The thrill of a makeover is something everyone enjoys but what happens if the beauty salon gets it wrong? Techniques in the beauty industry are changing at a faster pace than ever but customers are still legally entitled to receive treatments that are safe, well-tested and appropriate for them. Should you receive negligent treatment from a salon, this guide will explain beauty treatment claims and your rights to seeking compensation for your injuries.
This guide will look at some of the most common types of salon accident claims and your rights as a customer or client. In addition, we will explore who is liable to protect you from being harmed during a treatment and what action you can take if they fail.
If you decide to start a claim for personal injury compensation, we provide information on the evidence that can help. Also, we explain how our No Win No Fee accident claims solicitor might be able to take up your case and represent you.
Read on to learn more about a starting beauty treatment negligence claim, or:
- To start now please call on 0800 073 8801
- Contact us about your case online.
- Or chat with us using our live discussion window below.
Jump To A Section
- The Most Common Salon Accidents That Lead To Claims
- Your Rights As A Salon Customer In The UK
- Who Is Liable If You Are Injured During A Treatment?
- How To Begin Your Beauty Treatment Compensation Claim
- How Much Compensation Could You Receive?
- Contact Us
- Further Resources
The Most Common Salon Accidents That Lead To Claims
In the following sub-sections, we look at some of the most common beauty treatments, which if performed negligently, could form the basis of a claim:
Semi-Permanent Makeup
Semi-permanent make-up is not suitable for everyone as it may prompt a reaction. Bruising, infection and pigmentation implantation problems can also arise.
Therefore, a qualified beauty technician must perform a skin patch test and allow the required reaction time to pass before applying the make-up. If they fail to do this, or do so incorrectly, and an injury arises, a claim for injury could apply.
Hair Dyes And Treatments
A client could be allergic to certain hair dyes. After application, injuries can include itching, redness and swelling. In severe reactions to hydrogen peroxide, hair damage, hair loss, baldness, and scalp blisters. If the client suffers anaphylaxis, this could lead to death.
Also, excessive exposure to ammonia (a common hair dye ingredient) can cause respiratory problems for some clients. Again, the stylist has an obligation to test the product on each client before use to ensure their safety.
Microdermabrasion And Chemical Peels
Beauty treatments like this should always be performed by a trained and qualified practitioner. Whilst generally safe, there can be risks of side effects such as swelling, itching, flaking skin and scarring. With chemical peels, there can be burn spots and scarring. A test patch is always required before use.
If you feel you suffered an injury because a chemical peel, lip fillers or microdermabrasion went wrong, speak to our team about beauty treatment claims. They can help you determine whether the salon was at fault.
Your Rights As A Salon Customer In The UK
As a salon customer, you should be able to expect that the salon has taken steps to reasonably protect your health and safety while you are on their premises or undergoing any treatment. If you sustain an injury as the result of a negligent beautician, you may be eligible to seek compensation. However, you will need to prove that negligence occurred. Negligence is when:
- A duty of care owed to you,
- This duty is breached,
- And you sustain an injury as a result.
All three elements are required to have good grounds to launch a salon negligence claim.
A duty of care is a legal obligation that is imposed on an organisation, such as a salon or an individual, such as a hair stylist, to maintain a standard of reasonable care so as to avoid causing some form of foreseeable harm. We look at the specific legislation regarding beauty treatment claims in the next section.
Who Is Liable If You Are Injured During A Treatment?
All businesses and service providers owe the general public a duty of care. This law is outlined in the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957 and includes mobile beauticians and freelance hair stylists. This legislation requires the occupier and service provider to implement reasonable steps and measures to ensure the safety and well-being of the general public whilst using their services.
In a beauty salon, this duty of care means they must ensure treatments and therapies offered to clients are safe and suitable for each person. And that they (and their staff) are trained and qualified to perform them.
Natural risks may be present when using chemicals on the hair and skin. However, a claim against the salon can apply if you can prove they failed to take the necessary steps to reasonably safeguard you from injury. To discuss eligibility for beauty treatment claims, message an advisor in our live chat.
How To Begin Your Beauty Treatment Compensation Claim
There are some actions you can take to start building a claim compensation against a beauty salon:
Gathering Evidence
The foundation of a personal injury claim is evidence that the third party breached the duty of care we explained above and this caused your injuries. With this in mind, the list below offers some suggestions:
- Medical records and specialist reports detailing the extent and nature of your injuries.
- The contact details of anyone who saw what happened in the salon. If you instruct a solicitor to act for you they can approach these witnesses for a statement that supports your side of events.
- Photos and mobile phone footage of the injuries.
- Correspondence with the salon or practitioner about the incident.
Another step is to seek legal advice. Rather than face the prospect of constructing a personal injury claim alone, why not see if one of our solicitors could help? Call and discuss beauty treatment claims with our advisor. If it seems solid, they could connect you to a legal expert today.
Solicitors And No Win No Fee Claims
Anyone can launch a compensation claim for personal injury against a negligent third party like a beauty salon. However, finding out whether our skilled solicitors could help first makes good sense.
Our solicitors are experts at supporting claimants right the way through every stage of the claims process. They can help you collect evidence, accurately calculate your losses and secure the maximum amount of compensation for your circumstances. This leaves you free to concentrate on your recovery.
These benefits are also available in a way that avoids upfront or ongoing expenses for a personal injury solicitor’s work on your claim. Our solicitors offer eligible claimants a type of No Win No Fee contract called a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). Typically, this means:
- No immediate fees need to be paid for your solicitor’s services.
