Insurance for hairdressers renting a chair is also called booth rental insurance, which is a type of business insurance that any hairstylist or barber needs if they rent a space, a booth or a chair, inside a salon. There are some types of salons where the owner of the space just rents chairs to hairstylists and other beauty professionals that want to work there. Sometimes they won’t even rent to you unless you have insurance.
- 6 best insurance for hairdressers renting a chair
- What is insurance for hairdressers renting a chair?
- How does booth rental work?
- Why does a hairdresser who rents a chair need insurance?
- How much does insurance for hairdressers renting a chair cost?
- What kind of insurance does a booth rental hairdresser need?
6 best insurance for hairdressers renting a chair
Here are our recommendations of the 6 best insurance companies for hairdressers renting a chair
- CoverWallet: Best for comparing quotes
- Simply Business: Best for comprehensive online quotes
- Next insurance: Best for bundling discounts
- Hiscox: Best for a good digital experience from an established insurer
- State Farm: Best if you prefer working with an agent
- Thimble: Best for short-term insurance
CoverWallet: Best for comparing quotes
CoverWallet is an online insurance broker. They partner with well-known insurance companies to bring you several quotes and you only have to fill out one form. It makes comparison shopping a breeze. It does not underwrite any policies on its own, though. If you buy your insurance through them, you can use their online “wallet” to manage your policies. Otherwise, it’s $99 a year for the service.
Below is an example of quotes that we got from CoverWallet for a hairstylist in California renting a booth, they actually gave us three quotes: one from Hiscox, one from Liberty Mutual, and one from Chubb. They are all general liability insurance quotes.
Simply Business: Best for comprehensive online quotes
Simply Business is also an online insurance broker, much like CoverWallet. They are owned by Travelers insurance company and are the American subsidiary of a UK insurance broker. Like CoverWallet, they don’t underwrite any of the policies they offer you on their website—everything is through a third party.
What they do have is a great online library of small business resources. Of course, you don’t need to purchase insurance from them to access the blog, but it’s worth noting.
Simply Business only gave us one quote by Hiscox. The quote is more comprehensive: bundling general liability insurance and professional liability insurance in one single policy and is for a hair stylist in California.
NEXT: Best for bundling discounts
Next focuses on providing hassle-free coverage for small business owners. They offer a 10% discount when you buy more than one policy. They sell policies online, and you don’t need to work with agents.
You can buy a single policy, but you can also buy a group of policies targeted and packaged to your specific industry. For example, if you click the beauty category, Next recommends that you buy:
- General liability
- Professional liability
- Commercial auto
- Workers’ compensation
- Commercial property
Some of these apply to some hair stylists, but a hair stylist renting a booth in a salon probably doesn’t need commercial auto, workers’ compensation, or commercial property insurance. You get a 10% discount when you buy more than one policy, though.
Hiscox: Best for a good digital experience from an established insurer
Hiscox has been in business for over 120 years, so they have a lot of experience to draw from when it comes to helping you with your insurance needs. It provides small to medium businesses with basic business insurance, such as general liability. You can also get other types of business insurance, but sometimes Hiscox will refer you to a third party such as CyberPolicy. Also, business owner’s policies are only available to businesses with ten employees or fewer.
It’s pretty easy to get a quote from Hiscox, and it takes less than five minutes. This is the quote we got for a hairstylist in Florida.
State Farm: Best if you prefer working with an agent
If you want to work with an insurance agent, State Farm is a good bet. State Farm sells policies exclusively through a network of insurance agents, so you can’t get a quote without contacting an agent. If you do go with State Farm, you’ll also need to contact your agent to make a claim.
State Farm ranks number two on J.D. Power’s Small Commercial Insurance Study for 2021. Only Allstate ranks higher. This means that most of State Farm’s customers are satisfied with their service and would buy insurance from them again.
Thimble: Best for short-term insurance
Thimble offers insurance for as long—or as short—a period as you want it. You can get insurance for as little as an hour if that’s what you need. Taking a break from hairstyling? That’s okay, you can pause your coverage and pick it right back up again when you’re ready to return. It’s very easy to get a quote—it takes less than three minutes. Coverage can begin immediately.
