Legal requirements as a mobile hairdresser?

[LizzieB]

Hello

I qualified as a hairdresser in Canada many years ago. I worked as a hairdresser in Canada for several years and when I moved back to U.K. (I am English born just raised in Canada) I worked as a barber in a top barbershop. I am now looking to start up mobile. I don't want to do any colours or other services , just see if I can start something for men's/children's cuts at their home. Over the years I seem to have lost my offical paperwork from Canada to say I have qualified as a hairdresser. Do I need to have this in order to work cutting hair? It would be a nightmare to source the information from Canada. Is there any legal requirement to prove you are qualified to cut people's hair? I do want to do this the "proper" way and register with HMRC etc but if anyone asked me to produce a licence I would be stuffed. Any advice welcome.

 

[Jessiestyle]

Im guessing you will need paperwork for your insurance

 

[AcidPerm]

Ordinarily, you don’t have to hold any qualifications to set up as a mobile hairdresser but you will struggle to obtain insurance without physical evidence of qualifications.
Bizarrely, you don’t have to purchase public liability insurance but if someone tries to sue you, you won’t get any assistance to fight the case. Do be aware that some clients will take advantage if they realise that you’re not ‘qualified’ and insured.

Can you not try to track down duplicate paperwork via your original college?

 

[LizzieB]

Ordinarily, you don’t have to hold any qualifications to set up as a mobile hairdresser but you will struggle to obtain insurance without physical evidence of qualifications.
Bizarrely, you don’t have to purchase public liability insurance but if someone tries to sue you, you won’t get any assistance to fight the case. Do be aware that some clients will take advantage if they realise that you’re not ‘qualified’ and insured.

Can you not try to track down duplicate paperwork via your original college?

Thank you for this information, I appreciate it. I am hoping by not providing chemical services my risk would be reduced, but I appreciate that something as seemingly innocuous as tripping over a hairdryer cable can be a litigious thing these days and like you say-there are a few bad apples out there! So I would prefer to be insured. I'm going to try get in touch with the college in Canada but this was back in 2003 and I know they have changed hands/names several times since No chance in finding the originals-I think it got lost when my parents divorced and my dad seems to think he may have accidentally disposed of it not realising what is was!

I've actually considered whether I could do something to get an equivalent qualification here in the U.K. But I'm not sure I can short of retraining from the beginning again, which I am not prepared to do!!

 

[AcidPerm]

I don’t know anything about the Canadian system but in the U.K. and parts of Europe, hairdressing training courses are governed by a few national bodies, usually City & Guilds or VTCT. (There are others but these 2 are the main operators.)
This means that you can contact the Awarding body directly, giving your college and course details etc. and you can usually purchase a duplicate certificate for around £50. They keep the records going back many years.
(When I used to work in a University, I could look up degree info. from students back to the early 1900’s!)

I recommend you start by contacting the college and ask to speak to someone responsible for either student records or student awards. Hopefully, they’ll have a member of staff who can help advise you.