What insurance do I need?
Boring as it may be, insurance should be considered a fundamental part of any hairdressing business. It will protect you, your employees and your customers if the worst should happen. AXA is one of the UK's largest insurers and has put together some guidelines for Salon Smart on what to look out for when insuring your business!
Public liability & treatment cover
This is an essential. Public liability insurance will cover you for any damages you owe if you're found to have acted negligently. For example it would cover the damages if someone was injured on a pair of straightening irons or tripped over a hairdryer lead. And treatment cover would pay for employee mistakes such as fixing a customers' hair if it was mistakenly dyed green.
Employers' liability
If you are found to be responsible for an employee's injury or illness sustained at work, employers' liability insurance will cover your legal fees and any compensation you are required to pay.
If you have employees, it is compulsory to have employers' liability insurance and you could be fined up to £2500 for not having it.
Legal expenses
This will cover you for any legal actions you may be involved in such as accusations of unfair dismissal or discrimination, as recently experienced by owner of Wedge salon, Sarah Desrosiers, who was sued for religious discrimination. Legal expenses will also cover you if you have a dispute with your landlord, or need help with tax and VAT Assessment.
Premises
If you run or own a salon, you will need insurance to cover the premises just as you would for your own home. Policies can cover you for risks such as fire, flood, subsidence and accidental damage.
Equipment/contents
However big or small your business, you are likely to have some equipment that would be expensive to replace – scissors, dryers, colouring equipment all add up. Equipment or contents insurance can cover theft or damage and some insurers such as AXA have useful add-ons for bigger businesses such as breakdown of computer equipment or theft by employees.
Business interruption
This covers the loss of profits from your business if you can't use your premises because of events such as fire or flood.
Temporary staff
Temporary staff often do not have their own insurance so if they make a mistake while working for you, you need to be able to pay for their mistakes.
Personal accident
This provides payment benefits for you (and sometimes staff) if you cannot work because of an accident in the workplace.
For more information AXA can be reached on 0845 3000 678 or at www.axa-insurance.co.uk/businessinsurance
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