Comprehensive Cosmetology Insurance
Excellent-rated cosmetologist liability insurance that covers beauty professionals for more than 350+ beauty and wellness services. No membership fee, no quote process. Get fully covered for less than 49 cents per day, in under five minutes.
Occurrence-form for complete protection
Mobile Coverage for Wherever You Practice
Easy monthly payment options starting at $16.41
$500+ in Exclusive Member Benefits
Three Cosmetology Insurance Options
Our part-time policy covers you for 10 hours or less (the highest in the industry) and has the same coverage as the full-time policy. Also, save $78 by getting the 2-year cosmetology insurance policy.
full time
1 Year (12 mo)
$179
professional
2 Years (24 mos)
$297.95
Student
1 Year (12 mo)
$25
Cosmetology Insurance Highlights
While you may not have considered it, professional insurance is an investment every cosmetologist should make.
NACAMS represents America’s 600,000+ cosmetologists, providing professional tools, public education, cosmetologist liability insurance, and issue advocacy. With 25 years of trust in the health, wellness, and beauty industry, NACAMS’ licensed professionals are the best protected cosmetologists in the industry.
NACAMS Professional Policy
for Cosmetologists
FREE
Beauty Magazine Subscription
FREE
Personal Website to Promote Your Practice
FREE
PBA E-Membership
EXCLUSIVE
Membership Discounts
Stay Protected with an Occurrence-form Policy
Occurrence Form is the industry-preferred policy type because you are covered for any incident that happened while your policy was in effect. Other providers sell Claims-made policies where any claim filed after the policy expires will not be covered. No matter whom you choose, definitely make sure your provider is "occurrence form."
Why Do You Need Cosmetology Insurance
While every effort is made to practice safety, accidents can still happen. It is imperative that your cosmetology liability insurance provides the two most important kinds of coverage: professional and general liability.
As a working cosmetologist, you get up close and personal with your clients on a regular basis. Whether your primary skill is providing aesthetic support or creative skills, there is a reason you need cosmetology insurance. You strive to make your clients look and feel their best. Doing so is not only rewarding, but it also means repeat customers and positive word of mouth marketing about your skills as a cosmetologist. However, no matter how much effort you put into pampering and serving your clients so well, it is important to remember the basic black and white facts of business strategy and even the law when you become a professional cosmetologist.
In other words, you may be the best cosmetologist in your whole region, but if you do not have certain fundamental pieces in place for your career and your business, then you are building your business without a stable foundation. A strong foundation for a successful cosmetologist should include liability coverage. In fact, obtaining cosmetologist liability insurance may also be required by law.
The main reason insurance is so crucial is because you really never know when an accident might take place that results in a legal claim against you from one of your clients or another person who somehow suffered harm in association with your business. You can think of cosmetologist insurance as your safety net, there to catch you in case any such legal claim ever becomes a reality.
If you are wondering why you might need the safety net of cosmetology liability insurance, the reason comes in the form of dollars and cents. Legal claims of damage or injury can be quite expensive to settle, and without cosmetologist liability insurance, you will need to reach into your own pockets to pay out possible claims.
There are three main areas of accident or injury that your insurance program should be designed to cover. The first is called general liability, and it refers to situations where a client or other person slips, trips, falls or has some other kind of accident on the property of your cosmetology business.
For example, if there is a small puddle of water near the washing station, and your client slips on it and ends up hitting her head or breaking her wrist, then you may find yourself facing a legal claim to pay for these damages. In scenarios such as this one, the general liability portion of your cosmetologist liability insurance would be called upon to cover the legal expenses.
The other two types of accident or injury that your cosmetology insurance should be designed to cover pertain to damage caused by either you or some kind of product used during the cosmetology appointment. These aspects of your coverage are referred to as malpractice and product liability.
As an example, if you accidentally burned someone with a hot tool during her appointment, she may make a claim of malpractice, which means she believes the burn occurred due to a lack of skill or competence on your part as the cosmetologist. This is why cosmetologist insurance exists in the first place. Much like automobile insurance, it is there to cover you when an accident—or an unexpected claim—takes place.
