It is imperative that you carry tanning salon insurance to protect yourself, your business and your clients. The potential for serious harm or injury is great in this industry and not having the proper insurance in place can cost you your livelihood. Be sure as you shop around for coverage that you realize the difference in general and professional liability insurance coverage. It is important to carry both of these types of insurance. General liability will protect a business in the event the insured causes bodily injury or property damage to others and then becomes legally obligated to pay damages. This will also cover damages to property or persons from a third party. For example, if you owned a tanning salon and one of your clients fell and broke their leg while walking in the door this would be covered by the liability for bodily injury.
Professional liability insurance for tanning salons is designed to provide coverage to professionals for claims arising out of their professional activities or services provided to clients. For example, one of your tanning salon clients is severely burned in one of your beds. This is directly related to your "profession" as a tanning salon operator and would fall under the professional liability insurance plan.General liability insurance can be lumped together in a package deal that might include your property and fire insurance. This is sometimes referred to as a business office package policy or BOP. These general liability plans will contain exclusions for professional liability claims. You can see why it is important to have both insurance plans.
What should you look for in an insurance plan? Use these tips while you shop for insurance for your tanning salon:
- Does your plan cover business interruption, property damage due to fire or flood, employee claims for harassment or unlawful discharge, and a director and officer liability coverage? Make sure all your risks are covered adequately.
- Are the coverage limits going to be high enough?
- What will your deductibles be?
- What, if any, are the exclusions to your plan?
- Is the policy an occurrence policy or a claims made policy?
- Are there any holes in your coverage? You must read your policies carefully to make sure the wording doesn't exclude coverage. You can ask for extended coverage for anything that is excluded, but you have to ask for it.
- Look for ratings on the insurance companies you are choosing between. It will do you little good to have a plan that isn't backed by a stable insurance business entity.