Understanding Professional Liability Insurance

BIP Professional Liability Insurance:

What It Is, Why It Matters, and Why You Need It

So, you’re looking for the 411 on liability insurance 101, huh? Good news, beauty pros, you’re in the right place at the right time, because that’s what this entire article is all about (and then some).

First things first, let’s get introductions out of the way—we’re Beauty Insurance Plus.

Yep, we’re an insurance company tailored specifically to the beauty industry.

Yep, our policies are created for beauty professionals by professionals who understand the beauty industry.

And, yep, it’s as awesome as it sounds.

We wanted to get that out in the open right away because we want you to know that we know that because we’re an insurance company, it might sound a little biased that we’re expressing how important liability insurance is.

But here’s the deal—even if you don’t partner with us for a liability insurance policy, as a professional in your industry, you totally need a quality, reliable insurance partner to make sure you’re protected and safeguarded.

If you’re totally new to the term professional liability insurance, don’t sweat it—it’s not a topic that’s thrown around in our everyday industry chatter, especially if you’re just starting out in your beauty career.

But just because it’s not something everyone in the industry is familiar with doesn’t mean it’s not important—because spoiler alert, it’s mega important.

Don’t let us freak you out—that’s the opposite of what we’re trying to do here. If you don’t have professional liability insurance, if you’re not sure where to start when it comes to understanding the basics of liability insurance, or if you’re feeling overwhelmed when it comes to sorting through all the different types of professional liability insurance, this is the perfect article for you.

Building a Foundation: What Exactly is Professional Liability Insurance?

Let’s just dive right on in, shall we? Professional liability insurance isn’t as complicated as it sounds.

Professional liability insurance is a type of risk management in which the insured person—hey, that’s you—can be protected and relieved of financial responsibility of a potential loss. Professional liability insurance can also provide peace of mind that comes with knowing you’re protected in case a customer (or someone else) files a claim or an allegation against you.

Think of professional liability insurance as your beauty professional safety net. Sure, you’re very qualified, very skilled, and very professional. But let’s be real, this is life, and sometimes in life, things go wrong—and oftentimes, it’s not even really their fault.

Professional liability insurance is a policy that you pay for in order to ensure your needs as a professional are coming first in the case that something unlikely, unpredictable, or unfortunate happens. With professional liability insurance, you’re essentially shielding yourself in the event that someone points a finger at you for something—anything, really—going wrong.

Before you read any further, we want to make a very important distinction here—having professional liability insurance doesn’t mean that you’re not good at your job or that you’re likely to make a mistake.

In fact, having professional liability insurance reflects the concept that you’re so professional, you’re doing everything you can to ensure your clients and your business are protected.

The fact of the matter is, as a general rule, when you walk into work every single day, you take on risk.

Risk, also known as liability, falls on a broad spectrum—it could range from someone tripping on your salon’s entryway rug to you accidentally snipping someone’s ear while cutting to someone accusing you of releasing their private information.

Working as closely as you do with people can be very rewarding, but unfortunately, there’s no end to the types of claims and allegations people can make against you. It’s wise—financially, personally, and in terms of your future—to be as prepared and protected as possible. So whether you’re looking for cosmetology insurance or esthetician insurance you’re covered under one policy.

A Tiny Little Vocab Lesson: Breaking Down Some Liability Insurance Terms

A big part of knowing how to choose the right type of professional liability insurance is really, really understanding liability insurance—and honestly, the insurance lingo that exists can be super tricky, especially if you’re brand new to this kind of thing.

That’s why we’re going to take a brief pause from our very engaging (and super hilarious) blog writing to give you a direct, straightforward vocab lesson so you can better understand some of the must-know terms associated with liability insurance.

General Liability Insurance—we already discussed professional liability insurance, so how exactly is general liability different? Think about this as your “slip-n-fall” coverage. This type of insurance covers damage and injuries that weren’t directly caused by you but happened in relation to you.
Product Liability Insurance—this type of liability insurance helps to protect you in the event a client has a negative reaction to a product you used during your service.
Individual Aggregate—this type of insurance plan means that you—and only you—are covered by your individual policy limit, regardless of claims made by other people who have that same insurance policy as you.
Shared Aggregate—this type of coverage means you share your policy limit with other people who have the same master program as you. This means that if claims are already paid out for other members by the time you file, you might be left to deal with costs on your own.
Claims-Made Policies—this type of insurance policy covers you for claims that are filed during the policy term or the period of time you paid for it. This means that if someone files a claim against you a few months after you no longer have this insurance (even if the date of the claim was during the time you did pay for insurance), you’re not covered.
Occurrence-Form Policies—this type of insurance policy offers coverage for any claim filed during or after your policy expired as long as the incident took place during the time your policy was active.

