HOW TO HIRE · BEAUTY & GROOMING

How to hire a mobile hairdresser in the UK
The checks, the questions and the paperwork.

Mobile hairdressers are not licensed or registered anywhere in the UK. Here is what to check for a home visit, what to ask, and what to do if it goes wrong.

  • Search and compare — no account needed
  • Nearest to you first
  • One score from Google, Trustpilot and Locufy reviews

THE 60-SECOND VERSION

Hiring a mobile hairdresser in five steps

  1. Check cover for home visitsPublic liability insurance that includes working in clients' homes.
  2. Agree the full priceThe cut or colour, the travel charge and any minimum booking, in writing.
  3. Set up the spaceA chair near a sink and a socket, with good light.
  4. Book the skin test for colourA patch test before any colour, with time to spare.
  5. Keep your cancellation rightA home booking can be cancelled within 14 days of making it.

BEFORE YOU BOOK

Check before you book

No register applies

The law in all four UK nations is silent on mobile hairdressers — no licence, no register, no required qualification. A mobile hairdresser's portfolio and insurance do the job a register would.

Ask for their training and three or four photos of their own work, not stock images.

Insurance that covers the haircut at home

Ask the mobile hairdresser about insurance before the haircut at home, not after: policies list the treatments they cover, and anything left off the schedule is not insured.

A photo of the schedule is enough: it should list the haircut at home by name.

Trader status under the Consumer Rights Act 2015

When a mobile hairdresser sells you a haircut at home as a business, the Consumer Rights Act 2015 treats them as a trader who must work with reasonable care and skill; a haircut at home that falls short can be redone or the price cut.

See whether the profile carries the trader badge before you pay, and screenshot what was agreed. legislation.gov.uk →

Cancellation rights for a home booking

A mobile hairdresser booked online, by phone or on your doorstep is covered by the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013: 14 days from booking to cancel, and if you asked for the haircut at home sooner, you pay for what was done.

Ask the mobile hairdresser for their cancellation terms in writing. legislation.gov.uk →

VAT

A cut, colour or blow dry at home from a mobile hairdresser is standard-rated at 20%. A mobile hairdresser over the £90,000 turnover threshold must charge VAT on the visit and show it on the receipt.

Ask whether the mobile hairdresser is VAT-registered and, if so, for the VAT number on the receipt. gov.uk →

“Are you insured to work in clients' homes?”

A good answer: Yes, with the insurer named and home visits covered — the mobile hairdresser can show the schedule.

“What is the travel charge, and is there a minimum?”

A good answer: Figures in the quote, not added on the day by the mobile hairdresser.

“What do you need from me — sink, socket, space?”

A good answer: A clear list, so the mobile hairdresser can set up quickly.

“For colour, when will you do the skin test?”

A good answer: A visit from the mobile hairdresser, or a kit, ahead of the appointment, with a wait before colouring.

“Can you cut several people at one visit?”

A good answer: Yes, with a hairdresser's price for each person and the time it will take.

“Do you protect the floor and clear up?”

A good answer: A sheet down and hair swept up before the mobile hairdresser leaves.

“Can you visit someone housebound or in a care home?”

A good answer: Experience with it, a patient pace and the care home's rules checked first.

Getting the quote right

  • The service per person — cut, colour, blow dry
  • Travel charge and minimum booking
  • Colour products, if charged separately
  • Cancellation terms, including the 14-day right for home bookings
  • Who actually attends: the mobile hairdresser you booked, or a colleague sent instead, and whether that colleague is employed or subcontracted
  • The mobile hairdresser's VAT number if registered, with VAT apart from each person's service and the travel

Walk away if

  • No insurance for home visits
  • Colour without a skin test
  • A travel charge sprung on you at the door
  • Leaving hair and colour stains for you to clear
LOW
£30
TYPICAL
£50
HIGH
£80

What a mobile hairdresser costs: £30–£80 per visit

Mobile hairdressers price per visit and per person, with a travel charge or minimum booking set by distance. Mobile Hairdresser price guide →

Guide prices compiled by the Locufy team from published Irish and UK provider price lists and 2026/27 cost guides. Updated 2026.

