Barber Shop Insurance – What Kind and at What Cost

Whenever you budget the expenses of your business, Barber Shop insurance must be near the top of the list because you can’t always know exactly what could happen in the future.

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With the protection provided by general insurance and all the other sorts of insurance we will tell you about, you can protect your business and yourself in case something unwanted happens.

Like any business owner, for your Barber Shop enterprise, you must consider how much financial risk you are taking on.

Business Insurance for Barber Shop

If your Barber Shop business runs without proper insurance, you are taking a tremendous chance not just of losing some money but of a complete wipe-out.

This is because the laws in every state are very strict in enforcing liability on the owners of businesses for the consequences of their actions. 

In this article, we are giving very general guidelines for startup businesses to outline what the main kinds of insurance that you need are, and where possible, a rough guide to how much you can expect to pay.

The question is, can you afford to NOT have insurance for your Barber Shop business?

What this means, for any Barber Shop business owner, is that if some company claims that your work caused them some physical or economic damage, a court can award damages far beyond the total size of your business.

Your Barber Shop business is not sheltered by laws in the same way as states are, where laws can place a “cap” on the maximum level of liability.

In some states, like New Jersey, there are specific monetary levels that limit the amount an adjudicator can award in any case against the state.

In a court case, it’s purely the right of the jury to award whatever amount they deem appropriate, even sometimes giving a person more than they have sort.

When you are running your Barber Shop operations, you can’t avoid responsibility for the outcomes of your actions.

Even more importantly, unless you have spent up-front the money necessary to have your business running as a corporation, all of that liability belongs to you as an individual.

What does Barber Shop insurance protect you from?

For your Barber Shop business, the most important sorts of insurance are intended to cover the risks to your business from accidents, from unexpected events, and from mistakes.

In addition there are some official kinds of insurance that various states require.

In the next few paragraphs, we will describe the most important points any Barber Shop business owner should remember when negotiating the insurance needed.

The main categories of insurance for your Barber Shop businesses are liability insurance, commercial insurance, asset insurance and workers compensation insurance.

Liability insurance

General liability insurance

Any Barber Shop business is dealing directly with members of the public, and that means you usually have the danger that some accident can happen to them themselves or else something of theirs can be ruined.

In such a case, they can sue you for compensation.

General liability insurance policy for your Barber Shop business covers you against claims coming from injury to customers or damage to their property.

It protects your Barber Shop business from the claims themselves and in addition to any resulting court costs and legal fees of the lawsuits.

In many cases, it can also help you to qualify for extra business from city and state organizations, where contracts demand proper liability insurance.

The usual level of general liability insurance for your Barber Shop business would be with a upper limit of $1 million for a single claim and a total of $2 million for the whole year.

See the table in the costing section below for average prices of general liability insurance for your Barber Shop insurance operations.

Professional liability insurance for your Barber Shop business

In the event where a client alleges some negligence, errors, or omissions in how you conducted your Barber Shop business for them, you can quickly face a law suit.

Even if the matter against you is decided in your favor, the cost of defense can be high, and the impact on your reputation can be damaging.

Almost all small Barber Shop business should have enough professional liability insurance to cover a single claim of $25,000, with annual cover of $50,000.

See the table in the cost of Barber Shop insurance section below for average prices of professional liability insurance for your Barber Shop operations.

Product liability insurance

Whatever goods you sell or advice you give about the goods, you are running a risk that buyers may claim that what you delivered didn’t meet your description of function, or that your guidance was basically incorrect.

You need to understand the particular laws of product liability in your own state.

For example, in California, all businesses in the supply chain can be held responsible for injuries caused by products claimed to be defective.

To cover yourself against any following lawsuit, you need Product liability insurance for Barber Shop

Only you can estimate exactly how much insurance you should get.

Best advice is to talk to experienced insurance agents, brokers or company representatives for guidance.

Commercial insurance

Commercial vehicle insurance for your Barber Shop business

Be careful! – most policies for private vehicle insurance do not cover any happening like theft or accidental damage when the vehicle is being used for business purposes.

The best way to make sure that your vehicle is insured for both its own value, and the valuable contents, is by taking out a direct commercial vehicle insurance package.

Commercial car policies cover the value of any vehicle in case of accident, malicious damage, fire, or theft.

As well, in case of any accident, the van itself, the content and any legal bills, medical expenses, and property damage is guaranteed if your car is involved in a collision.

Most states, other than Virginia and New Hampshire, require this type of insurance.

The required value of the insurance depends on the depreciated value of the vehicle, and your declared level of cover of contents. 

Tools and Equipment insurance

Since your Barber Shop business needs specific and dedicated equipment, you will realize how much it can cost to replace it in case of any damage, loss, or theft.

The gear may be subject to malicious damage, deliberate fire, theft, other such unexpected acts.

As well, acts of nature like lightning strikes, hurricanes, earthquakes, and other highly damaging natural events can destroy your whole business in one stroke.

Unless you can afford to immediately replace such unique gear quickly out of your own pocket, you should have full-level equipment insurance so that you can immediately buy whatever needed to keep your Barber Shop business running.

It is difficult to advise how much equipment insurance you need – it’s essentially dependent on how much you have invested in your Barber Shop business’ equipment.