This quote covers a hairstylist in Florida and included general and professional liability, plus equipment protection. This is quite a comprehensive insurance policy for hairdressers renting a chair.
Best hairdresser insurance companies
Regular hairdressers who work full-time at a hair salon or own a hair salon also need business insurance to protect them and their business. A hairdresser who works full-time at a hair salon will need to have professional liability insurance (or E&O insurance), while a hair salon owner and hairdresser will also need to have good general liability insurance and commercial property insurance as well.
Many insurance companies offer hairdresser insurance. We have done the research and here are our recommendations of the best hairdresser insurance providers for your consideration.
What is insurance for hairdressers renting a chair?
A salon owner can simply rent chairs to licensed hairstylists instead of paying them an hourly wage. The owner gets the income from renting the space, and the hairstylist is basically running their own business. Owners like it because they don’t have to manage employees or worry about inventory. Stylists like it because they can set their own schedule and their own rates, but they benefit from having their space in an established salon.
How does booth rental work?
A salon owner rents chairs to stylists so that they can benefit from working in an established salon. The owner earns the rental income, and the hairstylist is essentially in business for themselves. Their earnings depend on how much they work and how they set their rates. They pay a rental fee to the salon owner.
The salon owner will need to establish what is included with the rental fee. Some things that can be included are:
- Chairs
- Mirrors
- Sinks
- Hair dryers/heat lamps
- Snacks
- Office supplies
The salon owner can make all of these things available or just a few of them, but it should be clear to the hairstylist what they can expect.
Why does a hairdresser who rents a chair need insurance?
As a booth rental hairdresser, you are not protected by the salon owner. You are basically your own small business, with all of the responsibilities that come with that. If a client trips over a hair dryer cord and breaks a wrist, they will be filing suit against you, the hairdresser, not the salon owner.
Many salon owners will not rent to someone without insurance.
Who else needs booth rental insurance?
Besides hairdressers, other professionals working in different types of salons can also need booth rental insurance:
- Barbers – Learn more at the best barber insurance
- Aestheticians
- Cosmetologists
- Hairdressers or hair stylists
- Tanning salon owners
- Nail salon owners
- Masseusers
How much does insurance for hairdressers renting a chair cost?
As we can see above, hairdressers renting a chair can expect to pay from $30 to $100 a month, or $360 to $1,200 a year for booth rental insurance.
If you only get general liability insurance, you will pay less, around $30 – $50 a month for booth rental insurance. If you want to get both general liability insurance and professional liability insurance coverage, you should expect to pay a bit more, close to $100 a month.
The more coverages you want to get, the more you’ll pay for the premiums. Learn more at how much does salon business insurance cost?
Of course, these are just the average costs. Be sure to shop around with a few carriers. Getting a quote from Thimble is highly recommended. It only takes less than 5 minutes.
Or work with a top broker like CoverWallet, Simply Business, ez.insure, or commercialinsurance.net to get and compare several quotes to choose the cheapest one for you.
What kind of insurance does a booth rental hairdresser need?
At the very least, you’ll need general liability insurance.
General liability insurance for booth rental hairdressers:
This covers you for:
- Third-party injury
- Damage to someone else’s property
- Slander or libel
Just one lawsuit can easily bankrupt you.
Professional liability insurance for booth rental hairdressers
You might also consider professional liability insurance. This type of insurance will protect you if you make a mistake or neglect to do something. After all, people are trusting you with their looks. You can’t get any more personal than that. If you misinterpret what a client wanted and they get emotionally distressed, they could sue you.
Business interruption insurance for booth rental hairdressers
If the salon you’re renting a chair from has a fire, you won’t be able to work. Bills will keep piling up and you’ll have no way to pay them. Business interruption insurance will cover your lost wages and financial losses while you wait for the salon to become operational again.
Property damage insurance for booth rental hairdressers
If you have a lot of your own equipment, and it’s expensive, you want to consider property damage insurance. This will cover the costs of all your hair stylist equipment, such as dyes, hairbrushes, combs, scissors, etc.
Last thoughts
Being your own boss is wonderful, but make sure you’re prepared for potential losses by getting booth rental insurance.
