A barbershop usually needs general liability for the client who slips on clippings by the chair, professional liability for the service that goes wrong, which is the claim barbers actually worry about, commercial property for the chairs, mirrors and sterilizers, and workers’ comp for any barber on your payroll, where your state requires it. Each policy is subject to its own terms, limits and exclusions. But barbers who rent a chair are usually running their own business, so they need their own general and professional liability instead of leaning on the shop’s.
Whether you own the shop, rent a chair or run a one-chair place, your quote starts with “Barbershop,” and the policies that salons and barbers usually carry are on insurance for salons.
Key takeaways
- Slips, trips and damaged belongings are general liability claims, while claims about the service itself, such as a nick, a cut or a chemical burn, typically go to professional liability.
- The Bureau of Labor Statistics counts about 80 percent of barbers as self-employed, which suggests many shops fill their chairs with renters and owner-operators.
- The IRS treats a key to the shop, your own hours, your own products and your own prices as signs of a booth renter, and calling someone a renter doesn’t make them one.
- Chemical services such as relaxers, color and beard dye can lead to bigger claims than a bad cut, so keep records of patch tests and client consultations.
- Property coverage protects the chairs and equipment the shop owns, and business income can help with rent and payroll if covered damage closes you.
Four out of five barbers work for themselves
The Bureau of Labor Statistics lists 80 percent of barbers as self-employed, and that one figure explains most of how insurance works in this trade. In many shops the owner employs few people or none, while the chairs are filled by barbers who each run a separate business, and that splits the insurance into pieces: the shop owner insures the space, the shared areas and the shop’s own equipment, and each renter insures their own work.
It also means a lot of barbers are buying insurance for the first time with no employer to copy. BLS notes that every state licenses barbers, so you already answer to a board. No board tells you what insurance to carry. Your landlord does, and so does the shop owner you rent from.
The razor, the clippers and the chair
Here’s how the common incidents in a barbershop tend to sort out, before policy terms and the facts of each case get involved:
| What happens | Policy that typically responds |
|---|---|
| A client slips on hair clippings walking to the chair | General liability |
| A client’s coat is ruined by a spilled disinfectant jar at the front | General liability |
| A straight-razor nick on the neck gets infected | Professional liability |
| A clipper guard slips and takes a patch out of a fade, and the client claims the cost of a fix elsewhere | Professional liability, if it covers the claim at all |
| A hot towel burns a client’s face | Professional liability |
| A beard dye causes an allergic reaction | Professional liability |
| A barber on your payroll develops a shoulder injury from years at the chair | Workers’ comp, under your state’s rules |
The line between the first two rows and the rest is the whole idea. General liability is for accidents on the premises that happen to people and their things, while professional liability is for claims that the service you performed was done badly and hurt someone, which is the claim a shop is most exposed to, since every client spends twenty minutes with a blade near their skin. Some policies combine the two for barbers and salons, but either way, ask the underwriter which policy answers a client hurt by the service itself, because that’s the one claim you can’t afford to have fall between them. And list every service on the application, including straight-razor shaves, hot towels and beard dye, because a service you didn’t list is the easiest one for an insurer to question. The longer comparison is in general vs. professional liability.
Chemical services raise the stakes
Our view: if your shop does relaxers, perms, color, gray blending or beard dye, professional liability isn’t optional, and neither are patch tests.
A clipper mistake grows back in two weeks, but a chemical burn on the scalp, a reaction that swells a client’s face, or hair broken off at the root by a relaxer left on too long can mean dermatologist visits, corrective services and a claim for far more than the price of the service. BLS notes that prolonged exposure to some chemicals in this work may cause skin irritation, which is why barbers often wear gloves. If you do keratin-type smoothing, read OSHA’s page on formaldehyde before the next appointment, since some of these products contain or release it, especially under a flat iron, and it can irritate eyes, nose, throat and skin and is a known cause of cancer. That’s a risk to your clients and to anyone you employ, and for employees an illness from chemical exposure at work typically falls under workers’ comp, under your state’s rules.
