Business vs. Professional Insurance—Do I Need Both?

Business insurance, professional liability insurance, professional business insurance—when it seems like there are so many different types of insurance for beauty pros, how do you know what you need to cover you and your career? Here, we’ll cover the main differences between beauty salon insurance and professional insurance for cosmetologists and other professionals in the beauty industry to help you understand exactly what applies to your unique situation. 

So if you’ve been scratching your head scrolling through insurance options, it’s time to breathe a sigh of relief as we show you how to get your career in beauty completely covered in minutes.

What is Professional Beauty Insurance?

You can think of beauty insurance as your own personal safety net. This coverage falls into several distinct areas:

• Professional Liability: Professional liability insurance, or malpractice insurance, is one of the most common types of beauty insurance you’ve probably heard of. This coverage is vital to anyone practicing the art of beauty on clients because an accident really can happen at any time, to any level of professional. 
• General liability: As vital as professional liability insurance is for cosmetologists, estheticians, nail techs, and other beauty pros, it’s only one piece of a stout insurance plan. At EBS, we are in the business of all-inclusive coverage that lets our members relax and do their jobs rather than worrying about gaps in the insurance coverage they have. Another big aspect of beauty insurance is general liability insurance, which you’ve also probably heard of as “slip and fall coverage”. It’s called that because those types of injuries are all-too-common. Many kinds of injuries or property damage a visitor sustains where you conduct business services could potentially fall under general liability. 
• Product liability: Next up, of the top liabilities our plan helps protect against is product liability. As a skilled professional in the beauty industry, products are pretty much what you make a living with. So many different kinds of products are used everyday and all it can take is one bad reaction to face an unfortunate incident. 

Why Individual Coverage Matters

The important thing to remember here is that the coverage is yours and yours alone. Even if you are an employee at a salon, the group coverage the salon likely has may be shared which means the others in the group could use up the policy limits before you. And in many instances of lawsuits, the injured party goes after both the business and the individual which is why it’s so important to make sure you have your own policy in place. That way, no matter what, the full coverage limits, as well as benefits of the plan are entirely yours to utilize whenever you need them. 

Be wary of any “shared aggregate” or group plans where you’re taking a gamble with having all the coverage you might need. At EBS, all of our plans include what’s called individual annual aggregates, which means you have all the way up to $3 million in general and professional liability protection.

What Does Beauty Salon Insurance Do?

Now, if you are a booth renter, a suite renter, or a chair renter, your employment situation might be a little different. You are probably classified as a 1099 contractor rather than an employee at a salon. Essentially, this means you are operating your own little small business within the confines of your booth space. You are most likely paying to rent the suite which means you probably have a rental agreement in place. The rental agreement will often spell out the need for you to have liability insurance ahead of time but even if it doesn’t this protection is so very important today. 

As you provide your services and people start to take notice of your skills, your client base grows. The more clients you see on a daily basis, the more chances there simply are of an accident or mishap. Burning a client during a waxing session is actually one of the most common beauty-related incidents that occur but there’s so many other risks. A simple slip and fall on some spilled product at your station, nicking a client during a microblading session, or even the allergic reactions we outlined above can, and do, occur all the time. Beauty salon insurance, like beauty insurance, provides you with a personal safety net that’s 100% yours and yours alone. 

Salon Insurance Coverage Limits to Know

You have all the way up to $2 million per occurrence for general and professional liability, up to that $3 million total individual annual aggregate. You also get $2 million in product liability coverage, $25,000 in identity protection, and $2 Million in personal and advertising injury coverage. This last one is a no-brainer if you’re renting space to provide salon services. 

If you do any damage whatsoever to the salon suite rental, your landlord could demand you pay for the costs of repair. With skyrocketing materials costs lately, this could mean a huge chunk of change. Knowing how the real world operates, our plan provides a way for you to effectively protect yourself against risks like these that are present in your everyday work. 

Comparing Costs for Different Insurance Plans

Online beauty salon insurance is all about accessibility. We make it super easy to get in, compare options, and get on with your busy day. Once you sign up, you’ll find that the streamlined member portal is a breeze to access all of your plan documents instantly and in one convenient place. A major tenet of accessibility is providing whatever kind of professional insurance you need for your situation at one, low rate. 

When you click on the little “buy policy now” button, you’ll go to the secure application page. There are a total of three sections that take only minutes to fill out. Up front, you’ll get to choose your profession like cosmetology, esthetics, nail tech, etc. but you will also see other beauty and wellness services like yoga and even dance. Next up you’ll see all the pricing information right up front. 

Rates are subject to change so always check back on the secure application page for the most up-to-date info but currently, you have the following options to choose from based on your situation:

• One year full-time pro rate: $179 today
• One year part-time pro rate: $149 today
• Two year pro rate: save money by paying $299 up front (about $149 per year) 
• Special beauty school students plan: just $49 for an entire year of professional-caliber insurance if you’re still in school.
• Benefits only plan: if you love the benefits that come with the plan but don’t want insurance right now, you have the option to get a benefits-only plan for just $39. 
• Add-ons: you can also add on specific services like microblading or additional businesses to your policy (useful if you work in several salon suites).

Comparing prices is important so having all the info you need up front makes it a lot easier. We also include a full-scale comparison of beauty insurance plans on our site. See our plans against competitors without all the back and forth clicking looking at different plans. You’re welcome. 

Services Covered by Professional & Beauty Salon Insurance 

When considering your situation, you need to look at a couple factors. What type of services do you provide? Where are you operating from? How many hours do you work? This can help you narrow down your choices like a part-time insurance plan versus a full-time plan. The good news is that Elite Beauty Society plans cover literally hundreds of different services all under a single policy. 

We do this because we totally understand just how fluid the beauty industry is. You may be giving a balayage highlight in the morning and move on to a vitamin C peel in the afternoon. A single client can even request multiple services in a single appointment. That’s why having so many covered services under your plan makes it easy to practice with confidence. 

Be careful here too because some plans out there may only cover a relatively small group of “core modalities” so if you want to branch out beyond that, you’ll either have to purchase additional coverage or risk doing something that’s not covered.

Bringing it All Home

So whether you’re an employee at a salon, a 1099 renting space, or offering mobile salon services, EBS has you covered with top-tier, A-rated insurance. We make it easy to see what you get, how much it costs, and then get back to all the other things you have to do today in no time.