See, no need to freak—once you have a breakdown of the basics, it’s not so tough to decode.

Do I Really Need Liability Insurance?

The short answer: Yes. The longer answer: Absolutely yes.

The longer, more comprehensive answer: that’s coming, just keep reading.

Obviously, we’re being a little silly with our tone here, but in all honesty, the need for professional liability insurance as a professional in the beauty industry is no joke.

There are a lot of important reasons why liability insurance is a must-have when it comes to your career as a beauty professional, but to give you a brief glimpse into the most important, we’re sharing our top 5 right here:

1. Professional liability insurance under your own name is going to protect you above all else.

If you work in a spa, salon, shop, or otherwise, you might have some kind of coverage from your employer’s insurance. But here’s the deal, when push comes to shove, that insurance is going to do exactly what it was meant to do—protect your employer. Think about it this way. Even if you do happen to fall under a sliver of that employee’s insurance umbrella, they’re the one holding the handle in the middle—when it starts to storm, you’re more than likely going to be pushed to the side, into the rain, and left to deal with the rough weather totally uncovered. Meanwhile, your employer is safe and dry underneath their insurance. Don’t you want a place under your own umbrella? That’s what your own professional liability insurance can provide you with.

2. Professional liability insurance protects you against the unplanned and unlikely.

It’s not like you’re planning to mess up, but accidents do happen. And even if an accident doesn’t happen, there’s always the possibility a customer will claim an accident happened. Life is unpredictable, people are unpredictable, and circumstances are unpredictable—so battle back against the unpredictability with reliable protection to make sure you’re always covered.

3. Professional liability insurance shows your customers you’re prepared and professional.

Contrary to the false idea that professional liability insurance is only for beauty pros who aren’t super skilled, having professional liability insurance shows customers and clients that you’re far beyond prepared when it comes to protecting yourself, your business, and even their well-being. Having professional liability insurance says, boldly, that you understand things happen and that you’re prepared for any eventuality—just like a top-notch professional should be.

4. Professional liability insurance safeguards your finances (and your future).

A claim or an allegation, even if they’re unfounded, are going to be costly—unfortunately, that’s just the way the cookie crumbles. If you don’t have professional liability insurance, you could be stuck shelling out the cash to handle legal and court fees all by yourself. But with professional liability insurance, you’re ensuring that you’re not paying these fees out of your own pocket or draining your bank account.

5. Professional liability insurance ensures your career isn’t interrupted.

Allegations, claims, litigation—true or not—take time. That’s just a fact. And getting tied up in those sorts of things can take away from you doing what you do best—being a beauty professional (and making money doing that, we might add). When you have reliable professional liability insurance, you’re putting stock in protecting yourself with a quality insurance partner who’s going to handle these issues swiftly and efficiently for you. That way, you’re back to work in no time (and back to making money, too).

Shop the Best Professional Beauty Insurance with Beauty Insurance Plus

We waited until the very end for this part, but we couldn’t not include it, you guys.

The reality of the situation is this—no matter who you end up partnering with for your beauty professional liability insurance, you need to make sure it’s a quality company that understands the unique risks your profession faces every single day. And bonus points if they happen to have a whole bunch of member benefits, too (we happen to have quite a few, we’re just throwing that out there).

When it comes down to it, partnering with an insurance company should be a serious decision.

The right insurance partner for you will:

Understand your specific profession and know the career-specific risks that are associated with your line of work. Further, they’ll have a policy in place that directly mitigates those unique risks.
Offer specific coverage for the services you offer—no ambiguity.
Be upfront and transparent about your pricing, your policy details, your member benefits, and any other details.
Take time to talk to you about your options and your profession to ensure you’re a good fit.

At Beauty Insurance Plus, we know what you, as a beauty professional, go through. We know the specific risks, the unique liability, and the rewards you’re granted as a part of your profession. And because we know that, we created a totally-tailored-to-you professional liability insurance plan that covers all of that (and then some).

BIP believes in you.

We believe in the work you do. But above all, we believe in protecting you. We’re proud to be a national insurance provider that supports you, your career, and your future with our unique policy.

And we’d be proud to go even more in-depth about how we can help you ensure you’re protected! ...