Business insurance is essential to the successful and confident operation of all beauticians but for one, Wolverhampton’s 51-year-old Deborah Mitchell, the value of having effective cover in place could hardly be clearer.
Mitchell, who is the founder of the internationally renowned Heaven Skincare, is reported to have obtained business insurance for her own hands; and the value of this cover? A whopping £15 million.
In some ways it can be said that Mitchell is just an ordinary beautician who provides a range of appearance and confidence enhancing treatments to her clients. What cannot be argued however is that she is an extraordinarily successful one: her clients include the Duchess of Cambridge, the Duchess of Cornwall, Tess Daly, Danni Minogue and Duran Duran.
It’s also safe to say that if you ever do happen to visit Mitchell’s salon for a beauty treatment, don’t expect her to make you a cup of tea or open the door for you.
This is because her £15 million beautician’s business insurance policy stipulates that she must take extra steps to protect her hands. This means that she risks invalidating her policy if she performs potentially hazardous acts such as using a kettle or opening a door.
And if you strike up a friendship while having your nails done and end up inviting Mitchell over for dinner, don’t be offended if she doesn’t take her gloves off over the course of your meal; under the terms of the business insurance policy covering her hands, she is obliged to use silk gloves when handling cutlery.
The insurance policy also forbids Mitchell from performing any work in the garden which might injure her hands, for example coming into contact with plant thorns, unless she uses extra tools and appliances along with garden gloves, so beautifying her garden is also something which needs careful consideration.
In a way, though, there is nothing that unusual about Mitchell’s business insurance requirements: her policy has been made to measure, that’s all.
As she told the Daily Mail, “It might sound strange to some but it actually makes good business sense for me. I fly all over the world treating celebrities and royalty. This would not be possible if I damaged my hands, even with a small paper cut as I could not treat anyone until it healed.
“Without my hands, I would not be able to earn a living and make my clients beautiful – and that isn’t an option for me.”