Aesthetic treatments are constantly evolving. As demand for non-surgical beauty procedures increases, aesthetic practitioners face the combined challenge of training to learn new skills while also navigating the additional risks that accompany each intervention.
To help you stay protected when providing innovative treatments, you will need to take out aesthetics insurance to cover both you and your practice against dissatisfied clients.
Just as the aesthetic treatments you offer can range in intensity, however, aesthetics and cosmetics insurance can vary in the level of cover provided. Balancing and mitigating the risks involved often requires specific insurance to cover the treatments you deliver.
So, whether you’re a nail technician offering low-risk acrylic extensions or an aesthetics nurse offering more invasive botox injections, opting for tailored aesthetics insurance offers you peace of mind for any procedure.
What Risks do Aesthetics Procedures Carry?
In aesthetic medicine and beauty therapy, practitioners are working to balance patient expectations with medical safety and ethical patient care. Unfortunately, aesthetic procedures, although generally safe, all carry inherent risks that can lead to complications.
Issues such as acute infections, scarring or skin discolouration present significant challenges in high-risk procedures such as injectable dermal fillers or laser treatments. Even low-risk procedures such as facial massage or nail extensions can result in allergic reactions, excessive bruising or swelling.
As these examples highlight, even with the best of training, sometimes aesthetic treatments can leave your patient with injuries. Alternatively, even when procedures go perfectly, the client may feel dissatisfied with the results, which did not live up to their expectations.
If this should be the case and your client decides to bring a claim against you, either for negligence or medical malpractice, you can find yourself embroiled in a costly legal dispute which could cause both reputational and financial damage for your practice.
How Can I Protect My Beauty Business?
Proactive risk management is the key to reducing potential issues in any cosmetic practice. In addition to ongoing training and maintaining your qualifications to the highest level, you should work to create detailed consent forms and communicate clearly with patients about any potential risks.
In the UK, the government has also introduced a licensing regime for non-surgical cosmetic procedures in England. While this process is still under development and not yet fully implemented, a similar licensing strategy in Ireland could help to demonstrate that any treatments you offer are in line with best practice when it comes to patient safety.
What Insurance do Beauticians need?
Taking out appropriate insurance is also essential for your aesthetics business. If you were to find yourself facing unexpected legal claims, this would cover the legal costs involved in defending your interests and pay any compensation if it is awarded. Talking through the following cover options with your insurance provider can therefore help to create the right policy for you as a cosmetic nurse or beauty therapist:
- Professional Indemnity Insurance: This covers bodily injury, illness, or even death caused by negligence or breach of care when carrying out treatments.
- Public Liability Insurance: Any claims for physical or property damage at your clinic should be covered by this type of policy.
- Product Liability Insurance: This covers claims made against your business due to harm caused by a faulty product.
Product liability insurance is particularly important for aesthetic clinics and salons, which increasingly use a variety of chemical products and complex equipment. If found to be faulty, such products and equipment can potentially lead to serious injuries or property damage. Taking out this type of cover ensures your business is protected against equipment failure or contaminated chemicals that pose a risk to health and safety.
Tips for Choosing the Right Aesthetics Insurance Policy
In order to ensure you have appropriate insurance coverage, it’s a good idea to discuss your needs with a specialist insurance provider.
A comprehensive policy can safeguard against accidents and unforeseen patient claims along with business interruptions and equipment damage that could leave you temporarily unable to work. If you carry out more specialised cosmetic practices, or high-risk, invasive surgeries, however, you may need more tailored coverage.
OBF Insurance can help you to evaluate your coverage needs. So, whether you carry out laser treatments or injectable dermal fillers, we ensure practitioners of all kinda have the right level of protection.
Our extensive cosmetic industry knowledge means we can provide tailor-made insurance to protect you, your beauty practice, and the specialised equipment and products you use to carry out today’s innovative aesthetic procedures.
Contact OBF today to discuss your practice needs and get a comprehensive quote.
