How often do people sue for silly reasons

[Emmasam123]

I’m Thinking about starting mobile or home business but what really worries me is being sued. I know if I do something stupid I will. That’s not what I’m worried about I’m worried about the people that try sue because they trip over or I do the treatment good and they try find something wrong. How often this happen I’m so worried I don’t think I even want to start.

 

[BannerPenguin]

It’s a concern but you can’t have it take over every your plans.

if you do everything right, typically you have nothing to worry about.

Insurance will protect you and it’s wise to protect yourself by being a Limited company vs a sole trader.

 

[Ruby S]

Always do full consultation and keep a detailed record card... EVERY time. Aim to build up a loyal, regular customer base rather than deal hunters that generally want something for nothing and in my experience, are more likely to bad mouth you if you don’t offer enough discount. Believe in yourself. If you do your very best every single time you’ll be fine! But importantly, keep record cards and make sure you have valid insurance.

 

[AcidPerm]

... I’m worried about the people that try sue because ... I do the treatment good and they try find something wrong.

As a self employed person, you need to develop a thick skin because there’s always the odd chancer who will feel entitled to get something for nothing and refuse to pay for the service citing some made up non issue. If you know you’ve done a good job, stand your ground and continue to request payment in full. This is more difficult when you’re mobile and in someone else’s house. Thankfully, it doesn’t happen too often and most hairdressers learn to develop a sixth sense for these types of clients.

Simply not liking the finished cut/colour isn’t grounds to sue someone in court so the most you will lose is the cost of the service if they refuse to pay you. You can sue the client for breach of contract but the cost of going to court usually outweighs the loss of revenue and so most hairdressers let it go.

The good news is that there are very few cases in the U.K. where a client has successfully sued their hairdresser.
Obviously if a client trips on a wet slippy floor and breaks a bone, that’s no different to a customer tripping in a shop and suing Tesco.

Generally, they can only sue for mega bucks when the hairdresser has made a serious mistake that has resulted in physical harm to the client, such as using strong bleach on the scalp and causing a weeping scalp or performing a colour without doing a skin test and the client suffers a severe reaction to the colour. A competent hairdresser is unlikely to make these sorts of mistakes and even if you do, your insurer will deal with the complainant.

As @BannerPenguin says, providing you have insurance cover, you really don’t need to worry. We do get the occasional poster on here being threatened with court action. It’s generally hairdressers trying to do work on the side and not bothering to purchase insurance who get into a pickle.

 

[Emmasam123]

Thanks I feel better now. Was always going get insurance, I just ended up reading a few post about people being sued and put me off lol

 

[TheDuchess]

The great thing about insurance is not so much that they pay out if you are negligent, but that they support you and give you advice if you have a client go to a solicitor. As Haircutz says, you’d have to really do something outside your training before any one’s got a legal case against you.

The main issue is clients complaining. Even when they haven’t any reasonable grounds for complaining, it’s still very stressful - especially if you are the conscientious type and your client is one of those unpleasant people.

I remember writing an email to a client early in my self employed career, expressing concern regarding her complaint and she wrote back sarcastically saying something like “Oh really, I doubt you were awake late worrying about it” and actually I had been, it was a good lesson to understand that some people don’t see you as human. You’ll never please people like that, they expect the World to be a perfect place, and it isn’t.

The one thing that I’ve learnt over the years is to say NO when a client starts trying to tell me how to do my job or push me outside my comfort zone. Of course because I’m in the pleasing people business I’m going to say YES to most client requests, so if I’m feeling reluctant to say yes I need to respect myself. I remind myself that I’m not doing favours for my friends but providing a professional service.

If you are clear with your clients and set boundaries it saves an awful lot of heartache.

Clients have a nasty habit of pulling out pictures of how they wanted to look after you’ve finished rather than before you started. I never take this personally, I just say enthusiastically “Oh how lovely, show me that next time and I’ll do my best”.