Business Insurance

Since 1962, Barnes Insurance Agency has provided the communities of Sevier County and the surrounding areas with the kind of attentive service and depth of insurance expertise that businesses rely on to help protect their hard work. We do this through our strong, longstanding relationships with our clients and the insurers with which we partner, and through the comprehensive, customized programs we put in place.

Insuring Your Business Is Our Focus.

When you do business with us, we get to know your operation and the people that make it run. This enables us to fully understand the insurance protection you need to safeguard against liability and property damage risks and complex management, professional, cyber, product, pollution, and employee liability claims. Our team of seasoned and talented professionals will gain a full understanding of your firm’s philosophy and goals, assess your daily operations and its inherent exposures, and determine if there are any coverage gaps or overlaps in your current program. Based on our evaluation, we’ll implement an insurance strategy that addresses your goals and protects your company assets today and tomorrow.

Our portfolio of insurance coverage solutions includes, but is not limited, to:

Business Automobile
Business Interruption Insurance
Commercial Package Policies
Crime
Cyber Liability
Directors & Officers Insurance
Employment Practices Liability
Equipment Breakdown
Errors & Omissions
Liability Insurance
Ocean Marine
Pollution Liability
Property Insurance
Surety Bonds
Umbrella Insurance
Workers Compensation

Compliance With eBen Concepts

Employee Benefits and Human Resources rules and regulations are rapidly changing. Fines and Fees can be substantial when an employer is found not to be in compliance. It is more important now than ever for employers to partner with an Agency that can provide services to help them stay in compliance. Barnes Insurance works with Eben Concepts, a leader in employee benefits and human resources compliance operating in ten states. This allows Barnes Insurance Agency to provide competitive employee benefits while making available quality, accurate, and complete compliance services. This provides a complete service environment for our customers.

Key Industries

We also specialize in certain key industries, including Municipalities, Overnight Rentals, Equine/Farm, and Hotels/Motels, among others. Our years of experience and unparalleled expertise, coupled with specialty programs for these and other niche markets, allow us to provide competitive solutions to our clients.

Group Insurance

At Barnes Insurance Agency, we also offer our business clients a wide range of Group insurance coverages, including Buy-Sell Life, Disability, Health, Key Person Life, and Voluntary Benefits.

Group Benefits

With the high cost of employee benefits today, employers need help managing the costs and structure of their benefit plans more than ever. The changing environment of employee benefits legislation creates a difficult landscape through which employers must navigate. With over forty-five combined years of experience in the Employee Benefits Department, Barnes Insurance Agency offers a full spectrum of employee benefit plans that specifically address the needs of their clients.

We work with employers to tailor fit benefit programs to meet their specific needs. Michael C Fox, CLU has more than forty years of experience working exclusively with employers to develop and implement highly efficient and cost-effective employee benefits plans to fit the individual needs of their clients. He has an extensive background in group health insurance, working with both Fully Insured plans as well as Self-Funded medical plans.

Barnes Insurance has excellent relationships with the insurance carriers and Third-Party Administrators allowing for smooth, efficient, and cost-effective solutions for their clients. We represent your needs to the available markets, always keeping your best interests first and foremost.

Employers may also want to allow employees to purchase voluntary insurance products using the buying power of the employer and the convenience of payroll deductions. Ancillary and voluntary benefits are also popular with employers. These types of benefits provide coverage for employees’ types of coverage that can only be obtained through an employer at group pricing. They include:

Group Life and Accidental Death & Dismemberment
Group Short Term Disability
Group Long Term Disability
Group Dental
Group Vision
Voluntary Life and Accidental Death & Dismemberment
Voluntary Short Term Disability
Voluntary Long Term Disability
Voluntary Dental
Voluntary Vision
Work Site Products

We will help put together sound employee benefit options.

