Barbershop insurance for owners
Insurance for Barbershop Owners
Owning the shop means you carry the risk for the premises, the people who walk in and the staff who work for you. Each of those is a different cover.
You can buy them one at a time or together as a business package. Either way, we explain what each one does before you decide.
Cover is subject to the policy terms and the insurer's acceptance.
Reviewed by
Founder and Director, Grace Insurance. Diploma in Broking, Fellow CIP. In insurance broking since 1992.
What insurance does a barbershop owner need?
A barbershop owner usually needs public liability, contents and fit-out cover, business interruption for lost income, and workers compensation once they employ staff. Many owners add treatment risk cover for claims that a service caused harm, tools cover, and cyber cover for hacks and data breaches. Your lease will often set the minimum public liability limit.
Barber business insurance
The Covers a Barbershop Owner Needs
Start with these four
Public liability
Covers injury and damage claims from clients and anyone else in your shop, and the legal costs of defending them. Your limit, the most the insurer pays for one claim, can be $5 million, $10 million or $20 million.
Read about public liability →
Contents and fit-out
Covers your chairs, mirrors, stock and fit-out, the benches, lighting and plumbing you built into the shop, against fire, storm, theft and burst pipes. Glass and money cover are options you can add.
Read about shop contents and fit-out →
Business interruption
Covers lost income and ongoing costs, such as rent and wages, while the shop is closed after damage such as a fire.
Read about business interruption →
Workers compensation
Covers staff who are hurt at work, including apprentices and casuals, and employers must hold it by law. In WA, Tasmania, the NT and the ACT it comes from a licensed private insurer, and in the other states from the state scheme.
Read about workers compensation →Then, depending on how your shop runs
Professional indemnity and treatment risk
Covers claims that a cut, shave or colour by any barber in your shop caused harm, such as a razor cut or a dye reaction.
Read about professional indemnity →
Cyber
Covers the costs of a hack or a data breach, which matters if you take online bookings or keep a client list.
Read about cyber →
Commercial legal expenses
Pays legal costs for covered disputes, such as a tax audit, up to $100,000 per claim and $250,000 in total for the policy period. The excess, the amount you pay towards each claim, is $1,000. Tax audit cover starts after a 90-day wait, and the terms are confirmed on your quote.
What goes wrong in a barbershop
What Can Go Wrong for a Barbershop Owner?
A barbershop owner can face a claim from a client who gets hurt, a service that goes wrong, damage that closes the shop or a staff injury. Each claim comes to the business, and each one needs a different cover.
A client slips on clippings
If a client slips on hair clippings and breaks a wrist, public liability pays their claim and your legal costs.
One of your barbers nicks a client
The client can claim against your business, not only the barber. Your treatment risk cover, which pays when a service hurts a client, needs to include every barber who works for you.
A chair renter's client is hurt
If a renter has no cover of their own, their client may claim against your business instead. Ask every renter for their own public liability before they start.
Ask for their certificate of currency too, the short document from their insurer that proves the cover is active. Renters can see insurance for barbers renting a chair.
A fire closes the shop for weeks
Contents and fit-out cover pays to refit the shop, and business interruption insurance pays the rent and wages while the shop is closed.
A barber develops carpal tunnel
Carpal tunnel syndrome, a pinched nerve in the wrist, can build up over years of cutting. A staff injury that builds up over time can be a workers compensation claim.
Certificate of currency
What Insurance Will Your Landlord Ask For?
01Proof of cover before you open
Your landlord will want to see a certificate of currency before you get the keys. It is a short document from the insurer that shows your covers, limits and policy dates.
02What the lease usually asks for
Leases commonly set a minimum public liability limit and ask for glass cover on the shopfront. Some also ask for the landlord to be noted on the policy as an interested party, which tells the insurer they have a stake in your cover. Send us the insurance clause and we will set the policy up to match.
03Certificates after you open
Once your policy is in place, ask us for a certificate of currency whenever a landlord, shopping centre or event organiser wants one.
Barbershop insurance cost
What Affects the Price for a Barbershop?
Your premium, the price of your insurance, depends on your staff and wages, turnover, location and lease, the covers and limits you choose, your security and your claims history. The exact figure is confirmed on your quote.
Staff and wages
More staff means more treatment risk and a higher workers compensation premium.
Turnover
Insurers use what the shop takes in a year as a guide to its size.
Location and lease
A shopping-centre site, a street shop and a suburb prone to storms are each priced differently.
Covers and limits
The covers you choose and the public liability limit you pick set the base price.
Security and the building
Alarms, deadlocks and the building's construction affect the property covers.
Claims history
Recent claims can raise the premium.
You can pay the premium in one go, or spread it with premium funding, where a finance company pays the insurer for you and you repay it weekly, fortnightly, monthly, quarterly or every six months.
For how premiums are worked out, read how much barber insurance costs.
Who we cover
Other People We Cover
Shop owners FAQ
Questions From Barbershop Owners
Usually, yes. Your landlord will want to see a certificate of currency, a short document from the insurer that proves your cover, before you open. You need workers compensation once you employ staff, and your state sets how soon it must be in place, so ask us about both before opening day.
Not if they are your employees, because your business policies usually cover them. Chair renters and contractors run their own businesses, so they need their own public liability.
Not all of them. Public liability, contents, glass, money, theft and business interruption are often packaged together as a business policy, while workers compensation and cyber are separate policies.
Your lease sets the minimum in its insurance clause. Your limit is the most the insurer pays for one claim, so choose $5 million, $10 million or $20 million to meet that minimum.
Yes. With premium funding, a finance company pays the insurer for you. You repay it weekly, fortnightly, monthly, quarterly or every six months instead of once a year.
Barbershop insurance quote
Get a Quote for Your Barbershop
Tell us about your shop, your staff and your lease, and a broker will contact you with your options.
1800 556 777Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 5:00pm Perth time
