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How The Hartford's Business Owner's Policy Works in Arkansas
Three coverages in one policy — property, general liability and business income. The Hartford's flagship is the Spectrum Business Owner's Policy, and it's the product more than 1.3 million small business customers start with. Here's what's in it, what isn't, and which parts matter in Northwest Arkansas.
Short Answer
A Business Owner's Policy bundles commercial property, general liability and business income into one policy. The Hartford's flagship BOP is Spectrum. It doesn't include workers' comp, professional liability, commercial auto or data breach — those get added. Cribb Insurance Group places it from Bentonville, quoted against 40+ carriers.
Three policies, one policy.
A BOP combines business property and business liability into a single policy. That's the whole idea, and it's why most small businesses start here rather than buying the pieces separately.
Spectrum, and the generation behind it
The Hartford's flagship BOP is the Spectrum Business Owner's Policy, and the carrier has a next-generation Spectrum rollout underway on the agent side. That matters for the same reason it matters on a home policy: a carrier that keeps its own product current is one whose forms haven't quietly aged out from under its customers.
Behind it: more than 200 years writing business insurance, 1.3 million+ small business customers, and 17 years as a World's Most Ethical Companies honoree per Ethisphere. That's not why you'd buy a policy. It's why the policy is still there in fifteen years.
Business income is the coverage nobody reads until they need it
Here's the part worth understanding before anything happens: business income coverage is triggered by covered property damage. Fire, wind, theft — the roof comes off, you can't open, and the coverage replaces the income you would have earned while you fix it. It can also keep payroll and the monthly bills moving while you're closed.
Which means the question isn't whether you have it — with a BOP, you do. The question is whether the limit and the time period match how long it would actually take to reopen. In a hail corridor, with the contractor backlog this region runs, that's not a hypothetical number. That's a conversation, and it's the one we'd rather have with you now.
A BOP is three coverages. Your business has more than three exposures.
This is the most useful thing on the page, and The Hartford says it plainly on its own site: a BOP doesn't include workers' compensation, professional liability, commercial auto or data breach insurance. Those get added alongside it.
Workers' compensation
Your employees. Arkansas requires it for most businesses with three or more employees, and it is not part of a BOP. We have a full Hartford workers' comp page — ask us for it.
Commercial auto
The truck, the van, the car your employee runs the deposit in. If you or your employees drive for business, this is separate — and the hired-and-non-owned question catches more Northwest Arkansas employers than any other gap we find.
Professional liability
Being found negligent in the professional services you provided a client — even if you didn't make a mistake. Consultants, designers, accountants, IT: your risk isn't the slip-and-fall, it's the advice.
Cyber & data breach
Data privacy, network security, extortion threats, cybercrime. Addable to a BOP, not inside it. If you take cards or hold customer records, you have this exposure whether or not you have the coverage.
And one that surprises people: independent contractors
Independent contractors are typically not covered under a Business Owner's Policy. If you hire them, they generally need their own contractors liability — and you can add them as additional insureds on your policy.
For a Northwest Arkansas trade business that scales up with subs when the work comes in, that's not a technicality. That's the difference between a claim and a claim that's yours. Tell us how you actually staff the busy season and we'll build the account around it.
The other add-ons The Hartford lists
- Business income for off-premises utility services — when the outage isn't at your building but you still can't open
- Employment practices liability (EPLI) — wrongful termination, discrimination, harassment
- Data breach
- Professional liability
Around here, the contract usually decides it.
The Hartford's own test for whether you need a BOP is a good one: you likely need one if you have a physical location, if there's a possibility of being sued, or if you have assets that could be stolen or damaged.
There's a fourth reason, and in this region it's the loudest one
A customer, landlord or supplier contract that requires you to carry general liability. Northwest Arkansas runs on supplier and vendor relationships, and those contracts routinely dictate the limits you carry, who gets named as an additional insured, and what the certificate has to say.
So the practical sequence isn't "buy a policy, then read the contract." It's the reverse. Send us the contract before you buy the coverage — the requirements in it decide more of the answer than anything on this page, and getting a certificate reissued because it didn't match is a week you don't have.
Hail, wind, and a commercial roof
We're in a hail corridor. Everything true about a homeowner's roof in Benton and Washington County is true about the roof over your business, except the building is bigger, the deductible structure can be different, and the days you can't open have a dollar value attached.
That's why the property and business income halves of a BOP aren't two separate conversations here. They're the same storm.
BOP or commercial package?
Worth knowing the distinction: BOPs always bundle the same three coverages. A commercial package bundles coverages according to your specific needs. As an operation gets larger or more unusual, the package structure often becomes the better fit.