Professional Liability Insurance for Cosmetologists
1 Year Rate
$179
2 Year Rate
$279.95
SAVE $78.05
NACAMS Insurance Reviews
Compare Cosmetology Insurance
Associated Hair Professionals |
Alternative Balance |
Health and Beauty Association (NAMT/ former IMA) |
||||||
|
Professional & General Liability Insurance |
✓ |
$2 Million Per Occurrence
$6 Million Individual Annual Aggregate
|
✓ |
$2 Million Per Occurrence
$3 Million Individual Annual Aggregate |
✓ |
$1 Million Per Occurrence
$3 Million individual aggregate
|
✓ |
$2 Million Per Occurrence
$3 Million Individual Annual Aggregate |
| Occurrence-Form Coverage | ✓ | Yes | ✘ | No | ✓ | Yes | ✓ | Yes |
|
Product Liability |
✓ |
$2 Million/ occurrence
|
✓ |
$2 Million/ occurrence
|
✘ |
$1 Million
|
✓ | $2 Million/ occurrence |
|
Rental Damage Coverage |
✘ |
100,000 (Fire/Water Legal Liability)
General Liability Limits May Apply |
✓ |
$300,000 |
✘ | $300,000 (Fire and Water only) | ✓ | $100,000 |
| Stolen Equipment | ✘ | Optional—Add $95 | ✘ | No | ✘ | No | ✓ | $1,000 *$250 deductible |
|
Required CE hours |
✓ |
No |
✓ |
No |
✓ | No | ✓ | No Hours Required for Insurance |
|
Hour Qualification |
✓ |
No |
✓ |
No |
✘ | Yes (100 hours) | ✓ | No Hours Required for Insurance |
| Identity Protection Plan | ✘ | No | ✘ | No | ✘ | No | ✓ | $25,000 |
|
Annual Fee |
$199/yr |
$249/yr |
$199/yr |
$159/yr Professional
$25 first year Student |
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| NOTE: The information in this comparison has been gathered from the websites of each organization and other third party sources. No guarantee or assurance is made by Nacams as to the accuracy or completeness of this information. Date that we confirmed this information 2/6/18 | BUY NOW > | |||||||
| AHP?Associated Hair Professionals | SSPTA?Alternative Balance | HBA?Health and Beauty Association (NAMT/ former IMA) | NACAMS | ||
| Professional & General Liability Insurance | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Occurence- Form Coverage | ✓ | ✘ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Product Liability | ✓ | ✓ | ✘ | ✓ | |
| Rental Damage Coverage | ✘ | ✓ | ✘ | ✓ | |
| Stolen Equipment | ✘ | ✘ | ✘ | ✓ | |
| Required CE hours | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Hour Qualification | ✓ | ✓ | ✘ | ✓ | |
| Identity Protection Plan | ✘ | ✘ | ✘ | ✓ | |
| Annual Fee | $199 | $249 | $199 | $179 | |
| BUY NOW > | |||||
Cosmetology Services Covered by NACAMS
- Skin care
- Nail Care
Get Professional Liability Insurance with NACAMS
Cosmetologist State Requirements
To become a licensed or certified cosmetologist, one thing is clear: you need to receive an education in cosmetology. However, the type of education you need to receive may differ depending on your current state of residence. While most states will require you to attend an approved beauty school, others will allow you to complete an apprenticeship instead. In addition to training requirements, you also need to be aware of state specific guidelines on continuing education units (CEUs), license renewal periods and fees, license reciprocity or transfer, etc.
Find out if there are any special guidelines that you need to be aware of as you build your career.
Cosmetologist Insurance FAQs
Do you have questions about cosmetology liability insurance in general? Or maybe questions about the coverages, details, and benefits offered by NACAMS cosmetology liability insurance? We’re here to help. Take a look at some of the most frequently asked questions.
This all depends on the program you choose to go with. If you offer several different services, like most cosmetologists do, some insurance programs will charge you additional fees to have these covered. Also, be on the lookout for membership fees or even a premium for the state in which you reside - some programs will add these costs in as well. Our program keeps it simple with one low annual rate for members.
With our cosmetology liability insurance program, members enjoy a host of benefits and coverage for a host of different services and techniques, all for the low price of $179 annually. Our benefits program alone is worth hundreds of dollars making the robust coverage options a huge cherry on top of an affordable, accessible, and effective insurance program for cosmetologists.
Every state/local jurisdiction has its own unique requirements for cosmetology licensing. However, most states do not make it a requirement to have cosmetology insurance before you are able to get licensed. But getting licensed and then jumping right into offering services without insurance is a very risky move for both your personal financial situation, as well as your ability to keep offering services to paying customers. Just one claim against you - a slip on your welcome rug, a hair dye gone wrong, a bad allergic reaction, etc., etc. - can result in a demand for you to pay the injured parties’ expenses. Sometimes this requires legal defense, which can be very costly.
For only $159 a year, our professionals completely avoid the worry of providing services without coverage, and get to focus instead on providing great services and growing their business.Simply put, you really need a cosmetologist insurance program that was specifically designed for cosmetologists. There are some programs out there offering a one size fits all for insurance, but unfortunately not understanding the nuances of the beauty industry can leave a program woefully lacking in its effectiveness. As a hard-working professional, your cosmetologist insurance coverage should provide you with three key benefits:
Cosmetologist insurance should cover you adequately in the event of a loss event.
