Common Hair Stylist Insurance Claims
When you work with the public, unfortunately, risky situations or injuries are always possible. Whether you work in a salon or as a mobile hairdresser, an unfortunate circumstance could lead to a claim or legal action against you.
As a premier hairstylist insurance provider, we've seen our fair share of claims and unfortunate incidents. We've seen it all, from professional liability errors to slip and fall injuries. While a liability claim may not be the first thing on your mind when you enter a career as a hairstylist, it's important to know a few common liability insurance claims for beauticians.
Hair Stylist Professional Liability Claims Examples
At Elite Beauty Society, we've run the gamut of claims from professional liability risks. These claims arise because the hair care professional is accused of making a mistake that caused an injury. In medical terms, professional liability claims can be called malpractice or errors and omissions claims because they imply an occupation-specific mistake was made that caused someone physical harm.
Hair stylists work closely with their clients, not just relationally but in close physical proximity. Because of the nature of a beautician's line at work, hair stylists must take extra care when working with clients to avoid accidents or injuries. Still, even seasoned professionals can occasionally make a mistake or forget appropriate safety measures.
Some common hair stylist liability claims we've seen in the past are:
Coloring mistakes or chemical malfunctions:
Coloring treatments are an everyday occurrence for hair stylists. When everything goes according to plan, the chemicals used for coloring can produce the desired look for a client with beautiful shading and tones. However, when something goes wrong, it could be disastrous.
Despite being careful, a hair stylist could make a mistake while mixing the coloring and cause a botched color treatment, leaving the client with an unwanted style or look. Clients may experience dissatisfaction or damaged hair due to a coloring error. The hairstylist could be held responsible for covering any harm or damages done to the client.
Cutting errors or styling dissatisfaction:
A client's expectations play a major role in their satisfaction with a hair stylist’s service. When expectations are unmet, or the hair stylist makes a professional error with the styling process, the client could become angry and demand compensation.
Burns
Hairdressers use several instruments involving heat to help their clients look their best. Though these tools are a necessary part of the trade, where there's heat, there's the potential for burns. One hand slip could burn your client, whether it's a flat iron, curling iron, hair dryer, or hot curler treatment.
Severe burns can cause permanent scarring, painful experiences, and lengthy healing processes. In many cases, the client is burned on or around their face, which can be painful and require medical attention. In these types of incidents, the client could hold you responsible for their medical expenses, cost of recovery, legal fees, and other related costs due to their injury.
Damaged hair or hair loss
Hairdressers use many products in their work. Even if you're careful, you can't predict how a client's hair will react sometimes. In some cases, a client could experience damaged hair or loss due to the combination of chemicals, heat elements, or products you use throughout their treatment. This type of physical harm could be distressing and irreversible in some cases.
Cuts and abrasions:
Although you may be proficient with your snips, a small mistake or distracted moment can lead to a serious cut or scrape. Because hairstylists work so closely around the eyes and face, any cut could be serious, requiring medical attention.
General Liability Risks for Hair Stylists
Professional errors aren't the only type of common hair stylist liability claims, not by a long shot. General liability claims come from risky situations that do not relate to your profession specifically. These are often called slip-and-fall claims because they are among the most commonly reported incidents. You can think of general liability claims as universal risks that could occur in any environment or place of business.
Some common general liability claims could be:
Injuries related to slips and falls.
Hair salons can be slippery places at times. Whether it’s a splash of water from the hair washing station or a stray bit of hair that has not been swept up yet, fall hazards are common in a hair stylist environment.
If a client slips in your salon and injures themselves, they could hold you liable for their injuries, such as broken bones, sprained muscles, torn tendons, etc. These types of injuries require medical attention and could lead to long recovery processes. Oftentimes, slips and falls can be quite costly and lead to expenses beyond the medical care costs.
Damage to personal property
The other side of general liability claims is the damage to personal property. Suppose a client’s property is damaged while in your chair or salon. They could demand that you cover the cost to replace or repair it.
For example, let's say a client trips over a loose floor rug in your salon and drops their new iPhone. Although the client is uninjured, their new phone screen is shattered. They could insist you pay for its repair or replacement, which is no cheap expense.
Common Product Liability Claims for Hair Professionals
Whether it's your favorite brand of shampoo and conditioner, hair needs all-natural oils to help your clients look radiant and hair stylists use a broad range of products with their clients. These products are typically harmless; if a client has an adverse reaction, it could be a major liability. Naturally, you can never predict an allergic reaction or irritation from a product, but it's essential to be prepared if one takes place.
Here are some of the most common product liability claims for hair stylists:
Allergic reactions
Some clients may have an adverse reaction to some product you use, a cleaning agent in your facility, or an environmental element, such as an air freshener. Allergic reactions could lead to skinny irritation, asphyxiation, or sinus irritation. The severity can vary between clients based on their allergy or aversion intensity.
Chemical burns
Improper use or application of products, like bleaching elements or hair dyes, could result in a chemical burn or skin irritation on the scalp, neck, face, or skin in other areas. In extreme cases, these burns could cause discomfort, pain, hair loss, or permanent scarring. Hairstylists are responsible for handling potentially hazardous elements with caution and care to help evade a chemical burn.
Asphyxiation or breathing difficulty
Especially when aerosols are involved, the possibility of breathing difficulties increases. Unfortunately, this type of allergic reaction is all too common for hairdressers due to, you guessed it, hairspray and other aerosol products. If a client has a bad reaction to your brand of hairspray or mister, it could be a substantial liability.
Advertising Injury Claims
Let's discuss some of the non-physical liability claims we've seen over our years in the industry. Advertising injury claims have to do with more intangible harm than physical injuries. An advertising injury typically refers to damage from published material, like false advertising, infringement, or false endorsements.
For example, let's say you advertise a hair growth solution that works for everyone. In your promotion, you claim this “miracle serum” produces a noticeable difference in hair thickness and will bring your hair back to life.
Of course, no such product exists, but you advertise it nonetheless. This type of false advertising could lead people to believe they found the solution to their follicle challenge. However, when the product they received doesn't work, they could rightfully hold you liable for false advertising.
Although false advertising is not alone in the advertising liability category, it's one of the more common issues we've handled in the past.
Personal (non-physical) Injury Liability Claim Examples
The other side of non-physical liability lies in personal injury situations. Personal injury liability refers to psychological or reputational damage to a client or third party. This could arise from psychological harm done to another person. On the reputation side, these claims could arise from published libel, false accusations, derogatory communication, or harmful slander.
Here's an example of a personal injury liability claim:
Sharon runs the website for the salon where she works. In one of her social media posts, Sharon blasts a rival salon in the same town, claiming they mishandle chemical agents in their shop. Of course, this accusation is very serious and could potentially cost the rival salon business and future clients.
The rival salon could hold Sharon responsible for libel and slanderous accusations.
The Good News is EBS Can Help Cover These!
There's a lot that could go wrong as a professional hair stylist. That shouldn't scare you, however. Fortunately, Elite Beauty Society is well-versed in providing comprehensive liability insurance for hair care professionals. We've created a plan specifically for beauticians that could cover situations like these examples.
When you're ready to feel confident in your coverage, we are here to help. Get hair stylist liability insurance today with our simple online application.
