The beauty salon industry or sector has been thriving for decades, and most – if not all – of us regularly visit a hair salon or treatment centre to get various hair treatments, whether it’s a simple haircut, a tinting or dyeing procedure, a perm, and so on. But when your visit to the hair salon turns into a disaster because of an accident, which isn’t your fault, and you have become injured because of it, you may be eligible to seek compensation. Hair damage can range from hair loss to a burnt scalp and other serious or minor injuries. If your hair injury has affected your self-esteem and your professional outlook, this may certainly merit compensation as well. But how can you make sure your claim is successful? Here’s how to file a proper claim: your top questions on claims for injury and damage answered.
Are you eligible?
The first question you are apparently asking yourself is whether or not you are eligible to file a claim. But if you have suffered hair damage because of an accident at the hair salon or hairdresser that was not your fault or because of the negligence of a supposedly skilled professional, then you can seek compensation. This is particularly true if the professional used faulty products or equipment or failed to carry out their duties in the proper way.
You would also be eligible to make a hair damage claim if your injury occurred within the last three years and if the person who caused your accident and injury owed you a special ‘duty of care’, as is the case with hairstylists, technicians, and so on.
The cause of damage
Different types of injuries fall under hair damage claims, and these include balding or hair loss, burnt scalp or hair, patches on the scalp, brittle hair, dermatitis of the scalp, and more. If your hair damage has also resulted in psychological trauma – if you had long hair and it was cut short by the stylist without your consent, for instance, or if a chemical product or bleach resulted in your hair falling out, resulting in baldness – you can seek compensation for these as well.
The two kinds of compensation for hair damage
There are two major kinds of compensation that you can get with hair damage claims, as follows:
• Suffering and pain due to the injury
You may seek compensation and file a claim for the suffering and pain you have gone through because of your hair damage injury. You have to go through a medical exam, where the physician will record your injury and create a report. The report will have to include details of the extent or severity of your injury and the hair damage, and it should indicate the length of time you are expected to heal or recover. With this, the solicitor should figure out how much compensation you should receive.
• Financial expenses and losses
You can too seek compensation for loss of income and expenses, especially if you had to take time off from your work and get treated. This will also include your transportation expenses for hospital or doctor visits.
Your compensation for your financial expenses and losses can also depend on the industry where you work. For example, if you are a model and your hair loss has affected your outlook and career, then you can ask for additional compensation for this as well.