Declined is a fixable problem. The wrong form isn't.
If a carrier has just non-renewed your house, two things are true and only one of them gets explained. The first is that whatever caused it is usually temporary. The second is that the replacement policy you're offered may be a fundamentally different contract from the one you had — and the letters on it, HO3 or DP3 or DP1, tell you which. Here's what pushes a property out of the standard market, what you're actually being handed instead, and the way back.
The short answer
Aegis writes property only — homeowners, dwelling fire, renters, condo, hard-to-place property, earthquake, difference in conditions, and equipment breakdown. It's where a house goes when the standard market declines it, usually over roof age, the age or construction of the home, a vacancy, prior claims, or protection class. The thing to ask about is the form: an HO3 and a DP3 cover the dwelling on an open-peril basis, while a DP1 covers a short named list of perils and commonly settles at actual cash value. Most placements here are temporary, and we re-shop when the reason clears.
Six reasons a house gets declined.
Almost always about the property rather than about you — and worth identifying precisely, because most of these have an expiry date.
Roof age or material
The single biggest driver in this market. Past a certain age, or with certain materials, standard carriers stop writing regardless of condition. It's also the most fixable item on this list.
Older homes and unusual construction
Knob-and-tube or aluminum wiring, older plumbing, a fuse panel, log or non-standard construction. Often less about risk than about how a carrier's model classifies the house.
Vacancy
A house empty during a renovation, an estate, or a slow sale. Vacancy changes the risk profile sharply and it's the reason a policy most often gets non-renewed mid-project rather than at a natural point.
Prior claims at the address
Loss history follows the property, not just the owner. Two hail claims and a water loss in a few years can put a house out even if you weren't the one who filed them.
Protection class and distance
How far the house sits from a fire department and a hydrant. Rural properties across Benton and Washington counties run into this constantly, and nothing about the house itself can change it.
Value at the top or bottom
A low-value dwelling or a high-value home can both fall outside a standard carrier's target band. It's an appetite question rather than a quality one.
Worth knowing: appetites move even when your house doesn't. A property that was perfectly acceptable three years ago can become unacceptable because a carrier pulled back from a whole class of risk after a bad storm season. That isn't a judgment about your home and it isn't permanent. Ask us which specific reason applies to you — it's the difference between "we'll fix this in eighteen months" and "this is where the house lives now."
Three letters and a number decide everything.
When a house moves to a specialty market, the replacement policy is frequently a different kind of contract — not just a more expensive version of the old one. This is the question to ask.
HO3 — the standard homeowners form
What most owner-occupied houses carry. The dwelling is covered on an open-peril basis: everything is covered except what's specifically excluded. It's the broadest of the three and the one people assume they have.
DP3 — the broad dwelling fire form
A dwelling fire policy that also covers the structure on an open-peril basis. Common on rentals and on non-standard risks. Structured differently from an HO3 in what it includes beyond the building, but the dwelling coverage is broad.
DP1 — the basic form
Fundamentally different. It covers a short named list of perils rather than everything not excluded — if the cause of loss isn't on the list, there's no coverage. It also commonly settles at actual cash value rather than replacement cost, meaning depreciation comes off the payment.
Two policies at a similar premium can behave completely differently at a claim, entirely because of this. Somebody moving from an HO3 to a DP1 has changed contracts twice over — from open-peril to named-peril, and from replacement cost to depreciated value — and has usually been told only that the price went up. Ask, in these words: which form is this, is the dwelling open-peril or named-peril, and does it settle at replacement cost or actual cash value? We answer all three before you bind, every time.
Ask about the roof language separately. Arkansas has specific rules about how roof claims settle in the admitted market — we've written them up on our Acuity home page. Whether those same rules reach a policy written on non-admitted paper is a genuinely different question, because surplus lines forms aren't filed for approval in the same way admitted forms are. We're not going to assert an answer here that we haven't confirmed. Ask us which rules attach to the specific form you're being offered, and we'll tell you plainly rather than guess.
Renters, condo, and the three catastrophe pieces.
Renters & condo
Contents and liability for a tenant, and walls-in coverage for a condo owner where the association's master policy stops. The same specialty logic applies — these are the placements for buildings or situations a standard carrier won't take.
