Booth rental insurance
Insurance for Barbers Renting a Chair
Chair renting, also called booth rental, means you pay the shop owner for a chair and keep your own takings. You set your own bookings and prices, and you carry your own risk.
If your client is hurt, or says your work harmed them, the claim is against you, not the shop.
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.
Do chair renters need their own insurance?
Yes. When you rent a chair, you run your own business, and the shop's insurance usually covers only the owner's. You need your own public liability for injury and damage claims, treatment risk cover for claims about your work, and tools cover. The shop owner will often ask for your certificate of currency, proof your policy is active.
Who covers whom
Does the Shop's Insurance Cover a Chair Renter?
01The shop's policy covers the owner
Usually not. The shop owner's policy covers the owner's business: their staff, their contents and the shop's own public liability. It usually does not cover a renter's clients, work or tools.
02Your policy covers your business
Your own policy covers your clients, the services you do and your own tools. It is in your name, so it moves with you if you change shops. Tell us the new address when you do.
03You might count as a worker
Each state has its own test for who counts as a worker. In NSW, for example, the signs include the shop owner directing your work, paying you by the hour or supplying your tools. If they apply, you may count as their worker for workers compensation, the insurance that covers injured employees.
Chair rental insurance
The Covers a Chair Renter Needs
A chair renter needs public liability, treatment risk cover and tools cover. Personal accident and illness cover is worth adding, because you have no employer paying you sick leave.
Public liability
Public liability pays claims from your clients and the public for injury or damage. Your limit, the most the insurer pays for one claim, can be $5 million, $10 million or $20 million.
Read about public liability →
Professional indemnity and treatment risk
Treatment risk cover pays claims that your shave, cut or colour caused harm, such as a razor cut or a reaction to dye.
Read about professional indemnity →
Tools and equipment
Tools cover pays to repair or replace your clippers, scissors and styling tools if they are stolen or damaged. The shop owner's contents insurance does not cover them.
Read about tools and equipment →
Personal accident and illness
This cover pays you a weekly benefit, a regular payment in place of your income, if an injury or illness stops you working.
Read about personal accident and illness →Chair renter risks
What Can Go Wrong When You Rent a Chair?
A client can get hurt, a client can react to your work, your tools can be stolen, or you can be hurt yourself. Each one falls on your business, and the shop owner's insurance usually will not pay.
Your client slips on the way to your chair
It is the shop owner's floor, but your client may still claim against you. Your public liability covers that claim.
A client reacts to beard dye
A reaction to a product you applied is a claim about your work. Your treatment risk cover pays that claim.
Your tools are stolen in a break-in
The owner's contents insurance pays for the owner's things. Your clippers and kit need your own tools cover.
You break your wrist
If an injury stops you cutting, your income stops too. Personal accident and illness cover pays you a weekly benefit while you cannot work.
Certificate of currency
What Will the Shop Owner Ask For?
Proof your cover is active
The shop owner will often ask for a certificate of currency for your public liability before you start. It is a short document from your insurer that shows your cover is active and what your limit is.
The limit in your agreement
Your rental agreement may name a minimum limit for your public liability. We can arrange $5 million, $10 million or $20 million, and a certificate to show the owner.
If you own the shop
Ask every renter for a current certificate when they start and again each year when their policy renews, because a claim against a renter with no cover can end up with you. See insurance for barbershop owners for the covers a shop owner needs.
Who we cover
Other People We Cover
Chair renters FAQ
Questions From Chair Renters
Usually not. The shop's policy covers the owner's business. As a renter you run your own business, so you need your own public liability and treatment risk cover.
It is the set of covers a barber or hairdresser needs when renting a chair. That means public liability, treatment risk and tools cover, often with personal accident and illness cover.
Not for yourself, because workers compensation covers employees. You might still count as the shop owner's worker under your state's rules. In NSW, for example, the signs include the owner directing your work, paying you by the hour or supplying your tools.
Check your rental agreement. We can arrange $5 million, $10 million or $20 million, and a certificate of currency to show the owner.
Yes. The policy is in your name and covers your business. Tell us the new address so the policy and your certificate stay correct.
Chair renter insurance quote
Get a Chair Renter Quote
Tell us where you rent and the services you offer, and a broker will contact you with your options.
1800 556 777Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 5:00pm Perth time