Knowing which side of that line your business is on — and when you've crossed it — is exactly what an independent agency is for. It's also the kind of thing nobody tells you, because the policy you already have keeps renewing just fine right up until it doesn't fit.
Hartford Cribby reads the certificate request with you.
Cribby the Chameleon is our guide to reading a policy in plain English.
A chameleon notices what's actually there. On a business account that's usually a business income limit nobody sized, a building value set years and one construction market ago, subs on the job with no certificates on file, and a customer contract asking for a limit the policy doesn't carry. None of it is exotic. It's just nobody's job until it's ours.
The Hartford can only offer you The Hartford.
We can tell you when the answer is no
We're appointed with 40+ carriers. Whether your operation is eligible for a Hartford BOP, and at what price, is an underwriting question decided by the carrier on the facts of your business — and if the answer doesn't work, we have somewhere else to go. That's a structural difference, not a slogan.
The account is the unit, not the policy
Quote a BOP and you get a price on three coverages. Quote an account and you find the fourth thing — the vehicle nobody scheduled, the sub with no certificate, the payroll in the wrong class code, the contract requiring a limit you don't carry. Send us your declarations pages and your contracts. That's the whole ask.
Local, and it matters more than it sounds
We're at 1601 SW Regional Airport Blvd in Bentonville, serving Bentonville, Rogers, Springdale, Fayetteville, Bella Vista, Centerton, Cave Springs, Pea Ridge, Gravette and Siloam Springs. Retail, restaurants, trades, medical offices, professional services — these are the risks we write every week, not an industry list someone read.
The carrier behind it
The Hartford was founded in 1810 and AM Best affirmed its Financial Strength Rating of A+ (Superior), stable, on July 3, 2025 — upgrading the group's Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating to "aa" (Superior) in the same action. More on that on the Hartford carrier page.
Business Owner's Policy: common questions.
What is a Business Owner's Policy?
What is not covered by a BOP?
Do I need a Business Owner's Policy?
What's the difference between a BOP and general liability insurance?
What's the difference between a BOP and a commercial package policy?
How does business income coverage work?
What can I add to a Hartford BOP?
How do I get a Hartford BOP quote in Northwest Arkansas?
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Send us the declarations page and the contract.
That's the whole ask. We'll read your BOP back to you in plain English, tell you where it stops, check your business income limit against how long it would actually take you to reopen, and quote The Hartford against our other markets — including when it lands badly. Then we'll look at the rest of the account, because the BOP is never the only thing.
1601 SW Regional Airport Blvd, Bentonville, AR 72713 📞 (479) 286-1066 ✉️ service@cribbinsurance.com 🕘 Mon–Thu 9:00–5:00
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Cribb Insurance Group Inc. is an independent insurance agency licensed in Arkansas. We are not The Hartford, and this page is not written, reviewed, endorsed, sponsored or approved by The Hartford. "The Hartford," the Hartford Stag logo and "Spectrum" are trademarks of The Hartford Insurance Group, Inc. and its affiliates, used here nominatively to identify a carrier we represent. Hartford policies placed by this agency are issued by Hartford affiliates. "World's Most Ethical Companies" and "Ethisphere" are registered trademarks of Ethisphere LLC; the honoree count referenced on this page is published by The Hartford.
This page describes coverage in general 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. Coverage descriptions are general summaries and are not a contract; whether a particular loss is covered depends on the specific facts and on the provisions, exclusions and limits of the actual policy. Coverages, limits, optional coverages, program terms, product availability and eligibility vary by state, by policy and over time, are set by the carrier, and are subject to the carrier's underwriting qualifications and to the terms, conditions, limits and exclusions of the policy actually issued. Not all coverages and options are available to all businesses or in all states. Eligibility and class acceptability are determined by the carrier on the facts of your operation; this page makes no representation that any particular business qualifies. Descriptions of what a Business Owner's Policy does and does not include are general to the product category and to The Hartford's published product information; your issued policy controls.
Statements about Arkansas law, including workers' compensation coverage thresholds, are general information, not legal advice, and are subject to change. Statements about contractual insurance requirements are general information and not legal advice; review your contracts with your own counsel. Financial strength ratings are opinions of an insurer's ability to meet its ongoing insurance obligations, are subject to change, and are not recommendations to purchase, hold or terminate any policy, nor do they address an insurer's claims-handling practices; current ratings are at ambest.com. A rating applies only to the rated company. If anything on this page conflicts with the issued policy, the policy controls.
Last reviewed July 2026.