Commercial Property insurance

Any Barber Shop business that owns or rents space in a building needs a commercial property insurance policy.

If you own the property, you probably have a substantial capital investment, in addition to a big liability if there’s a mortgage.

Your physical building location must carry insurance coverage for the value of the premises and contents against natural occurrences like fire and storms, and against man-made damages like theft and vandalism.

If your Barber Shop business deals in areas of high risk, like Florida or Georgia, extra coverage may be needed for earthquakes and hurricanes or tornadoes.

In other states like Rhode Island, where unlimited cold snaps can cause damage to outer coverings of Barber Shop business premises, there is a need for more extra cover than in warmer climes.

Whereas the level of cover depends completely on the value of the property, it’s not possible to say what cover your need, but we have been able in the table in the cost of Barber Shop insurance section below to give some indication of the average prices per million dollars of property insurance for your Barber Shop business.

Temporary insurance by month, week or day for your Barber Shop business

Is your Barber Shop business working part-time or casually, or is the level of business variable?

Using short-term insurance makes excellent sense. Business insurance by the month, day, or week – temporary insurance for Barber Shop – are special policies where you can cover a specific period when you want to be covered.

By only paying for that period of cover, you will save by having lower premiums but still having identical risk cover.

The essential feature of short-term insurance is that you pay for the cover for a defined period – a specific date, or a week or month starting on a specific date, for example for 30 days beginning on the specified date.

When you are expecting periods of better business activity, get the existing cover improved.

Talk to your insurance agent, broker or the company’s representatives to see what options you have.

Business Owners Policy (BOP) for your Barber Shop business

You have the option to combine most of the important kinds of small business insurance in one policy that is known as the business owner’s policy – BOP.

A BOP merges commercial property and public liability insurance by amalgamating these coverages into one insurance policy, which can save you money.

BOP insurance will cover you if any claims of injury or property damage are made.

It is frequently the right choice for small and medium-sized Barber Shop businesses, such as yours.

There are a few limits that will determine whether BOP is suitable for your own business.

BOPs will not cover your professional liability or commercial vehicle cover.

Also, the size of your business will dictate whether you are eligible to take out BOP cover.

The normal business that can take out a BOP policy must have less than one hundred employees, and not more than five million dollars in annual sales.

Plus, you must separately take out the necessary worker’s compensation, health and disability insurance as determined for your state.

Workers Compensation insurance for your Barber Shop business employees

In most states, it is mandatory to have workers compensation insurance when your Barber Shop business has one or more employees.

Workers compensation insurance covers the enterprise against any costs that arise if any hired hand experiences an injury or becomes sick as a result of work.

The benefits include medical expenses, death benefits, lost wages, and vocational rehabilitation.

Failure to meet a state’s laws in this regard can leave you as the employer obliged to pay penalties levied by the states.

Some states, such as North Dakota, Ohio, Washington, West Virginia, and Wyoming only authorize coverage from the government-run monopoly state funds.

In these states, you can’t obtain your workers compensation obligations from private insurance providers.

Workers compensation premiums are computed based on the employee’s pay, and usually come out at around $1.00 per $100 per month.

However, you must refer to the relevant authorities in your state.

Average costs of these types of insurance

Although every Barber Shop insurance need is unique, there are enough examples of usual quotes from insurance companies for us to give approximate guidelines, including what are the cheapest rates offered.

Of course, you should always check with a broker what’s relevant for your business.

The list below is of annual premiums we have researched for the main types of insurance your Barber Shop businesses needs.

Types of insurance Price range
Product liability insurance $215 – $685
Equipment insurance $370 – $1455
Commercial vehicle insurance $1680 – $3455
Public liability insurance $270 – $640
Commercial insurance $1145 – $2680
General liability insurance $735 – $870

Cost of insurance for your Barber Shop operations depends on many different factors.

We have estimated these figures for small independent Barber Shop businesses.

In larger states like Texas, premiums are generally about 20%-30% higher than national averages, whereas in smaller states like Oregon, they usually are about 20%-30% cheaper.

The location and size and type of your Barber Shop business can have a big effect on the cost of different policies.

You should discuss with professional insurance agents and brokers, or insurance company representatives.

In addition you can let the internet do the work for you by enquiring about insurance companies near where your business is located.

Another good source of information is the local Better Business Bureau in your town.

FAQ

What is small business insurance for Barber Shop operations?

This is an umbrella term used to describe basic insurance policies designed to protect Barber Shop business owners from risks like bodily injury, property damage, claims of negligence.

Does my Barber Shop business have to have insurance?

Some of the types of insurance are not mandatory for you to run your business, but they can protect you from risks in your business operations.

Some other forms are required by state law, such as workers compensation and vehicle insurance.

What does a small Barber Shop business insurance policy cover?

Liability insurance provides insurance against lawsuits or claims filed by a customer for bodily injury, property damage, or negligence.

The specific cover will vary based on your own operations.

See the table in the costing section above for average prices of the best policies for Barber Shop insurance.

How much will Barber Shop business insurance cost?

On top of the size of the business, some other factors, such as location and claims history, are used to determine your policy’s cost.

You should talk to professional insurance agents and brokers, or insurance company representatives.

You can search for more information insurance for Barber Shop, in the search box below, and follow the relevant links.

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