Having your own mobile beautician business is a dream come true for many people, but it’s important to secure the right business insurance as with all small businesses.
According to NimbleFins, self-employed mobile beautician insurance costs as little as £40 to £60 a year for basic public/product liability and treatment cover, so it’s well worth buying (read more here: https://www.nimblefins.co.uk/business-insurance/beauty-insurance-mobile-freelance).
Mobile Beauty Therapist Insurance
Mobile beauty therapists need business insurance because they deal with members of the public and deliver potentially harmful treatments—and because they are not covered by an employer’s business insurance products like a salon employee would be.
Here is a rundown of common types of business insurance that a mobile beauty therapist might need:
Public Liability For Mobile Beauty Therapists. Mobile beauty therapists carry out treatments in person, which means they have physical exposure to third parties (their clients). As a result, a mobile beauty therapist needs public liability insurance. Beauty public liability insurance will cover you if a member of the public is injured while on your property or due to your work or their property is damaged, and they blame your business. It covers both the costs of legal defence as well as any compensation you’re found liable to pay.
Critically, public liability doesn’t cover treatments you carry out.
Product Liability For Mobile Beauty Therapists. Product liability protects against claims of bodily injury or property damage due to any beauty products that you sell to a client. Even when you just consider skincare treatments, think of all of the acids, peels, and retinols you might use or sell to clients as an at-home treatment. Product liability insurance is typically sold together with public liability and doesn’t cost much.
Treatment liability insurance for Mobile Beauty Therapists. Treatment liability insurance protects against a treatment going wrong. It provides peace of mind to you and your clients. While insurance is important, you should also ensure clients fill out a form before their visit to assess their suitability for certain treatments. Doing so will also help you manage your reputation as a mobile beauty therapist, especially important in the age of online reviews and social media.
No amount of training or patch tests can exclude the risk of a treatment going wrong. There are so many skin types, and conditions that exist, meaning things aren’t always going to be plain sailing. As is the case with allergies, they can run in cycles meaning a client can suddenly become allergic to an ingredient, despite never having an issue with it before. This is why you need cover for the treatments you provide.
Beauty therapists should declare all of the treatments they carry out to their insurance provider, as they’ll need cover for all services.
Without treatment liability insurance in place, if you were to be sued, then you’d need to cover the costs of a legal defence and any compensation yourself, which could quite easily ruin a business. Due to the unpredictable nature of legal cases, beauty liability insurance is important for protecting against certain eventualities.
Contents Insurance. As a mobile beautician typically owns tools, equipment and products worth thousands of pounds, these are certainly worth insuring. Be sure to make a list of everything you’d have to replace if you were the victim of theft or if a fire or flood destroyed or damaged your inventory and equipment. They might need to be insured separately, tools and equipment under one policy and stock under another. It depends on the insurer.
Mobile Hair and Beauty Insurance
If you do both hair and beauty, be sure to inform your business insurance provider. They need to know all of the services and treatments you carry out on your clients to be sure you’re fully covered. As with someone who only does beauty, a mobile hairstylist should also consider public and product liability and treatment liability as basic business liability coverages.
Compare Beauty Insurance
Before buying a beauty insurance policy, be sure to compare the prices and features of a few different options. You can try comparison sites, direct insurers and specialist brokers to get quotes. Just like selecting a facial treatment, it pays to take your time to consider your individual needs and compare prices. When it comes to beauty insurance, as there are many different options available, prices can vary from one provider to the next.
When deciding which provider is the best for you, consider which insurers are specialists in your industry and state exactly what they will and not cover within the treatments you provide. Also, look into the excess, which is the amount you’d need to pay towards a claim.
Also, look into the customer service hours. If your tools, equipment and inventory are stolen in the night, you’d want to be able to contact your insurer straight away instead of having to wait until they reopen the next day or after the weekend.
Finally, check online reviews of any provider you are thinking of going with. And ask around to find out the experiences of other mobile beauticians in your area.