Business · By industry · Salons & barber shops
For hair salons, barber shops, nail and tanning salons and booth-rental studios in Washington. The insurance questions follow the services and the people: what happens when a chemical service goes wrong, who is an employee and who is a booth renter, and what the lease asks of you. Below are the areas to examine with an insurance reviewer. One policy does not cover all of them.
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What to review
A customer trips on a cape, slips by the shampoo bowls, touches a hot tool left on a station. General liability is the policy for injury or property damage to customers and visitors on your premises. Your lease often sets the terms: limits, the landlord as an additional insured and a certificate before you open. Ask whether the policy covers off-site work such as weddings, and how it treats the retail products you sell.
A common claim is not a slip but a service: a chemical burn, a color correction that damages hair, a reaction to lash adhesive, an infection after a pedicure. General liability may exclude claims arising from professional services, which is where professional liability for salons comes in. Ask which services are covered, whether each stylist and technician is covered under your policy or needs their own, and whether services you plan to add are inside the policy.
Many salons rent chairs or suites to licensed stylists who set their own hours and prices. That changes nearly every insurance question. Your general liability may not cover a renter's work, your professional liability may not cover a renter's services, and L&I's view of who is a covered worker can differ from what your contract says. Ask what your policy expects of renters, whether they should carry their own coverage and name you, and how the rental agreement is written.
Retail sales, color lines and tools raise two questions. Products liability, usually part of general liability, is for injury from something you sold; whether a reaction to a product you applied is a products or a professional claim depends on the facts. Property coverage is for your chairs, dryers, nail stations, inventory and improvements to the leased space. A business owner's policy may package property and general liability for an eligible salon.
L&I's classification plan places barber shops in classification 6501-00, beauty, tanning and nail salons in 6501-01 and tattoo and piercing shops in 6501-02; confirm your own assignment with L&I, because the assignment follows the work performed, not the business name. The rule notes that salons often rent booths or stations to licensed booth renters, which affects who counts as a covered worker. Washington is a state-fund state: most employers insure workers' compensation through L&I rather than a private carrier, and employer's liability (stop-gap) is bought separately.
Receptionists, assistants, shampoo staff and commissioned stylists are typically employees. L&I assigns each employer one or more risk classifications by the nature of the work, each with its own base rate, and adjusts the employer's rate by its experience factor. Keep records of who is on payroll, who rents and what each person does. Employment practices claims, such as a dispute over commissions, are not part of general liability and are a separate coverage to ask about.
Online booking, stored card details and client records raise cyber questions: a breach of the booking system, a fraudulent payment or a ransomware demand. A commercial umbrella adds limits above general liability and, depending on the umbrella, other underlying policies; a landlord in a larger building may ask for it. Business income coverage is the question if a fire or water leak closes the salon for weeks.
A client books a bleach and tone. The stylist, a booth renter, leaves the lightener on too long; the client's hair breaks, and she demands the cost of corrective treatment. Whether anyone's policy responds depends on whether the salon's general liability excludes professional services, whether a professional liability policy exists and whose it is, and whether the rental agreement required the stylist to carry her own coverage. A real claim depends on the facts and the policy.
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