Stand-alone earthquake
Excluded from every standard homeowners form without exception. In this state it's a real conversation rather than a formality, because Arkansas sits near enough to the New Madrid seismic zone for it to matter.
Difference in conditions & equipment breakdown
Difference in conditions fills gaps a standard property policy leaves rather than replacing it. Equipment breakdown covers mechanical and electrical failure of systems the property form treats as maintenance. Both are gap-fillers, and both are easy to not know you're missing.
What isn't here: auto, and business liability. Aegis writes property and only property, so it's never the whole answer for a household or a business. Flood is excluded from property forms generally and needs its own policy. We use this market for the property piece and place everything else with one of our other 40-plus carriers — an ordinary way to build an account, and worth saying out loud so nobody assumes more is covered than is.
Most placements here should be temporary.
A roof gets replaced and the roof-age problem disappears. Claims age off the loss history. A vacancy ends when someone moves in. A wiring or panel update changes how the house is classified.
None of that happens on a schedule anyone tells you about — which is exactly the trap. A policy placed here can quietly renew in the specialty market for years after the reason for it has gone.
This is the single most valuable thing an independent agency does for a specialty property account. We record what put your house here, and we re-shop it against our standard carriers when the reason clears. Not at some vague future review — at the specific point the roof is replaced or the claim ages off. No carrier will tell you that you've become an ordinary risk again, because no carrier has any reason to.
And the honest framing while you're here: for a house that's been declined, the comparison isn't this coverage against a standard policy — that policy isn't available to you. It's this against no coverage at all, and against a mortgage servicer force-placing something narrower and considerably more expensive. Narrower terms are the price of a market that will take the property at all. What we insist on is that you know exactly what you're getting first.
Why there's no range on this page.
Our other carrier pages publish cross-market planning bands. Those describe standard-market, owner-occupied policies, and printing one here would set an expectation this quote couldn't meet. What drives yours: the construction type and age of the property, roof age and material, protection class and distance to a fire department, how the property is occupied, prior claims, the form and deductibles selected, and which program the risk fits. Coverage placed in the surplus lines market also carries taxes and fees that an admitted policy doesn't. This is a description of how the coverage is rated, not a quote and not a guarantee. Tell us what makes the property difficult and we'll put a real figure in front of you.
Where the rest of this sits.
Aegis property insurance questions.
Why did my homeowners insurance get declined or non-renewed?
Almost always because of something about the property rather than something about you. The usual causes are roof age and material, the age or construction type of the house, a period when it sat vacant, a run of prior claims at the address, a rural location with a poor protection class or distance from a fire department, or a value at either the low or the high end of what standard carriers want.
Underwriting appetites also shift, so a house that was perfectly acceptable three years ago can become unacceptable without anything about it changing. It is worth knowing which reason applies to you, because most of them are fixable.
What is the difference between an HO3, a DP3 and a DP1?
This is the question worth asking and hardly anybody does. An HO3 is the standard homeowners form for an owner-occupied house, covering the dwelling on an open-peril basis, meaning everything except what is specifically excluded. A DP3 is a dwelling fire form that also covers the dwelling on an open-peril basis and is common on rentals and on non-standard risks.
A DP1 is the basic dwelling fire form and it is fundamentally different: it covers a short named list of perils rather than everything not excluded, and it commonly settles losses at actual cash value rather than replacement cost. Two policies at a similar premium can behave completely differently at a claim because of this, so ask which form you are being offered.
Is specialty property coverage worse than a standard policy?
It is narrower, and that is a fair trade rather than a failing. A specialty market takes property that standard carriers will not, and it manages that by writing tighter terms, higher deductibles, and sometimes a more limited form.
The honest comparison for a house that has been declined is not this coverage against a standard policy, because the standard policy is not available. It is this coverage against no coverage at all, and against a mortgage company force-placing something considerably worse and more expensive on you. What we insist on is that you know exactly what you are getting before you bind rather than after a loss.
How do I get my house back into the standard market?
By resolving whatever put it out. A roof gets replaced and the roof-age problem disappears. Claims age off the loss history after a period. A vacancy ends when a tenant or owner moves in. A wiring or plumbing update can change how the house is classified.
