Barbering is hands-on work. That means there’s always a little risk, whether it’s a minor injury, an allergy flare-up, or stolen tools. Barber liability insurance helps you stay covered when things go sideways.
Your 60-Second Guide to Liability Insurance for Barbers
- Barber liability insurance is designed to protect you from the financial consequences of claims and lawsuits
- The two most important coverages barbers need are: General Liability and Professional Liability
- Two of the most common optional coverages are: Tools & Supplies Coverage (for your essential mobile/portable equipment) and Additional Insureds (when a shop owner or landlord requires it)
- Need proof of coverage quick? Grab your COI (Certificate of Insurance) and share it with anyone who needs it
What is Liability Insurance for Barbers?
Barber insurance is designed to protect you financially if someone gets hurt, a client claims your services caused them harm, or their property is damaged. It helps pay for things like medical bills, property damage repairs or replacements, and legal defense costs.
Your personal health insurance is designed for things you experience; business liability insurance is designed for harm to others. So, your barber liability insurance applies to injuries to your customers, not to injuries to you or your employees.
Liability insurance covers third parties
First party = You
Second party = Us (your insurance company)
Third party = Other people who interact with your business
Who Needs Barber Liability Insurance?
Anyone who provides a service to the general public needs liability insurance. This includes:
- Mobile barbers
- Home-based barbers
- Booth-renters
- Independent contractors
- Part-time barbers
Pro tip: Always check with your employer before assuming the location or company will cover you for claims and lawsuits.
What Kind of Insurance Do Barbers Need?
At minimum, barbers need general liability and professional liability insurance. You need both because they cover different types of “uh-oh” moments.
General liability applies to things like slip-and-fall injuries and unintentional property damage. Professional liability applies to service-related accidents. Most shops, salons, and landlords require you to have these two types of insurance.
Start With the Must-Haves: Core Liability Coverages
While general and professional liability cover the majority of potential incidents, there are several other essential coverage types. The following coverages are included in Beauty & Bodywork Insurance’s (BBI) standard barber policies:
Pro tip: Professional liability insurance is also known as errors and omissions insurance, or E&O insurance.
What Each Core Coverage Pays For (With Examples)
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General liability |
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Professional liability |
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Personal and advertising injury |
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Products-completed operations |
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Damage to rented premises |
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Medical expense |
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Add-Ons to Fill Common Gaps
Depending on your specific business setup, you may need additional coverages to fill in gaps, like tools and supplies or cyber liability insurance. The following coverages are available as add-ons to standard BBI policies:
Pro tip: Get additional details about all BBI’s included and optional coverage types.
What Each Add-On Pays For (and When It’s Worth It)
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Tools and supplies coverage (inland marine) |
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Cyber liability |
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Sexual abuse and molestation (SAM) |
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Additional insureds |
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What Barber Insurance Doesn’t Cover
Business insurance for barbers does not cover:
- Illegal or fraudulent acts
- Intentional harm, aka things you do on purpose that cause damage, injury, or other harm
- The sale, service or application of wigs or toupees
- Surgical hair removal, hair implanting or hair transplanting
For the full list of services BBI barber insurance doesn’t cover, visit our exclusions page.
Coverage Limits and Policy Structure: What They Are & Why They Matter
Think of coverage limits and policy structure as the “rules” of how your policy pays claims.
Coverage Limits
Coverage limits are the total amounts that an insurance policy can pay. There are two kinds of limits: aggregate and per-occurrence.
- Aggregate limit = the maximum total your policy will pay for all covered claims during one policy period
- Occurrence limit = the max amount your policy will pay for one individual claim
For example, BBI has a general and professional liability aggregate limit of $3 million, and a per-occurrence limit of $2 million. This means the most we can pay for any one claim is $2 million, and the most we can pay for all these types of claims combined is $3 million.
Example
In one policy year you have three claims:
- Claim A = $2,500,000
- Claim B = $1,500,000
- Claim C = $500,000
For Claim A your policy pays $2,000,000, because that is the max amount it can pay for one individual claim. That $2,000,000 is then deducted from your aggregate (total) limit amount, so you have $1,000,000 left for the rest of the policy period.
For Claim B your policy pays $1,000,000, because that is the amount left on your aggregate (total) limit.
Claim C your policy pays $0 because you already reached your aggregate/total coverage limit.
Policy Structure
Most liability policies follow one of two possible structures: claims-made or occurrence-form.
Claims-made policies have a limited time period for reporting claims. To be accepted, claims must occur during the policy period and be reported within a specified timeframe.
Occurrence form policies don’t have this restricted reporting time. As long as the original incident happened while the policy was active, it can be reported at any time, even if the policy has since expired.
Pro tip: Occurrence form policies are the preferred policy type for most hair and beauty professions. Barber general liability policies with BBI are occurrence form policies.
How Much is Liability Insurance for Barbers?
Barber liability insurance with BBI starts as low as $9.99 per month or $96 per year. Your final insurance costs depend on a combination of things, like how big your business is or the add-on coverages you choose.
The potential costs of not having barber insurance? Paying on your own for real-life claims like these:
- Medical bills for a client who slipped on a freshly mopped floor: $1,891
- A break-in resulting in stolen products, scissors, and razors: $2,168
- A chemical burn from hair dye: $4,993
- Medical care for an infection: $9,972
Why Barbers Choose BBI
BBI provides affordable and highly-rated coverage that’s easy to understand and easy to manage. Our quick and simple online purchasing process lets you get a quote, buy coverage, and access certificates of insurance (COI) all in 10 minutes or less.
Our digital policyholder dashboard allows you to access your policy documents, update coverages, and add additional insureds anytime, 24/7.
Unlike other insurance companies, we also do not change your rates based on where you live. We offer the same reasonable base rate regardless of state,* making BBI the best value on the market for barber liability insurance.
Plus, BBI barber insurance policies go where you go. So, even if you change locations or work in more than one place, you’re still covered.
*Currently not for sale in Missouri.
Quick-Start: Get Covered in 10 Minutes or Less
Getting barber liability insurance is quick and easy with BBI’s online checkout process.
- Go to the checkout page and select “Barber”
- Provide basic business information
- Opt in or out of additional coverages
- Choose your policy start date and review your coverage choices
- Choose annual or monthly payments and input payment info
A few seconds after processing payment, you’ll receive an email confirmation and instant access to your COI through your online dashboard.
Frequently Asked Questions About Liability Insurance for Barbers
Is Barber Insurance the Same as Barbershop Insurance?
Not quite. Barber insurance is for an individual barber, while barbershop insurance is typically for brick and mortar businesses that may also need to insure a building and/or employees.
BBI provides individual barber liability insurance. Our policies are designed for independent contractors and self-employed barbers who do not own or run a physical shop.
How Do I Add Additional Insureds to My Policy?
You can add additional insureds when you sign up for your initial policy by following the prompts, or you can add them at any time after that through your online dashboard.
Simply follow these steps:
- Login to your dashboard
- Under “manage policies,” select “add landlord, employer, event” and add the name, address, and email of your additional insured
- Check out and pay
What Is a Certificate of Insurance (COI) and How Do I Get One?
A certificate of insurance (COI) is your proof of insurance document. It’s like your health insurance ID card, but for your business insurance. This is the document most landlords and employers will ask for when they want to confirm you have your own active liability insurance.
Once you have a policy, you can get unlimited COIs straight from your online user dashboard by following these steps:
- Log into your user dashboard
- Click “Download Certificate”
