to pick up and suffers an injury. If this client takes legal action against you or your business for their injury, you’ll possibly be looking at a claim for compensation and legal bills to defend the claim. Furthermore, if you’re found to have in fact been negligent, you could also be out of pocket for having to pay compensation to this client.
Public Liability Insurance is designed to cover these types of events. Although your home insurance might already have Public Liability Insurance included within it, this will not usually cover claims arising out of your home-based business. Therefore, you might still want to consider taking out a Public Liability policy to cover you in the event a client is injured or has their property damaged at your business activities as a home beauty salon.
The importance of the right protection
Your clients might walk out of your salon feeling fabulous, but when you run a home beauty salon, a minor mishap can leave you feeling not-so-fabulous. Having appropriate insurance in place through an experienced broker can help safeguard your financial livelihood if you do suffer an unfortunate event.
How Aon can help
Aon can help you arrange Professional indemnity insurance and Business insurance for your home beauty salon. If you’d like to find out more or get a quote, please click here. Alternatively, if you’d like to speak with our friendly Health Team, you can call 1800 805 191 or email [email protected]