Public Liability insurance protects you if a member(s) of the public is physically or emotionally injured, or gets his/her property damaged, either at your workplace or due to your business activities.
Public Liability insurance isn't necessarily required by law, unlike Employers' Liability insurance. However, a Public Liability insurance claim can easily get to six-figure sums. Therefore, it's imperative for every business to consider getting Public Liability cover. This kind of insurance is especially important for salon owners and beauticians because of the nature of this profession.
Beauty professionals make contact with people on a day-to-day basis, hence increasing the risk of being involved in Public Liability claims. Additionally, there are multiple, specific risks which other businesses don't face but are faced by beauticians. That renders a standard Public Liability insurance cover for businesses clearly different from a Public Liability insurance policy for beauty professionals.
Public Liability compensation claims can be quite costly. It'd not be a surprise to find a minor injury resulting in a £1,000 claim. A broken bone will easily bring about a £25,000 compensation claim while you might hear ten times that amount for a serious injury.
Whenever you make contact with a member of the public, you stand the risk of being responsible for them getting injured or their property getting damaged. It could be a result of something you've done. For instance, say you leave a bag on a walkway at the workplace and a person trips over it. In case they sustain any injury, you could be held responsible for the same.
It can also be a result of something you've not done. Case in point, you could be held responsible because you hadn't given the injured person a warning. A Public Liability insurance policy covers compensation claims which could be made against you in such scenarios.
In addition to the compensation, Public Liability insurance will meet any other expenses accrued, including legal costs. Your insurer will handle all compensation claims on your behalf, too. As such, you won't have any concerns over dealing with complex legal issues.
Public Liability insurance policies are intended only for compensation claims that involve injuries and/or property damages. It doesn't provide cover for compensation claims which are purely economical.
For example, let's assume you've administered a beauty treatment that hasn't injured your client or resulted in any property damage but has prevented him/her from working. In such a case, they may resolve to file a compensation claim against you to cover the income they lose. However, you can get cover for purely economic losses by ensuring your Public and Product Liability insurance policies have a reliable financial loss extension.
This is the key part where standard Public Liability insurance for businesses differs from Public Liability insurance policies for beauticians. Standard Public Liability insurance policies don't cover claims which arise from delivery of any professional service. That said, claims arising from beauty treatments or products wouldn't be included.
It's thus important that Public Liability insurance for beauty professionals have an extension cover for treatment liability. Without that, you might find yourself dealing with a potentially costly, uninsured compensation claim in case you provide treatment that directly/indirectly injures your client.
Products' Liability insurance differs slightly from Public Liability insurance. The latter only covers you in case a compensation claim is filed against you for something you do or fail to do. It doesn't provide cover for compensation claims that are a result of someone getting injured due to a defect(s) in something you've sold or supplied.
Instead, Product Liability insurance provides cover for such compensation claims. And, it's often included as an extension in Public Liability insurance policies.
On top of having public liability insurance, by law you will need employers' liability insurance if you've got any employees. It's a mandatory requirement as per the Executive Health and Safety regulations by the government. It's also essential as it'll protect your business in the event your employee(s) resolves to seek compensation for an injury or loss that you allegedly caused them.
Compensation claims for mere facial scarring caused by a certain beauty treatment can easily exceed £50,000. On top of that, expect legal fees and, perhaps, expenses incurred by a private cosmetic surgery. Compensation claims for an injury that's sustained from something you've sold would easily rack up similar amounts, as well.
Therefore, it'd only be wise to purchase the right insurance, ensuring that you're not left in an extremely bad state if something goes wrong. In the event there's a claim, you won't have to worry about meeting the amounts claimed. Also, you won't need to concern yourself with getting a legal representative. Besides, with the right insurance, you'll be assured of getting top-notch legal defence.
The cost of Public Liability insurance policies is relatively low when compared with the claim amounts which beauty professionals may be prompted to dig out. A specialist Public Liability insurance policy would be an undoubtedly worthwhile investment as it'll keep your business and career safe.