Your hands are your income
Cutting and blow-drying all day means holding your arms up and repeating fine movements for hours. Carpal tunnel syndrome, tendon problems and shoulder pain build up over years. A cut from scissors or razors can take longer to heal than you expect when your hands are wet all day.
Contact dermatitis from colour, bleach and constant washing forces some stylists to change careers. Standing for long shifts brings back and leg problems as well.
- Repetitive strain in the wrists, hands and shoulders
- Dermatitis and allergic reactions to products
- Back and leg pain from standing at the chair
Employed, chair renter or salon owner
Employed stylists usually get statutory sick pay and sometimes a little more. If you rent a chair, you are running your own business and nobody pays you when you are off. Salon owners have the extra worry of staff and rent.
For self-employed hairdressers, insurers look at your self-assessment returns. Card and cash takings you have declared count. Income you have not put through your books cannot be insured.
Own job cover and waiting periods
If arthritis in your hands stops you cutting hair but you could still work in a shop, a policy that only pays when you cannot do any job would not help. Some insurers offer own occupation cover for hairdressers, while others use a wider test. The risk class an insurer gives you affects which definitions are available and the price.
Chair renters with little saved often choose a deferred period of four weeks. If you have a cushion of savings, a longer wait reduces the cost.
Training, apprentices and opening your own salon
Many stylists start as apprentices on a modest wage, then build a column of loyal clients and earn more each year. As your income grows, review your cover so the benefit keeps pace. Some policies index the benefit to inflation, which helps it hold its value over a long career.
Opening your own salon brings more risk. You may sign a lease, buy equipment and take on staff. If you could not work, someone still has to pay the rent and wages. Personal income protection covers your own earnings, while business expenses and key person cover can help keep the salon going.
Life cover becomes more important once you take on a business loan or mortgage, so it is worth arranging both at the same time.
How Hi Tomorrow helps stylists
We find out how you work, how you are paid and what you have set aside, then compare insurers on how they define incapacity for hairdressers. We show you the policies that would pay if you could no longer use the skills you trained for.
We can add life cover for a mortgage or family. Advice is free and our team is UK based.