Get Barber Insurance That Works Harder for You

You worked hard to become a barber. And whether you own your own barber shop or work at another location, you need barber insurance that protects all the work you’ve put into building your business.

That’s where we come in.

At Simply Business, we offer comprehensive barber insurance policies from the nation’s most trusted insurers. What’s more, we make it easy to compare those policies so you can choose the one that’s right for you.

And you can do it all in under 10 minutes.

Ready to get covered?

Policies Available for Barber Insurance:

• General liability insurance
• Professional liability insurance
• Workers compensation insurance

Barber Liability Insurance Benefits:

• It can protect your business from certain claims.
• It can cover damages caused by your negligence.
• Proof of insurance can help customers feel better.
• It may be legally required where you’re located.

What Type of Insurance Do I Need for My Barber Business?

Barber insurance can be tailored to include a bundle of several different policies meant to protect you, your employees (if you have them), and even your shop from the most common risks you face. Let’s take a closer look at the three core policies that we recommend professional barbers to carry.

General Liability Insurance for Barbers

General liability (GL) insurance is a policy that can cover costs associated with accidents, property damage, and bodily injury to a third party (i.e., a customer). GL coverage also provides great protection if you want to protect your barber equipment from damage or theft.

Why does having this coverage matter? Simple: if you don’t have it, you could end up paying for those costs and damages out of your own pocket.

And a lot of those costs aren’t small. In fact, did you know that the average claim for property damage or accidents for a small business is $30,000?

You definitely don’t want to find out the hard way. That’s why we recommend that barbers purchase general liability insurance, whether they own their own barber shop or rent a chair at another shop.

Let’s take a closer look at general liability insurance for barbers in action. You’re cutting a customer’s hair, and he has a lot of it. Before you can sweep it all up, he gets up from the chair and slips on the hair scattered over the floor. He’s badly hurt, to the extent that he ends up going to the hospital with a broken wrist.

Without general liability insurance, there’s a good chance you’d have to pay for those medical bills yourself. And if your business doesn’t have a lot of spare cash, that money could come from your own (or your family’s) bank account.

But with general liability insurance, the cost of those medical bills can be covered. Plus, if your customer sues you for pain and suffering related to his injury, your liability policy can cover the cost of hiring an attorney to defend you.

Here’s an overview of what general liability insurance usually covers:

• Bodily injury to another person
• Third-party property damage
• Personal and advertising injury
• Medical expenses
• And more

Here’s what general liability insurance usually doesn’t cover:

• Damage to your own property
• Professional services
• Workers compensation or injury to your employees
• Damage to your work
• Motor vehicles while in business use
• Intentional injury or damage
• And more

Professional Liability Insurance for Barbers

Professional liability insurance (PL) is a great policy for barbers to have, as it protects you in case your customer claims that you, your employees, or your business were negligent in providing your professional services.

So what exactly does that mean?

Let’s say you have an employee who tends to daydream while he’s cutting hair. As a result, they accidentally cut a customer’s ear with the scissors. The customer is angry, especially when he realizes the cut might leave a visible scar on his ear. As a result, he threatens to sue you and your barber shop for negligence.

If you have a professional liability policy, you can rest easy, knowing that if the customer does sue, you should be financially protected. Your PL policy can cover costs resulting from negligence or mistakes, as well as costs associated with hiring a lawyer to defend you, if you need legal representation.

You may want to add this policy to your overall barber shop insurance, as your work could expose you to other risks that PL insurance can protect you from.

Here’s an overview on what professional liability can cover:

• Negligence or alleged negligence
• Legal defense costs
• Omissions or alleged omissions
• Claims and damages
• And more

Now let’s take a look at what PL insurance usually doesn’t cover:

• Intentional acts of negligence
• Property damage
• Medical expenses
• Bodily injury
• And more

Workers Compensation Insurance

You may have heard of workers compensation insurance before, and for good reason; nearly all employers are federally required to carry workers compensation insurance (also referred to as workers comp) if they have one or more employees. This insurance coverage protects you and your barber shop business if any of your employees get injured or sick while working on the job.

It’s important for any small business — especially barbers — to have a workers compensation policy if they have employees, as work injury costs can be catastrophic. Consider this: in 2017 alone, work injury costs totalled $161.5 billion.

That’s right — “b” as in billion!

When that number is broken down further, it turns out that the average work injury case amounts to just under $41,000. Without workers comp, you would have to pay that money yourself, which could significantly impact your barber shop business.

Workers compensation insurance for barbers can cover:

• Medical payments
• Lost wages
• Rehabilitation expenses
• Death benefits

Why Should I Get Barber Insurance for My Business?

Here’s the deal — whether you own a barber shop or you’re self-employed, it’s a good idea to carry barber insurance because it protects what you’ve worked so hard to build.

After all, you’ve put a lot of time and energy into a name for yourself as the barber to go to. But what if an accident happens, or one of your employees makes a mistake because they are having an off day?

That means all of your hard work may disappear in an instant, because of one expensive claim.

Even if you work just for yourself and you’re pretty confident you won’t make mistakes, you can’t control if someone decides to sue you. You’ll still have to hire a lawyer to defend you, which can cost a chunk of money. And if the customer happens to win, you would need to pay those costs from your own pocket.

There’s just too much at risk for you to leave your hard work unprotected. And that’s exactly why we recommend that you carry barber insurance.

Still not sure? Take a look at the average costs small business owners — like barbers — would have to pay if they didn’t carry insurance:

• $30,000 for property damage/accident claims
• $39,000 for work injury claims
• $50,000 for reputational harm claims (e.g., cases of slander or libel)
• $20,000 for a customer slip-and-fall case

Another important reason why you should get barber insurance is that it may be difficult to rent a shop or even just a chair if you don’t have an insurance policy. Plus, your state may require you to carry some form of barber shop insurance coverage, so it’s a good idea to have it.

Finally, customers may feel more confident about your business if they know you have proper insurance. Consider framing your certificate of insurance (COI) on the wall so your customers will know that you take your safety — and theirs — very seriously.

Ready to get covered? Compare barber insurance quotes from top insurers in under 10 minutes!

Barber Insurance FAQs

Why Choose Simply Business?

Simply Business is an online insurance brokerage that makes it easy to compare and choose a business policy from top insurers you can trust. We’re also one of the fastest-growing online providers of small business insurance, meaning thousands of clients (including barbers like you!) trust us to protect their growing businesses.

So why choose Simply Business? It’s, well, simple:

We’re fast and affordable. You have better things to focus on, like running your barber shop. Our policies are fast, affordable, and ready when you are.

We’re flexible with coverage. Whether you need new coverage because you’re opening a second location or a COI, we’re here to help.

We get your business. Forget one-size-fits-all insurance. Get the protection your barber business needs, when you need it the most.

After all, you’ve worked hard to build your reputation as an excellent barber. That’s why we offer the best coverage to protect you.

This content is intended to be used for informational purposes only. It is not intended to provide legal, tax, accounting, investment, or any other form of professional advice.