BBA Newsroom

At the BBA we are also getting jobs for all over the world advertised with us. At the moment we have jobs for Hairdressers and Barbers in Dubai, we also have a job at the one and only Mandarin Oriental Barbershop in Hong Kong, Plus we have recently had a job being advertised for a head barber in a busy shop in Singapore. We also have vacancies for barbers in Australia in a five star hotel.

If you fancy any of these vacancies email admin@britishbarbers.com and we will forward you more information.

Who is Responsible?

Who, what and assumptions, can become a financial nightmare!
When we are approached to insure barbershops or self-employed individuals it is clear that in some cases our prospective clients do not question or downplay matters.

Examples:

Barbershop seeks personnel

• Assumption 1: the owner interviews and takes on a self-employed barber and does not check whether the individual is insured and makes assumption that as he/ she is self-employed they must have their own insurance
  
• Assumption 2: the owner interviews and takes on an employed barber but the barber does not check whether the shop is insured

In the above situations, both the shop owner and self-employed barber could be uninsured!

Barbershop seeks insurance

• Assumption 3: the owner does not include cover for the entire refit/ contents so to reduce their insurance premium or they are vague about the costs to refit
  
• Assumption 4: the owner has suffered a claim/ incident and assumes that the value insured will be the amount payable

If the shop is under insured, Insurers will apply ‘Average’ and reduce the amount of the claim down to reflect the under insurance. Let’s say the shop is insured for £5,000 for Contents and nothing else, but the actual amount reflecting replacing as new is £10,000, the shop is 50% under insured and as such the claim will be paid at £2,500 (50% of the insured value). Any other element, say stock let alone alterations to the fabric of the building (examples: partitioning, floor, ceiling, electrics, shutters etc.) are uninsured!

New Barbershop

• Assumption 5: the unit/ building is already fitted out but the owner does not insure these fittings as he/she believes this is the landlord’s responsibility
  
• Assumption 6: the building has a flat roof and the barber believes that this has no bearing on the shop as he/ she is only responsible for the contents

Assumption 5 can be cleared up by either digesting the terms of the lease to ensure what are your responsibilities or speaking with your solicitor to clarify. If there is a loss and these fittings are damaged the lease will make you responsible for replacing them! Never assume, check and insure to be safe.
Assumption 6 increases the risk of water ingress and subsequent damage to your contents. If you do not disclose that you have a flat roof or maintain the roof (per terms of full repairing lease/ insurance conditions) the claim may be dramatically reduced or not paid at all!

Barbershop: What to Insure?

• Quotes/ your insurance cover needs to at least mirror the amount spent on the shop; cover notes replacement as new so if items purchased second hand you need to insure for full value!
  
• If you have undertaken some or all of the labour; you should factor in a labour value
  
• Contents: this is everything that can be best described as items that you could reasonably take with you should you relocate including your tools of trade, fixtures and fittings, signage and all other contents including appointment software/ computer equipment
  
• Tenants Improvements: alterations to the fabric of the building including new electrics/ plumbing/ heating/ suspended ceilings/ replacement floor/ partitioning/ joinery/ alarms/ shutters. Equally if you moving into an existing barbershop/ salon the terms of your lease will dictate your responsibility
  
• Stock: trade cost to you for items within shop or for retail. This would include your wax, pomade, beard oils and balms let alone promotional items (t-shirts). Promotional items will need to be separated from main stock

Separating Contents from Tenants Improvements is not that hard as illustrated above with the advantage being that insuring Tenants Improvements is more cost effective than including all in Contents. More importantly not insuring Tenants Improvements and should you suffer a loss could be detrimental to the business if Insurers identify part of the claim being Tenants Improvements
Every Barbershop is unique, so there are usually anomalies and that is why we are here. Any questions about what cover you need or even if your current Insurance is placed elsewhere, we are here to help and offer advice.

Never underestimate for the sake of grabbing a bargain! Insure correctly and sensibly, remember ‘cheap is cheap for a reason’!

Gary Crowder, Account Director
Just Hair Insurance
#DesignedWithYouInMind #GetInsured