What protects you in practice is paperwork. Do a patch test where the product’s directions call for one, write down the result, note the product and the processing time, and get the client’s okay in writing for chemical services. If a claim comes, those notes are what show you followed the standard of care a licensed barber is expected to meet.
Renting chairs or paying barbers
The IRS publishes tax guidance for the cosmetology and barber industry, Publication 4902, that spells out what a booth renter looks like, and it’s worth walking through the questions the way the agency would:
- Does the barber have a key to the shop and set their own hours?
- Do they buy their own products and supplies with their own money?
- Do they have their own phone number and business name?
- Do they set their own prices and book their own appointments?
If the answers are mostly yes, the barber looks like a booth renter running their own business. If you set the hours, the prices and the bookings and supply the products, the IRS says you’re more than likely the employer, though your state may use its own test for workers’ comp, so check through the Department of Labor’s list of state agencies.
For renters, put the insurance requirements in the chair rental agreement: their own general and professional liability, your shop named as an additional insured, and a certificate of insurance before their first day and at every renewal; the full setup is covered in booth renters vs. employees. A client hurt in a renter’s chair doesn’t know or care who rents it, so expect the shop to be named in the lawsuit too, which is why the additional insured line and a fresh certificate matter more than the rental rate. Renters who buy with Corgi get a certificate the day they buy, which they can download or send to you from their account, and questions about how a policy treats razor work and chemical services go to underwriters, not a broker.
See what general liability costs for your business
About five minutes, all online. Your certificate is ready the day you buy.
When the shop itself gets damaged
Say a pipe in the unit above bursts overnight and soaks the floor, two hydraulic barber chairs and the wall of mirrors. Commercial property typically pays to repair or replace what the shop owns, minus your deductible, subject to the policy’s covered causes of loss. The floor itself may be the landlord’s to fix, unless your lease makes improvements yours, so read that clause too, and your insurer may go after the upstairs unit’s insurer to recover what it paid. The chairs are often the most expensive thing in the room, so price yours at what it would cost to replace them today before you choose a property limit, since a number set from memory can come up short. If the shop is closed for two weeks while the floor dries out, business income can help replace lost income and pay rent and payroll after the waiting period. A renter’s own clippers, trimmers and products, though, are usually the renter’s to insure.
What about house calls and mobile barbering?
If you cut hair in clients’ homes, at events or in a mobile unit, your general and professional liability need to cover work away from the shop, so tell your insurer where you work. The kit in your bag is also out of reach of a property policy once it leaves the shop, which is where tools and equipment coverage comes in. A barbering van or bus needs commercial auto, which Corgi doesn’t sell.
Frequently asked questions
Does general liability cover a razor nick or a bad haircut?
Usually not. General liability covers accidents such as slips and damaged belongings, while claims that the service itself hurt a client, such as a nick that gets infected or a chemical burn, typically go to professional liability, subject to the policy’s terms.
Do chair-renting barbers need their own insurance?
Usually, yes. A barber who rents a chair is generally running a separate business, and the shop’s policies typically cover the shop and its employees. Most shop owners require renters to carry their own general and professional liability and name the shop as an additional insured.
Does a barbershop need workers’ comp?
Chair renters who set their own hours and prices generally aren’t your employees, so you usually don’t cover them. Anyone on your payroll is different, since most states require workers’ comp for employees, though the rules vary, and if you set a renter’s hours, prices and bookings, your state may treat them as an employee too.
What does property insurance cover in a barbershop?
It typically covers what the shop owns, such as barber chairs, mirrors, stations, sterilizers and retail products, against covered causes like fire, theft and water damage, minus your deductible, though it usually doesn’t cover a renter’s own tools or products.
Sources
- Barbers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists, Occupational Outlook Handbook, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- Tax Tips for the Cosmetology & Barber Industry (Publication 4902), Internal Revenue Service
- Hair Salons: Facts about Formaldehyde in Hair Products, Occupational Safety and Health Administration
- State Workers’ Compensation Officials, U.S. Department of Labor
