Claire Smith Last Updated On: February 13, 2024

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Get Homeowners Insurance in Arkansas and Protect Your Home

Living in The Natural State can be bliss. With mountains, plains, valleys and rivers surrounding you, it’s easy to love Arkansas. But it’s not so easy to love paying for home insurance.

Whether you’re on the hunt for low cost home insurance or you’re deciding if Arkansas will be your new home sweet home, here’s everything you need to know about homeowners insurance in Arkansas.

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Table of Contents

Arkansas Climate and How It Impacts Home Insurance

Arkansas is a state of weather extremes, and that’s important for homeowners in AR to know. Although generally classified as humid subtropical in its climate, Arkansas has four different seasons and the weather can range from mild to extreme thanks to the combination of plains and mountains. 

The warm air from the Mexico gulf helps keep the state humid and warm, but the cool, dry air coming in from the Rocky Mountains can often result in destructive storms. The competition of cold and warm air moving through the state can lead to freezing rain, but ice storms and regular snow are also a common occurrence.

The spring can be particularly dangerous for homeowners in Arkansas, with flooding and severe thunderstorms a common occurrence. May to October experience humidity and are extremely muggy, which can also wreak havoc in homes. 

And while Arkansas isn’t technically part of Tornado Alley, it still experiences a higher than average rate of tornadoes in the U.S., another danger for homeowners.

Keep reading to find out the home insurance protection that makes sense for Arkansas homeowners.

What Homeowners Insurance in Alaska Includes

Understanding your options for home insurance is key to getting the coverage that you need to protect your house. Home insurance comes with three main buckets of coverage that you can add to or reduce to customize your policy. 

Here’s what’s automatically included in most home insurance policies:

  • Dwelling: This covers the structure of your home, including the roof, walls, foundation, etc. It also usually extends to other structures on your property, like a garage, shed, or deck. 
  • Personal Property: This covers your personal belongings inside the home, including your furniture, clothing, electronics, jewelry, etc. 
  • Personal Liability: This covers your liability for if someone is injured on your property, including any resulting medical bills or legal costs if you’re sued.

Each of these has coverage limits as well; for example, you may have $250,000 in dwelling coverage and $100,000 in liability coverage. 

Your home insurance policy will tell you if you’re covered for only named perils, or if it’s a more generous policy, it’ll only list the excluded perils. 

Commonly included home insurance perils are:

  • Fire and smoke
  • Lightning
  • Windstorms
  • Hail
  • Theft
  • Vandalism
  • Weight of snow, ice, and sleet
  • Water damage
  • Falling objects
  • Explosion
  • Damage from a vehicle or aircraft

You’ll want to be sure to read your policy to ensure you know what it covers. You’ll typically find that earthquakes, flooding, and sinkholes are excluded, as well as any intentional damage by you, neglect, or wear and tear. 

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Additional Home Insurance Coverage in Arkansas

Of course, there’s more coverage that you can add to your policy to feel even more protected. Some optional add-ons to your home insurance policy (referred to as riders) include:

  • Flood Insurance: Many homeowners don’t realize that flooding is often excluded in their home insurance policy, especially if they live in a state prone to flooding. Adding this on will cost you extra, but it can be worth the peace of mind given the amount of damage flooding can cause. 
  • Earthquake Insurance: You might not immediately think of Arkansas as prone to earthquakes, but they can and do happen in this southern state. Earthquakes aren’t typically included in standard homeowners insurance policies, but they can wreak havoc on your home and property. 
  • Water Backup Coverage: Most insurance policies don’t cover water backing up from a drain or sump pump, and it can cause major damage to a home. Adding this coverage can help protect you from something you can’t always control. 
  • Scheduled Personal Property Coverage: Your home insurance policy covers your belongings, but only up to certain dollar limits. If you’ve collected any jewelry, electronics, art, or other pricey items, you should consider adding this rider to your policy to help cover their actual value. Read more about home insurance and jewelry here.
    • Fun fact: Arkansas is the only U.S. state that currently mines diamonds, so if you want to protect your precious gems, you need home insurance.

The list doesn’t end there. Each insurance provider may offer different riders, so you can shop around and customize your home insurance policy to what you actually need.

Is Home Insurance in Arkansas Required?

Owning a home can be a big responsibility, but there’s no law in Arkansas that requires you to have home insurance in order to own a home.

However, if you have a mortgage, your mortgage terms may require you to have home insurance in order to help protect the lender.

The Average Cost of Homeowners Insurance in Arkansas

Whether you’re looking to buy in Arkansas or you’re shopping around for home insurance, it helps to know what you should expect to pay. The truth is that Arkansas has higher than average home insurance costs, and it’s partly due to the fact that the state experiences weather extremes that lead to more claims.

To put a number on it, the average cost of home insurance in Arkansa is $2,142 per year for $250,000 in dwelling coverage. In comparison, the national average is just $1,312.

While Arkansas does have more expensive rates by default, there are things you can do to lower your rates (more on that next). Of course, your actual quotes will depend on a number of factors like your location, the age of your home, if you have higher risks like a swimming pool or an old wood stove, and more.

How to Find Cheap Homeowners Insurance in Arkansas

Owning and maintaining a home can be costly, but having home insurance shouldn’t make or break your budget. You can find affordable home insurance that gives you the coverage you need by following a few simple tips. 

These include:

  • Ask for Discounts: Every insurance provider offers discounts in order to attract more customers. By taking advantage of any discounts you’re eligible for, you can shave 5-30% off of your home insurance premiums. Common discounts include:
    • Loyal customer
    • Multi-policy
    • New customer
    • Claims free
    • And more
  • Shop Around: Arguably one of the best things you can do for your wallet is to shop around for insurance. A little bit of time can save you a ton of money in the long run. Get multiple quotes, compare coverage, and save—it’s that easy.
  • Review Your Coverage: Maybe you have more coverage than you need, or maybe you’re paying more for high-risk items that you don’t even use (looking at you, trampoline!). Taking a look at your policy helps you trim the fat and save. 

Affordable home insurance in Arkansas isn’t an urban myth. It’s out there, and you deserve to find it. Start by getting access to free quotes here

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Get a Homeowners Insurance Quote in Arkansas

Ready to find affordable home insurance? It couldn’t be easier. Start by browsing quotes online or by contacting your insurance agent. Knowing what you need will help speed things up, and it helps to have the following info handy:

  • Your address, size and age of the home
  • Occupants
  • Previous insurance
  • Claims history 
  • An inventory of high value items 

Including as much information as you can will help you get an accurate quote that you can then compare against other quotes and review your coverage options. Now, all you need to do is choose a policy, sign on the dotted line, and enjoy peace of mind that comes with knowing your biggest investment is well protected.

Let’s get started. Click here for access to free quotes fast, and get ready to save.

Claire Smith Claire is a creative entrepreneur with a variety of marketing and content creation skills, including blog and web copy writing, research, and strategy. She has a Masters in Cultural Studies from Queen's University and is known for thinking laterally about marketing, based on her deep knowledge of people and behavior.

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