Total Tattoo – August 2019

From our panellists, we discovered

that the average cost of such

cover is around £440 per artist.

Although more affordable if

broken down into monthly

payments, this can still be a major

outlay, so it's not surprising that

many tattooists (or new studios)

choose not to bother. As one of

our insurance professionals

acknowledges, “Sadly, we find a

lot of tattooists live hand-to-mouth

and struggle to pay for insurance.

Bottom line, if a studio is only

charging its customers £70 or £80

per hour, this isn't really enough

to cover rent and rates, wages,

supplies, etc. Compare that to

what solicitors and accountants, or

even motor mechanics, charge!”

In the UK, the first public liability

insurances for general trade risks

were written shortly after the

enactment of the Employers'

Liability Act in 1880 – which

simultaneously created a demand

for wider cover, since accidents in

the workplace could also cause

injury to persons other than

employees, such as visitors or

passers-by. Recently, thanks in

part to Conditional Fee

Agreements (no-win no-fee deals),

the idea of taking a business to

court has become far less

daunting than it used to be.

Chances are you will have

heard of some high profile

cases, but in reality they are

rare. Such a claim could mean

the death of a small business

though, so it is important to

have appropriate protection.

As with body art, good

products ain’t cheap and

cheap products ain’t good. It’s

somewhat tempting to skip on

the 'minor' details for the sake

of saving a few quid. But when

it comes to insurance, you

need to make sure you’re

covered.

The main problem is when

artists assume they’re covered

under a general studio policy.

but it is expected that all

tattooists work from a studio

and require “mobile” cover if

they work away (such as at a

different studio to the one they

told their insurers about).

Another huge issue is whether

tattooists have treatment cover

(for such problems as

infections and wrong designs).

Many have only public liability

insurance, which won’t cover

for this. This treatment cover

would also cover other

procedures such as cosmetic

tattooing, laser removal and

One company told us piercing.

that insurance quotes

for tattoo studio

start-ups have more

than doubled over

recent years.

£440

THE AVERAGE COST

OF INSURANCE

Laser removal

and infections

The most current

and common

liability claim

against a tattoo

studio