None of that happens on a schedule anybody tells you about, which is exactly the problem, because a policy placed in the specialty market can quietly renew there for years after the reason for it has gone. We track what put your property here and re-shop it against our standard carriers when the reason clears.
Does Aegis cover earthquake in Arkansas?
Stand-alone earthquake coverage is part of the Aegis book, along with residential difference in conditions and equipment breakdown. It matters here more than in most states because Arkansas sits near enough to the New Madrid seismic zone for it to be a real conversation, and because earthquake is excluded from every standard homeowners form without exception.
Difference in conditions is a related idea, filling gaps a standard property policy leaves rather than replacing it. Whether either belongs on your account depends on the property and your circumstances, and terms are set by the carrier and apply as written in the policy issued.
What does Aegis not cover?
Aegis writes property and nothing else. There is no auto and no general business liability, so it is never the whole answer for a household or a business. Flood is excluded from property forms generally and requires separate coverage.
Beyond that, specialty forms often carry tighter terms than a standard policy, such as higher wind and hail deductibles, limits on older roofs, and restrictions tied to occupancy or vacancy. Those are the specifics to go through line by line before binding, and they vary by program and by policy, so the form actually issued is what governs.
How do I get an Aegis property quote in Bentonville or Rogers?
Start at our personal lines quote form or call (479) 286-1066, and lead with whatever makes the property difficult, because that is the part that decides where it can go. Roof age and material, the age and construction of the house, how it is occupied, whether it has been vacant, any prior claims, and the protection class all matter.
If the property will fit a standard carrier we will place it there instead and tell you so plainly. If it will not, we will tell you which company would be carrying the risk, which form you are being offered, and what would need to change for it to move back.
If our coverage explainers are useful, mark Cribb Insurance as a preferred source so more Northwest Arkansas property owners can find our local, plain-English guides.
Send us the non-renewal letter.
It usually says why, and why is the whole question. We'll tell you whether the property can still go to a standard carrier, which form you'd be offered if it can't, whether it settles at replacement cost or actual cash value, and what has to change for it to move back. Aegis is one of 40+ carriers we represent.
Cribb Insurance Group Inc. is an independent insurance agency licensed in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, and Texas. We are not Aegis, and this page is not endorsed, sponsored, reviewed, or approved by Aegis. "Aegis," "Aegis General Insurance Agency," and "Aegis Security Insurance Company" are trademarks or service marks of their respective owners, used here nominatively to identify products we are appointed to place. Aegis General Insurance Agency is a general agency and program manager and is not a risk-bearing insurer; policies are underwritten and issued by its carrier partners, which may include admitted carriers and excess and surplus lines carriers depending on the program.
This page describes property coverage in general, industry-standard terms for informational purposes only. It is not a policy, not an offer of insurance, and not a guarantee of coverage, availability, eligibility, or price. Dwelling, other structures, personal property, loss of use, liability, open-peril and named-peril coverage, replacement-cost and actual-cash-value valuation, earthquake, difference in conditions, equipment breakdown, limits, deductibles, endorsements, and exclusions are set by the carrier, vary by state, by program, by policy, and over time, are subject to the carrier's underwriting approval and eligibility, and apply only as written in the policy actually issued to you. Descriptions of HO3, DP3, and DP1 policy forms are general industry descriptions; the specific form issued to you governs, and its terms may differ.
Eligibility for any property is determined by the carrier on the facts of that property; this page makes no representation that any particular property qualifies for any market, or that a property placed in a specialty market will later qualify for a standard carrier. Reasons a property may be declined or non-renewed are described generally and are not a statement about your property or your insurer's decision.
Whether a policy is admitted or non-admitted depends on the carrier and program involved and will be disclosed before binding. Surplus lines policies are generally not protected by state guaranty associations, and surplus lines transactions may be subject to taxes and fees that do not apply to admitted policies. Statements about Arkansas roof claim settlement rules on our other pages describe the admitted market; whether comparable requirements attach to any particular non-admitted form is a question to raise with us before binding rather than an assumption to carry over. Earthquake and flood are excluded from standard property forms and require separate coverage. References to Arkansas law are general information, not legal advice.
Last reviewed August 2026.