A chemical burn is not a slip-and-fall, and your general liability may not treat it as one.
Cover for hair, beauty, nail salons and barbershops — including the professional liability for the treatment itself, and the booth renter question that decides your workers comp.
Tell us the situation.
A licensed human replies the same business day — not an auto-responder, and not five producers calling at once. We shop it across our carriers and tell you if the policy you already have is the right one.
We use this to quote and service your insurance, and we do not sell it or pass it to lead networks. Privacy policy.
What salon businesses actually need.
Professional liability
Injury from a service — chemical burns, allergic reaction, cuts, a color correction gone wrong.
Without it — General liability answers a slip in the doorway, not a treatment injury.
General liability
The ordinary premises exposures, and damage to a client’s property.
Without it — Bleach on a coat is a claim, and it is a frequent one.
Business property and equipment
Chairs, dryers, styling stations, stock and the fit-out.
Without it — A salon fit-out is expensive and is usually a tenant improvement.
Workers compensation
Staff — and possibly booth renters, depending on how the arrangement really works.
Without it — A misclassified booth renter is an uninsured employee at audit.
Product liability
Retail products you sell, and products used in treatment.
Without it — Selling shampoo makes you part of the chain of supply.
What salon operators ask us.
Are booth renters covered by my policy?
Generally not, and this is the biggest exposure in the trade. A genuine booth renter is an independent business who should carry their own general and professional liability — and if they do not, a client injured by them will sue the salon, because the salon is the name on the door and the one with assets. It also affects your workers comp audit: if the arrangement looks like employment in practice rather than on paper, the auditor can add their earnings to your payroll. Collect certificates from every renter annually and keep the rental agreements clean.
What is the difference between general and professional liability here?
Where the harm came from. A client slipping on a wet floor is general liability — an ordinary premises accident. A client burned by a relaxer, cut during a shave, or suffering a reaction to a color is harm from the SERVICE, and general liability commonly excludes it. Salons that carry only a general liability policy are uninsured for the claims their trade actually produces, and it is the single most common gap we see in this class.
Do nail salons need something different?
Same policy structure, more underwriting attention. Nail work concentrates chemical exposure — acrylics, primers, solvents — so ventilation, product storage and state board compliance all matter to an insurer, and infection claims following a pedicure are a recognized loss type tied to foot spa sanitation. Where a salon offers both hair and nails, describe the split of revenue rather than picking one label; the mix is what gets rated.
We rent our space. What do we need to cover?
The fit-out, and the lease will say whose it is. Salon build-outs — plumbing to wash stations, extraction, electrical for dryers, custom cabinetry — cost real money and belong to whoever the lease says, which is frequently the landlord on installation. If nobody schedules them, they fall between the landlord’s building policy and your contents policy and are uninsured.
Not ready to talk? The guides answer the questions this page raises in more depth. Already insured with us and need a certificate or a policy change? Ask the service team rather than starting a quote — it is faster and it goes to the people whose job it is. We also write home and auto, which is usually cheaper alongside the business policy than apart from it.