KNOW WHAT TO LOOK FOR? NOW FIND ONE

Mobile hairdressers near you, with the badges that matter shown

ID checked, trader status and one score from every review — on the card, before you message anyone. Nearest first. No account needed to look.

Or post the job free and let them come to you.

  1. Arrive and set upSheet down, chair placed by the sink or socket, tools laid out.
  2. ConsultationThe cut or colour agreed; the skin test result confirmed for colour.
  3. Wash or wetHair washed at your sink or sprayed damp for cutting.
  4. Cut and finishCut, dried and styled as agreed.
  5. Clear-upHair swept, surfaces wiped and payment as quoted.

Travel charge
The fee for coming to you.
Minimum booking
The smallest booking a mobile hairdresser travels for.
Dry cut
A cut without a wash; you wash your hair before the visit.
Skin test
A patch test before colour.
Off-premises contract
A contract made away from the trader's premises, with a 14-day cancellation right.
Rough dry
Dried but not styled with a brush.

AFTER

When the job is done

Keep the booking messageThe services, the price and the travel charge.
Check the cut in daylightAnd the back with a hand mirror before the mobile hairdresser leaves.
Check the roomFloor swept and sink clean.
Leave the reviewRate the haircut at home from your Locufy booking once it is finished. If the haircut at home is not right, use the make-it-right step first so the mobile hairdresser can put it right before the review goes up.

STEP 1Tell the mobile hairdresser, in writingGive the mobile hairdresser the chance to fix it: a dated message, photos and the remedy you want. The Consumer Rights Act 2015 standard is reasonable care and skill.
STEP 2Use the make-it-right step on LocufyGive the haircut at home under four stars and we ask whether to send it to the mobile hairdresser first; we follow it through with them, and then you review.
STEP 3No regulator — Trading StandardsNo body licenses a mobile hairdresser, so a haircut at home dispute you cannot settle goes to Trading Standards through the Citizens Advice consumer helpline (0808 223 1133) in England and Wales, Advice Direct Scotland (0808 800 9060) or Consumerline in Northern Ireland (0300 123 6262).
STEP 4Small claims, if it comes to moneyIf the mobile hairdresser will not refund or redo the haircut at home, you can claim without a solicitor: up to £10,000 on the small claims track in England and Wales, up to £5,000 under simple procedure in Scotland, and up to £5,000 in the small claims court in Northern Ireland.

Hiring a mobile hairdresser: questions people ask

No register or licence applies. That puts the checking on you: photos of their work, their training and who insures them.

The mobile hairdresser has to put a poor haircut at home right at their own cost, within a reasonable time, under the Consumer Rights Act 2015; where they cannot, part or all of the price comes back.

£30–£80 per visit, typically around £50. Colour, long hair, travel distance and several people at one address change it. Check the mobile hairdresser price guide for the full picture, then search your town above for mobile hairdressers close by.

You normally get 14 days: the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 cover a haircut at home booked at a distance or away from the trader's premises. Ask for it sooner and you pay for whatever was done.

Yes, with a skin test first and protection for your floor and sink. Ask what products they bring and whether colour is priced separately.

Tell them in writing straight away and ask for their insurer's details; public liability insurance is what covers damage.

MORE GUIDES

More hiring guides in beauty & grooming

How to hire: Blow Dry & StylingHow to hire: Hair ColouringHow to hire: Balayage SpecialistHow to hire: Hair TreatmentsHow to hire: Hair ExtensionsHow to hire: Men's BarberHow to hire: Children's HaircutsHow to hire: Afro & Textured HairAll 701 hiring guides →

Mobile hairdressers near you

Mobile hairdressers in LondonMobile hairdressers in ManchesterMobile hairdressers in BirminghamMobile hairdressers in GlasgowMobile hairdressers in BelfastAll mobile hairdressers on Locufy →

Sources — checked October 2026

  1. gov.uk — tattoo, piercing and electrolysis licence (England and Wales), with London's Special Treatments Licence
  2. Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 49 — reasonable care and skill
  3. Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 54 — your rights when a service falls short
  4. gov.uk — VAT rates
  5. nidirect — small claims process (Northern Ireland)
  6. Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, regulation 30 — cancellation period
  7. GOV.UK — Register for VAT: when to register