A trip to the hairdresser should be a relaxing and enjoyable experience. Unfortunately this is not always the case and, if your hairdresser causes damage to your hair or scalp as a result of negligence, you may be able to claim compensation.

I have been helping clients bring successful claims against their hairdressers for many years and below are some of the things that can go wrong:

  • The most common is damage caused by bleach. This is a very harmful chemical, and hairdressers often forget how damaging it can be when they use it all of the time. If bleach is overlapped, ie, applied to previously bleached hair, this can gradually weaken the hair causing it to snap off. This can happen if you attend the hairdresser regularly to have your roots touched up or it can happen if bleach highlights throughout the lengths of the hair are being refreshed.

  • Relaxer / straightening treatments – any procedure which involves chemically straightening the hair involves the use of strong chemicals which if not applied properly can cause severe damage to the hair.

  • Extensions – the fitting of extensions is a real skill and if not done correctly can result in the natural hair being put under too much pressure which causes it to fall out at the root causing a form of alopecia.

  • Perms – again this is another common process which involves the use of dangerous chemicals. There are careful procedures to be followed to ensure that the perm is applied safely and if the hairdresser gets this wrong the hair can be damaged.

  • Burns to the scalp – sometimes the use of chemicals can cause burns to the scalp as well as damage to the hair. Fortunately, these are usually short lived causing no long lasting harm but I have experience of burns being so severe that the hair follicles were permanently damaged causing bald patches.

  • Allergic reactions – again a reaction to a product is usually temporary but sometimes the damage can be very painful and take a long time to heal. These reactions should be avoided by the hairdresser carrying out proper testing before performing the treatment, but many don’t bother which is a breach of the manufacturers’ guidelines.

If you think you have suffered damage as a result of your hairdresser being negligent please get in touch with our hair damage claim experts at Farleys on 0845 287 0939. Alternatively, you can complete our online contact form and a member of the team will get in touch with you, or use the online chat below.