Who asks a mobile beauty service for what
| Who | What they usually want to see |
|---|---|
| Event venues & caterers' clients | General liability naming the venue, and liquor liability where you pour |
| Enterprise clients & vendor onboarding | General liability, professional or cyber liability, workers' compensation and often an umbrella |
| Landlords & commercial leases | General liability with the landlord as additional insured, property coverage on tenant improvements and workers' compensation |
Each of them wants a certificate, and most want it again at every renewal. A live certificate link from the wallet shows today's coverage to every holder and tells them when it changes.
How to check what you already have
- General liability declarations page. Three liability numbers matter: each occurrence, general aggregate and the products–completed operations aggregate. Then the forms list: blanket additional insured, waiver of subrogation and primary and non-contributory wording satisfy every contract; scheduled forms satisfy one.
- Professional liability declarations. Claims-made or occurrence, the retroactive date (it should not have moved), the limit per claim and aggregate, the deductible, and whether defence costs sit inside or outside the limit.
- Hired and non-owned auto. Look for the symbols 8 and 9 or an endorsement by that name on the auto or general liability policy; without it, staff in their own cars are uninsured on company business.
- Equipment schedule. Owned items scheduled above the per-item threshold, a blanket limit for small tools, leased or rented equipment included, and the valuation (replacement cost or actual cash value).
- Workers' compensation information page. Item 3.A must list every state you work in, item 4 must carry the right class codes, and the employers' liability limits should meet what contracts ask. Check that the estimated payroll is close to this year's.
- Bonds. The obligee (board, municipality or owner), the penal sum and the expiry date; a bond is renewed with the licence or the job, not with the policy year.
- Special events coverage. Whether the annual policy already covers your events or each needs a separate policy, and the additional-insured wording venues ask for.
- Auto schedule. Every vehicle listed with the right garaging address and use; symbols that include hired and non-owned auto; physical damage with the lender as loss payee where the vehicle is financed.
What usually goes wrong for mobile beauty services
- Working from a car with no hired and non-owned auto and a kit uninsured in the trunk.
- Services performed in a state where the licence does not transfer.
- Booth renters assumed to be covered by the owner's policy; each needs their own or an endorsement.
- Damage to the exact thing you are working on is excluded on most general liability forms; installation floaters and care, custody and control endorsements fill that hole.
- A licence renewal that lapses because the board's certificate request landed in the wrong inbox.
- Every venue wanting its own certificate with different wording, on a deadline.
What underwriters will ask a mobile beauty service
- Events and clients per month, states worked in, kit value, and how the business travels
- Services offered, products used and whether any device-based treatments are done
- Licence status of every practitioner and whether chairs or rooms are rented
- Residential versus commercial split of the work
- Whether any work is done above three stories or below grade
- Licence numbers and the states they cover
Have the answers in the wallet before the renewal and the quote request fills itself in; CoverMatch sends one application to every eligible carrier and lines the quotes up against what you have.
Renewal timing
Audits at year end compare payroll, receipts and subcontractor costs with the estimate, so keep the wallet's size figures and the subcontractor certificates current. Start comparing sixty days before expiration, and ask for the limits the next contract will need rather than the ones the last one did.