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Hair and Beauty Salon Insurance
Hair and Beauty Salon Insurance
Written by
Kervin Mathew
Edited by
Ellie Garran
Reviewed by
Adrian BennettCompare business insurance the easy way
We’ve partnered with BizCover to help you compare business insurance policies.
What is hair and beauty salon insurance?
Long story short
Hair and beauty salons might want various types of business insurance
In particular, public liability and professional indemnity cover can help protect you if a client gets injured, reacts badly to a treatment, or claims negligence.
Equipment cover and income protection can save you from a blowout
Cover for stolen or broken gear, plus personal accident cover, helps keep money coming in even when you can’t open the doors.
Business insurance for hair and beauty salons can cost an average of $52 a month*
Your services, equipment value, salon size, and risk level all shape your premium.
What is hair and beauty salon insurance?
There’s no such thing as special hair and salon insurance – it’s just business insurance in a fancy outfit. Hairdressers, nail techs, brow artists, and beauty therapists alike could potentially use standard business cover to protect against accidents, damage, equipment mishaps, and more.
Between managing appointments, keeping customers happy, supervising staff, ensuring your equipment is in good nick, and handling your salon’s behind-the-scenes operations, it can be difficult to know which insurance policies you might need.
Business insurance for hair and beauty salons can include public liability insurance, professional indemnity insurance, contents insurance, portable equipment insurance, and more, depending on the services you offer and how your salon operates.
Here are some of the types of hair and beauty businesses and treatments that business insurance covers:
- hairdressers and barbers
- hair removal clinics
- make-up artists
- beauty therapists
- brow and lash specialists
- cosmetologists
- estheticians
- nail technicians.
Why do hair and beauty salons need business insurance?
Running a hair and beauty salon is a pretty awesome gig, but as you probably know, it comes with its fair share of possible risks. These could include:
Equipment malfunctions
If vital equipment like your laser hair removal machine suddenly stops working, you might have several disgruntled customers (and the possibility of lost income) until it’s up and running again.
Workplace accidents
Your staff could suffer from a nasty chemical burn from some hair bleach, potentially amounting to a workplace injury case.
Personal injuries
In a similar vein, a client could get a bleach-burned scalp or a bad rash from a particular skincare product – leading to a potential injury claim.
Health hazards
Any kind of beauty treatment requires fairly strict hygiene standards. But if those aren’t met, they may lead to health problems or infections among clients.
Property damage or theft
Your equipment is practically your salon’s lifeblood, but if something happens to it – say it’s stolen, or your salon is damaged by fire – you might be stuck without it.
Having business insurance could cover these and other risks your business might face, including paying to repair or replace your expensive equipment if something is stolen, lost, or damaged. Income protection insurance can also help cover your personal income if you become ill or injured and you’re unable to work.
What types of business insurance should beauty salons consider?
While running a beauty and wellness business can come with its own variety of risks, there are some standard business insurance products that could provide the protection that you might need. Here are some of the main types of business insurance you could consider.
Public liability insurance
If a member of the public is injured or has their property damaged by your business activities, public liability insurance could help as a financial safety net. It covers third-party claims, whether from customers, suppliers, or delivery people.
Public liability insurance can also help cover injuries or damage to property owned by your client because of your business activities, or even if you operate a mobile business and work from clients’ homes or at other job sites like weddings, events, and photoshoots.
Professional indemnity insurance
Beauty advice and services may sometimes lead to dissatisfaction or harm, even with the best intentions. Professional indemnity insurance helps add offer a layer of financial protection against claims of negligence or harm caused by your professional advice or services.
Let’s suppose you recommend a certain skincare treatment that resulted in an allergic reaction for a client. Professional indemnity insurance may help protect you against potential legal costs and compensation payments as a result of that claim.
Tax audit insurance
Doing your taxes each year is just another part of running your own salon, and sometimes, the ATO may request an audit.
Instead of forking out for audit expenses yourself, tax audit insurance can help cover the cost of an accountant, tax agent, and some other fees related to the audit.
Personal accident and illness insurance
If you’re a sole operator, you’re the backbone of your salon. This means if something were to suddenly happen to you – like if you got sick and couldn’t work for several months – it could seriously impact your business.
Personal accident and illness insurance can offer financial protection if you’re injured or get sick and can’t work for a period of time. It could potentially cover your lost income until you can get back on your feet and back to keeping your clients’ skin, hair, or nails looking fresh.
Business interruption insurance
If you suddenly had to shut your salon’s doors for a prolonged period due to a specific insured event, business interruption insurance could cover the financial losses you suffer during that period. It could also help cover ongoing costs, like rent, utilities, or staff wages until you’re back open for business.
For example, if all your equipment was damaged in a fire and you had to shut down your business before everything was back in working condition, business interruption insurance could step in and cover you for your losses.
Building and contents insurance
Building and contents insurance helps cover your premises and the things within it – like your equipment, tools, products and furnishings. It typically offers protection for natural disasters like fire, theft, damage, and loss. Flood cover may also be available building and contents insurance, but it is not always included as a standard feature. Check your policy wording carefully to confirm what is covered and whether flood cover needs to be added as an optional benefit.
