Beauty Therapist Insurance

This is a group for beauty professionals. You can join for free if you own a beauty salon, or if you work as a freelance beauty therapist, mobile beauty therapist or nail technician.

By using the collective buying power of group members, our goal is to negotiate cheaper business insurance for Beauty Therapists in the UK.

Why do Beauty Therapists need insurance?

The main reason Beauty Therapists buy insurance is to protect themselves against the financial consequences of being sued by a client for negligence or malpractice. Common causes of legal claims against Beauty Therapists include burns from laser or hot wax treatments, and allergic reactions to chemical peels or massage oils. A type of insurance called Professional Treatment Risk Insurance provides this protection.

Public Liability Insurance is typically included when buying Beauty Therapists' Professional Treatment Risk Insurance - this covers harm accidentally caused to a member of the public while at work. Product Liability Insurance, meanwhile, covers harm caused by a product sold by a beauty therapist to their client.

Beauty salons will also need to consider buildings & contents insurance for their premises and stock, and employer's liability insurance if they have staff (including freelancers).

Why we started this group

The beauty industry contributes £6.2 billion a year to the UK economy, and is showing no signs of slowing down.

As a self-employed Beauty Therapist, you can work anywhere – a swanky salon, your living room, a fancy hotel or even a plane! However, owning your own business is challenging, and the insurance industry does not make it any easier, by imposing limitations and exclusions on certain therapies from their policies.

We want to take the hassle out of finding the right insurance for you, so you can concentrate on running your business and making your share of that £6.2 billion. You don’t have to be a member of any organisation or professional body, so there are no extra fees to be paid. What’s more, as you’re joining a group of your peers, your collective buying power can be used to get you a better deal.

When 50 beauty therapists join the group, we will begin negotiations to find you the best insurance quote for your business needs. If you know other beauty therapists who will benefit from a great deal on their insurance, why not invite them to join this group? The more people join, the better the offer we can get.

By Ronny Lavie

Top questions answered by us

• What issues lead to legal claims against Beauty Therapists?

  Clients might develop allergic reactions to treatments, or be injured due to faulty machinery or human error during some treatments. Additionally, clients might injure themselves within the Therapist’s work premises, or be harmed by an employee.

• What specific types of insurance do Beauty Therapists need?

  There are several different types of insurance policies relevant to beauty therapists. Professional Indemnity Insurance (sometimes called PI Insurance), protects against lawsuits by clients who are hurt as a result of professional negligence or malpractice. Public Liability Insurance is needed in case a client hurts themselves on the therapist’s equipment or in his/her premises; and finally Employers Liability Insurance, to cover legal claims made by employees is a legal requirement for any beauty therapist who employs staff. Additionally, beauty therapists sometimes work abroad, and so need a policy that would cover them for work outside the UK. When the group reaches the minimum amount of members, we will endeavor to get an offer for a policy that offers as much flexibility and scope as we can find.

• What does the UK’s Beauty Therapist community look like?

  According to Habia, in 2011/12, there were 245,795 people employed in the Hair and Beauty Industry in the UK. Out of those, 57.8% were employed, and 42.2% were self-employed. The number of women in the industry is significantly larger than the men – 220,173, versus just 25,622. The dominant ages for workers in the industry are 16-24, with 31.1% and 35-44, with 29.8%.

• What treatments are not covered by Beauty Therapists insurance?

  Many policies exclude, or charge a premium for, treatments which involve the piercing of the skin (such as acupuncture and piercings for earrings), use of laser (for electrolysis or tattoo removal), and use of advance peeling, epilation or lipo.

• I like this idea, but it is not time to renew my insurance yet. Will I miss out?

  No, once we have an offer for our group members, you will be able to buy it at any time. Additionally, you can drop us an email and we will remind you when your current policy expires!