Employee Benefits, which is comprised of group health insurance as well as various other types of Group insurance products, is a front-and-center issue today. Employers are looking for benefit options that will serve to attract and retain talent while also balancing costs and eliminating cost drivers. At the same time, due to ever changing healthcare reform, small and large businesses are increasingly turning to employee benefits professionals to help them navigate through the new provisions and how it impacts them and their employees.

We offer a wide array of Employee Benefits products designed to help employees with their medical care and income and businesses with their employee relations and continuity plans. We will help you determine what is best for your organization as it pertains to the changing healthcare environment. Our products include:

Fully Insured Group Health Insurance
Group Self-Funded Health Insurance
Group Long Term Disability Insurance
Group Short Term Disability
Group Dental: Both Fully Insured and Self -Funded plans
Group Vision: Both Fully Insured and Self -Funded plans
Group Voluntary Life for Employees and their Dependents
Worksite Critical Illness
Worksite Accident
Worksite Hospital Indemnity

General Liability & Property Insurance

The fundamentals of any sound insurance program is making sure you have the proper General Liability and Property coverages in place. As basic as this may appear, there are many factors that go into ensuring that you have the right policy limits, provisions and enhancements protecting the various exposures that your business operation faces.

A proper review means proper coverage.

At Barnes Insurance Agency, we have the expertise needed to properly review an operation, pinpoint exposures depending on the products and services offered, and implement a General Liability and Property insurance strategy that’s designed to protect against these risks. We will also determine whether your operation is suited for a Business Owners Policy (BOP) or a Commercial Package Policy, where coverages are bundled and customized depending on the industry.

We’ve got you covered with our liability and property insurance policies

When it comes to your liability risks, we will conduct an inspection of your premises to identify any hidden exposures. We’ll analyze your prior loss history to determine where you can improve your safety practices and stem claims. Our staff will also review your contractual agreements to determine if you have any exposures resulting from these agreements. What’s more, we’ll review your coverage to determine if there are any gaps or overlaps, which could leave you unexpectedly exposed or paying for coverage you may not need. You will receive our recommendations, including whether your policy limits should be adjusted or coverage broadened, and whether you need any additional endorsements or standalone liability policies to ensure you have an insurance program that’s in sync with your specific risks. This could mean adding Directors & Officers Liability, Errors & Omissions, Employment Practices Liability, and Cyber Liability coverage.

Management Liability Insurance

All businesses today need the protection of Management and Professional Liability insurance. Since 1962, Barnes Insurance Agency has been providing businesses with solutions that protect clients from financial losses caused by mistakes and faulty employment practices and emerging issues such as data breaches, network security and privacy.

Coverages we offer.

Good employees are the backbone of a business, and in most companies there are best practices in place for employee relations. But, disputes can still arise and when those things happen, employees may allege wrongdoing on the part of the organization and seek compensation or damages. Our Employment Practices Liability Insurance policy (EPLI) can help your business avoid deep financial losses from claims alleging discrimination, sexual harassment, wrongful termination and other issues. EPLI will pay for defense costs and indemnification in the event you are found liable.

We also offer Directors and Officers Liability (D&O) insurance that protects both the organization and individual executives from claims that they have failed in their duties to the business or shareholders. For those in your organization who deal with the funds of employees, we can provide Fiduciary Liability coverage. If you offer employee savings or retirement plans, this is a particularly important product.

Almost all organizations store personal data on employees or clients and communicate with individuals and other businesses via computer. If your cyber security is breached or your business transmits malicious code and causes financial losses to someone, you could be held liable for those costs. A Cyber Liability insurance policy can help pay those damages and other expenses, such as those associated with notification and legal defense.

Protect your firm from all types of liability risks.

For professional firms, there are additional concerns since clients entrust themselves to your professional expertise. If you fail them through error or omission, they could file a professional liability or malpractice claim against you. Attorneys, real estate agents, property managers, consultants, doctors, dentists, contractors who are involved in design/build services and others are just some of the professionals who will benefit from a Professional Liability insurance policy. Our staff has the experience to secure a policy that is designed for your profession and the services you provide.