Most contents insurance policies will only insure some items up to a maximum amount. In this case, you may be able to list additional items that are particularly valuable to ensure they’re adequately protected, like a super expensive laser machine.
Helpful tip
When you’re considering business insurance for your hair and beauty salon, it’s always a good idea to go over the policy wording in your product disclosure statement for exclusions and conditions of cover. Business insurance is, after all, a contract. And the last thing you need is for something you’ve overlooked to end up voiding that contract and the services it offers.
Adrian Bennett
General Manager for General Insurance
Is hair and beauty salon insurance in Australia mandatory?
This really depends on how and where you run your business, as well as the services you offer.
In many cases, landlords may require a minimum amount of public liability insurance before you can rent out their premises – check your lease to make sure.
If you have a team working for you, you’ll need to get workers compensation. This covers them if they suffer an injury or get sick at the salon and are unable to work. Workers compensation is mandatory for all businesses in Australia, including salons, that employ people.
While BizCover doesn’t currently offer workers compensation insurance, we can help you find other types of business insurance that might be a great fit for your business. Think product liability insurance if a client has an allergic reaction to a beauty product you use or cyber liability cover if you record customer data or take digital payments.
How much does business insurance typically cost for hair and beauty salons?
As of January 2026, the average cost of business insurance provided by BizCover to hair and beauty service businesses is $52.*
With that said, many different factors can go into business insurance costs, including the size and location of your salon, the value of your equipment, the services you offer, your coverage limit, your excess, and whether you list any additional items (like that aforementioned super-expensive laser machine).
What should hair and beauty salons consider when choosing business insurance?
How your business is set up
You may be a sole operator building your dreams or you might be living the dream with a multi-chair salon. Whatever the case, your business insurance cover should match your business structure, as often more complex setups may require more elaborate coverage.
What cover limit makes sense
Your cover limit is the highest amount you can be paid out if you make a claim. For example, public liability cover limits could range between $5 million to $20 million. If you offer treatments that could potentially cause major injuries or own a large salon you may need to consider higher cover limits or risk being underinsured.
Risks that come with your services
A run-of-the-mill beauty shop typically uses chemicals, heating devices, or injectables for Botox. In fact, think of the damage an electric file could do on a bad day! As a salon owner, you may need to consider a higher level of liability or professional indemnity cover to ensure your business is well-protected.
Your equipment, tools, and inventory
Your salon likely has costly equipment, whether that’s a treatment bed, advanced styling tools, or a high-end professional facial device that works magic bringing clients back for more! You’ll need to consider the cost of replacing this equipment and get suitable coverage if it’s damaged or stolen.
Plans to grow your salon
Growing your business can be a major milestone. Whether you’re hiring more people or adding new services, it’s a good idea to review your current business insurance cover.
How often should beauty salons review their insurance policies?
It’s a good idea to review your insurance policies every year. This allows you to do a full sweep of everything from your revenue and employee count to your equipment list and full range of services to see if anything has changed since you last updated your policy.
If it has – say, you go from specialising in waxing to also offering nail treatments, or you buy a brand-new facial machine – then you can adjust your policies accordingly.
Where can I find and compare business insurance?
So, you’ve sussed out your insurance needs and you’re ready to find insurance for your salon? Great! iSelect has teamed up with BizCover to develop a handy business insurance comparison tool. You can use this tool to help you compare a range of policies from some of Australia’s well-known business insurance providers.
*BizCover Customer Average Monthly Payment Report is based on 1 July 2023 to 30 June 2024 and presented as a guide only. It may not reflect pricing for your particular business, as individual criteria will apply.
This information is general only and does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. It should not be relied upon as advice. As with any insurance, cover will be subject to the terms, conditions and exclusions contained in the policy wording.
© 2026 BizCover Pty Limited, all rights reserved. ABN 68 127 707 975; AFSL 501769
The provision of the claims examples is for illustrative purposes only and should not be seen as an indication as to how any potential claim will be assessed or accepted. Coverage for claims on the policy is determined by the insurer, and not BizCover.
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^As with any insurance, cover is subject to the terms, conditions and exclusions contained in your policy document. The information contained on this webpage is general only and should not be relied upon as advice.
iSelect’s partnered with BizCover Pty Ltd (ABN 68 127 707 975: AFSL No.501769) to help you compare small business insurance policies. iSelect earns a commission from BizCover for every policy sold through the website or contact centre. iSelect and BizCover do not compare all providers in the market, or all policies offered by all providers. iSelect does not arrange policies from the providers we compare for you directly, but iSelect will refer you to our trusted partner, BizCover Pty Ltd who can.
Any advice provided on this website is of a general nature and does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. You need to consider the appropriateness of any information or general advice iSelect gives you, having regard to your personal situation, before acting on iSelect’s advice or purchasing any policy. You need to consider if the insurance policy is suitable for you. Please read the Financial Services Guide before buying any insurance policy.