Who this page is for
This page is for sunbed shops, tanning salons, solarium businesses and beauty premises where sunbed use is a meaningful part of the trading model.
Typical retail profiles
- Sunbed shops, tanning salons and solarium premises.
- Beauty salons offering tanning booths, lie-down sunbeds, stand-up units or related services.
- Retail-led tanning businesses selling lotions, aftercare products and beauty stock alongside treatment services.
- Single-location or multi-room salons relying on specialist electrical equipment and customer booking records.
Why the risk profile differs
- Retail insurance usually changes most when stock values, customer footfall, staffing, cash handling and online sales mix change together.
- The right placement depends on how the premises operate, what is sold, how stock is stored and whether the business also provides services.
- Retailers often need to compare the wider shop insurance page with more specific pages like contents and stock insurance and business interruption insurance before choosing a policy.
- This page is intended to narrow that decision into the exact retail format or cover issue behind the enquiry.
What cover is usually relevant
Tanning salons usually need a shop or salon package with added attention to treatment liability, equipment, premises, public liability, employers' liability, cyber and business interruption.
Cover areas to review
- Public liability and treatment liability where customers use sunbeds, tanning booths or associated salon facilities.
- Employers' liability where staff supervise customers, clean rooms, sell products or manage bookings.
- Contents and equipment cover for sunbeds, booths, timers, ventilation, retail stock, fixtures, tills and fit-out.
- Business interruption, cyber and data cover where equipment damage, premises closure or booking-system disruption could stop trade.
Where the policy can fail if it is too generic
- Stock values and premises improvements are often understated, especially where seasonal peaks or recent refits have changed the loss severity.
- Retail businesses can buy a cheap package and still miss key issues around theft conditions, glass, EPOS reliance, spoilage, service exposure or imported products.
- Mixed retail models often need clearer links between public liability insurance for shops, product liability insurance for retailers and the wider package wording.
- The best structure depends on whether the main risk sits in the shop floor, the stockroom, the staff, the online system or the products being sold.
Key risks insurers look at
Insurers usually look closely at the services offered, customer screening, staff training, equipment maintenance, electrical safety and whether the business is retail-only or treatment-led.
Underwriting focus points
- Types and number of sunbeds or tanning units, equipment values, maintenance records and electrical inspection routines.
- Customer consultation process, age checks, skin-type guidance, session controls, warning notices and record keeping.
- Premises layout, hygiene controls, cleaning routines, ventilation, fire safety and customer footfall.
- Staff numbers, opening hours, retail stock values, booking systems, claims history and business interruption dependency.
What underwriters usually want clarified
- Location, postcode exposure, premises construction, flood profile and any history of burglary, escape of water or malicious damage.
- Maximum stock values, whether high-value or theft-attractive goods are concentrated on site, and whether seasonal uplifts are needed.
- Staffing, opening hours, use of contractors, food handling, treatment exposure, cash handling and whether the business also trades online.
- Security controls, alarms, shutters, CCTV, cash procedures and how quickly the shop could realistically reopen after a major loss.
How to choose cover for a sunbed tanning salon
The strongest tanning salon policies usually treat retail, treatment, equipment and data exposure as connected parts of the same business rather than separate afterthoughts.
Where the buying decision usually shifts
- Whether the policy explicitly reflects sunbed or tanning activity rather than only general beauty retail.
- Whether treatment liability responds to customer allegations linked to burns, overexposure, advice, supervision or contraindications.
- Whether equipment sums insured include sunbeds, timers, ventilation, fit-out and any leased or financed equipment responsibilities.
- Whether business interruption insurance allows for repairs, equipment replacement, electrical checks and lost bookings after an insured event.
Common mistakes tanning salons make
- Buying ordinary shop cover without declaring sunbed, solarium or tanning treatment activity.
- Understating specialist equipment values, leased equipment obligations or fit-out costs.
- Leaving consultation records, age checks, staff training or equipment maintenance out of the underwriting presentation.
- Ignoring cyber and data exposure where customer records, bookings, payments and marketing lists are held digitally.
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