Your cosmetologist insurance should provide good limits for the most common liabilities in this business - professional and general liability - but also should provide some protection against other liabilities such as product liability. We take protection for professionals seriously so also include “real-life” coverage mechanisms like rental damage coverage, stolen equipment coverage, and even an identity protection plan.
Cosmetologist insurance should be easily accessible, especially when you need to use your coverage.
An unforeseen event, by definition, is not one you plan for. No cosmetologist begins a session expecting an injury to the client to occur, and yet, professionals every day face events like this. Without insurance, you can be left shouldering the entirety of the financial burden. But what good is great insurance if it is hard to use? Whenever you need us, our program administrators are ready to help.
Cosmetologist insurance should provide a return for the investment you make.
We know the business of cosmetology is tough. Helping clients look and feel their best is some of the best advertising for your unique services. Protecting that, cosmetology insurance provides you and your business with a buffer from an unfortunate event costing you big dollars out of pocket. Going beyond that, the best cosmetology insurance program should provide a host of benefits and additional protections all included with their plan. This helps you maximize the investment dollars you have made so you can put more into growing your client base and giving great sessions.
Our cosmetology insurance program is an individual insurance plan. We cover individual, duly-licensed cosmetology professionals and also students enrolled in an accredited cosmetology school. With an individual cosmetology insurance plan, all of the plan’s limits apply to you alone. This is especially advantageous when you actually have to use the policy.
Some programs have shared limits, meaning that others’ claims will decrease the total amount available to the other members of the group when they need to file their own claims. This is obviously less than ideal, so the $2 million per occurrence and $3 million annual aggregate included for general and professional liability claims with our cosmetology liability insurance plan are 100% yours and yours alone.
For only $25 for a year of coverage, our students only plan is a really affordable way to get the same level of coverage as that which we offer to professional cosmetologists. In school, you will be practicing the same techniques you will be employing in your practice and accidents can unfortunately still occur that could leave you liable for paying claim expenses.
With our plan, for just $25 you get a full year of carefree coverage plus a load of awesome benefits. Some students covered under our student plan have chosen to wait until they are almost graduated from school before they get insured through NACAMS. It's a smart move as then most of your first year on the job while you are still learning is covered under an exceptional insurance program for only $25.
Most of us will do a little research before making a purchase, especially online. The same should go for choosing the best cosmetology insurance program. Always check out the program’s carriers. Insurance rating standbys like A.M. Best will rate good companies with an “A-rating” or better. We are proud to be underwritten by carriers with strong A-Excellent ratings by A.M. Best.
Another good resource is online reviews. We choose to use an independent program called TrustPilot to get our reviews. This helps you see the real product from real members’ experiences. We are really proud verified members independently rated us as 4.7 out of 5.0 on TrustPilot’s platform.Everybody likes free! Our truly stout insurance program comes with a host of additional benefits so members get the most out of their decision to partner with us. Included at no extra charge are extra protections like rental damage coverage, stolen equipment coverage, and an identity protection plan. Extra, extra benefits also include a free professional website to grow your online presence, great deals and discounts from our partners, free business resources, access to curated content, and more.
That is affirmative. We cannot cover services you are not legally allowed to perform. You will need to take the appropriate steps in your state and within your local jurisdiction to obtain a license before you will be able to secure cosmetology liability insurance.
Absolutely! A really convenient aspect of our cosmetology professional liability insurance is called portability. This means that the coverage follows you no matter where you go. Within all 50 U.S. states, you can move jobs, move cities, move states, and nothing changes with your coverage. Do note, however, you may have to jump through a few hoops with your new state board in order to transfer your license. Some states have higher education requirements than others so this may entail you taking a few extra classes or even retaking your tests in a new format.
Best course is to start planning early. When you know you are transferring to a new state, make sure you understand everything required to get licensed in the new location. Remember, even with full portability of coverage, we cannot cover any services that you are not legally allowed to perform.
Trade shows are a great way to network, see and test new products and services, and for you to showcase your unique talents. If you are providing services at a tradeshow, even if it is only as a demo, you should always secure insurance before the event. Some events will even require that you provide proof of insurance in order to be a presenter. Good thing you can secure coverage in minutes with instant proof of insurance with NACAMS cosmetology insurance!
Cosmetologists have to be masters of many different styles affecting a client's overall beauty plan. Being able to provide several different services keeps you competitive but some insurance programs will limit covered services to a select few. We went a different route so you can be free to offer just about any combination of different beauty and wellness services you deem necessary and still enjoy great coverage from NACAMS. We cover literally hundreds of different health and beauty services all under our plan, for one low rate.
Definitely! Makeup is a vital tool for cosmetologists so we include a provision just for this within our tailored cosmetology insurance program. Stolen equipment is covered all the way up to $1,000 with a $250 deductible.