Insurance you may need as a home-base UK beautician

There are certain types of insurance you may need as a home-based UK beautician. Basically, you’ll want to protect your business equipment, your business income, your clients, yourself, your family, and your employees. Since you work from home, you’ll need to integrate your home/property insurance with your business insurance.

Some insurance companies offer pre-packaged home business insurances coverage. Their plans may include insurance cover such as Employers Liability, Product and Public Liability, Contents, Stock, Business Interruption, and Money and Goods in Transit. Or they may include other types of coverage. Here’s a list of these primary types of coverage and what they entail:

Business Contents and Stock

This covers the content of your home office or work area, and your stock inventory from loss or damage due to insured perils. For instance, it would cover you furniture, your business computer, your beauty supplies, and your equipment if they were destroyed or damaged by some event such as theft, flood, or fire.

Business Interruption

This coverage is usually a set amount for a set period of time. It ensures you have an income coming in to pay redundant bills and employees in the case your business is disrupted or closed down to unforeseen events, like a flood or fire.

Public and Product Liability

This provides compensation you may have to pay due to injury to third parties or damage to their property caused by you in the course of your business. This compensation may include the loss of earnings, future loss of earnings and damages awarded to the claimant. Additionally, it covers your legal cost in defending the claim and the claimants' legal costs that you incur if you are found to be at fault. This also includes compensation for injuries arising from the sale, supply, or use of the goods that you sell and for which you are held legally liable.

Loss of Business Money

This covers you against the loss or theft of business money while it is in transit, stored in your home, or in a bank night safe.

Personal Accident Assault

This covers benefits that become payable in the event of bodily injury to you or your employees as a result of robbery.

Employers’ Liability

This covers you against compensation claims filed by employees injured in the course of employment by you. This also covers legal expenses and costs arising from the injuries.

Property Owners Liability

This covers you if a third party suffers injury or damage while visiting your property. It does not replace professional liability or professional indemnity insurance.

Buildings

This covers against damage to the buildings on the insured premises from perils such as fire, flood, theft and accidental damage.

Portable Business Equipment

This covers the loss, theft, or damage to your business equipment while you’re using it away from your premises, or while it is being transported for business purposes.

Having a home-based business may limit the type and amount of insurance you can acquire. For instance, you may not be able to get as much coverage for beauty treatment liability as you could get if you were working in a salon. It may also limit some of the services you can provide, due to insurance indemnity clauses. For example, you may not be permitted to perform any beauty treatment that involves using power-operated aids, such as electrolysis.