Workers Compensation Insurance

Workers Compensation, which represents a significant cost for all businesses across all industries, is undergoing some major reforms in many states throughout our country, with Tennessee no exception. In fact, in May of 2013, legislation was passed designed to streamline the Workers Comp system by speeding benefits to injured workers and making Tennessee more attractive to insurers and employers. The new law creates an administrative claims handling process in which Workers Compensation experts solely adjudicate claims. It also creates a new ombudsman to help unrepresented injured employees and employers navigate the Workers Compensation system. What’s more, the legislation establishes medical treatment guidelines and provides a clearer standard to determine to what degree an injured worker’s medical condition may have contributed to the cause of an on-the-job injury.

Identifying possible cost drivers.

At Barnes Insurance Agency, we keep our business insureds updated on any legislation that can affect their Workers Compensation program. We also work with our clients to keep their Workers Compensation premiums under control by performing due diligence of their operations to uncover opportunities for reducing costs. We’ll review each of your business operations and the specific activities of each group of employees to make sure workers are properly classified as this affects the premiums paid. Our staff will also conduct a review of all documents, including your current insurance policies, your experience modification worksheet, payroll audits, and loss-sensitive rating adjustments, to see where we can make improvements and where there have been problems or miscalculations.

Securing protection for on-the-job employee injuries and accidents.

Our carrier partners can also assist you in controlling costs by investigating accidents right away and vetting out fraud, evaluating accident history, establishing an employee communication program, developing a safety program, implementing a return-to-work program, and more.

Contractors Insurance

Barnes Insurance Agency is proud to provide insurance protection to contractors and the various artisans that make up this industry. We provide Property, Liability and Workers Compensation insurance that meets the specific needs of plumbers, electricians, HVAC installers and servicers, masons, landscapers and other contractors.

Our coverages.

Our General Liability insurance for contractors can be enhanced with additional protection, including Pollution Liability, Employment Practices Liability, and Hired/Non-Owned Auto Liability. You may also be interested in an Errors and Omissions Insurance policy (E&O) if you participate in the design phase of any projects. If you need to expand your Liability coverage beyond what’s offered in your primary policies, we have a Commercial Umbrella policy that can do the job.

Our Property insurance covers your buildings and out-structures as well as your business property—both on premises and off. We can also insure your Business Autos. Most contractors also need coverage for their mobile equipment and portable tools, as well as items they store off premises or leave at a project site while awaiting installation. We can also provide you with Equipment Breakdown to insure against mechanical failure-related costs.

Going beyond insurance.

Most contractors at some point have insurance mandates placed into a project contract and need help understanding the implications for their own coverage. Our staff can help you with the insurance requirements, as well as providing certificates of insurance and other information that will help you participate in a project run by an outside company.

On and off the job site, count on Barnes Insurance Agency.

We can also write your Workers Compensation insurance and help you classify workers properly to keep your premiums affordable. And, we can provide you with the Surety Bonds you need.

Bonds by Barnes Insurance Agency

Bonds are not only important for contractors and municipalities, but are often critical in providing a financial guarantee that you can and will meet your commitments to clients. Barnes Insurance Agency offers a broad range of Surety Bonds that will provide that financial backup and safeguard your clients should you be unable to meet your contracted responsibilities.

We operate in multi-states in addition to Tennessee and are able to meet local requirements across the regions we serve. Our portfolio of bonds includes:

Contract Bonds (bid, performance, payment, etc.)
Site Performance Bonds (new developments, individual lots)
Miscellaneous Bonds (license, permit, street opening, court, etc.)
Commercial Surety Bonds (license & permit bonds)
Notary Bonds

We can take care of your bond needs.

We also offer ERISA bonds for those handling your employee benefit plans, and Fidelity bonds to cover named employees for dishonesty, theft and other financial crimes. Our staff will work with you to determine your qualifications for a bond and will help you find what you need at the best price with top-rated surety companies.