- No fees apply for your solicitor’s work as the claim proceeds.
- Unsuccessful beauty treatment claims require no fee to be paid for the solicitor’s finished work.
- A successful claim requires a success fee to be paid to your solicitor. The amount is deducted from the compensation is a small and legally restricted percentage, meaning you always benefit the most.
How Insurers Will Be Involved In Your Claim
Although it is a legal requirement for any business that employs staff to have Employers’ Liability Insurance (EL), salons may also have Public Liability Insurance, (PL). If they have public liability insurance in place, then any claim made against a salon could be settled by their insurance company.
This may require a period of communication between you, the salon’s insurance company and your solicitor if you choose to appoint one. Insurers can contest claims and offer compensatory amounts at any point. You are free to accept or decline their offers.
With this in mind, it can be beneficial to have the expert guidance of a solicitor about when to settle a claim and for how much. If you’d like to see how one could help you, speak to our advisory team about beauty treatment claims on the contact options above.
How Much Compensation Could You Receive?
A successful personal injury claim against a hair salon can result in an award consisting of two categories of loss: general and special damages.
Under the head of loss called general damages, physical pain and any mental health injuries are given a monetary value. To do this, the groups tasked with the calculations might examine any medical evidence submitted.
They also might refer to documents like the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) which lists award guidelines for various injuries based on their type and severity. An example is below, but please remember that these award brackets are guidelines only. Furthermore, the first entry does not derive from the JCG:
JCG Award Guidelines
| Area of Harm | Severity | Award Guidelines | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Multiple severe types of harm and special damages award. | Severe | Up to £500,000 plus. | Severe injuries, more than one and special damages amounts for medical care, lost earnings and long-term treatments. |
| Scarring | (a) Very Severe | £36,340 up to £118,790 | Very disfiguring cosmetic effect and psychological impact on a young person. |
| (b) Less Severe | £21,920 up to £59,090 | Substantial scarring damage and a significant psychological reaction. | |
| (c) Significant | £11,120 up to £36,720 | Plastic surgery minimizes worst impacts and psychological reaction, whilst initially severe, lessens. | |
| (d) Less Significant | £4,820 up to £16,770 | One scar or several small that mar the appearance but do not engender an above average psychological reaction. | |
| (e) Trivial | £2,080 up to £4,310 | Minor effects only. | |
| Psychological Harm | (b) Moderately Severe | £23,270 up to £66,920 | Significant problems coping with work and personal relationships but a long-term outlook is more positive. |
| Skin Conditions/Dermatitis | (a) Both hands | £16,770 up to £23,430 | Cracking and soreness that impacts ability to function normally. |
| Hair | (a) Serious | £8,960 up to £13,450 | Cases of defective waving, tinting or such like causing burning scalp and hair damage/loss as well as acute embarrassment and distress. |
| (b) Less Serious | £4,820 up to £8,960 | Similar to bracket above including cases where bald patches form and length of time taken for regrowth. |
A successful claim against a salon may also include compensation for the financial harm due to the injuries as part of the settlement. Special damages are the head of loss that seeks to reimburse claimants for these financial harms.
It’s necessary to present documented proof of these out-of-pocket amounts. However, you could be able to submit some of the following:
- Payslips that demonstrate how your income dropped or stopped after the injury.
- Tickets and receipts for travel expenses to essential appointments.
- Invoices or receipts for money paid to people who cared for you.
- Proof of over-the-counter medication costs.
- Medical bills for any private treatments.
It is vital to keep hold of anything that proves an incurred cost that was caused an injury in a beauty salon. Take this opportunity to speak to our advisory team for more free help.
Claiming Compensation For Emotional Distress
Psychological distress can accompany an injury to the hair, face or skin. This emotional impact can range from acute embarrassment to a severe response like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), especially if the hair loss or skin condition is permanent. In the JCG excerpt above, you’ll see an entry for psychological harm.
As stated, they are only guide figures but if you suffered a diagnosed mental health problem after the experience at the beauty salon, speak to our team about your entitlement to seek damages in a public liability claim.
If Your Beauty Injury Worsens Over Time
You could also seek long-term compensation for injuries that worsen. Medical evidence is needed to substantiate a claim that the condition will continue or deteriorate further. Also, the predicted impact of future anguish, your ability to function in life as you did before and the costs of long-term treatment can all be taken into account.
Please get in touch with a member from the advisory team if you have any further questions about how compensation could be awarded for beauty treatment claims.
Contact Us
Why not take this opportunity to see what your beauty treatment claim could be worth? In addition to valuing your potential claim, a member of our team can assess whether it is valid and if it seems like you have good grounds to seek compensation, you could be connected to one of our No Win No Fee solicitors.
- To start your claim now please call on 0800 073 8801
- Contact us about your case online.
- Or chat with us now about what happened in the salon using our live chat.
Further Resources
In addition to this guide on beauty treatment claims, these other guides from our website offer further reading on related topics:
- Here is a guide about hair loss after a salon accident.
- Also, read about severe laser hair removal burn claims.
- In addition, read how to claim compensation after an injury at the hairdresser here.
External resources to help:
- This guide from the NHS about cosmetic procedures like a chemical peel.
- Also, advice from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) about standards in beauty salons.
- Lastly, information on Dermatitis from the NHS to help.
In conclusion, thanks for your interest in our guide about beauty treatment claims. If you’d like further assistance with any aspect of your potential personal injury claim, get in touch through the options above.
