Your landlord's policy covers the building. Not one thing inside it that's yours.
The building's insurance rebuilds walls. It does nothing for your furniture, your electronics, your clothes — or your liability if a guest is hurt or you cause damage. National General's Custom360 renters policy covers exactly that gap: your belongings, your liability, and the cost of living somewhere else after a covered loss. It's a few dollars a month, it's often required by your lease, and it bundles with your auto for a discount. Allstate-group A+ paper.
The short answer
A renters policy covers the part of a rental the building's insurance doesn't: you. National General's Custom360 renters policy has four standard pieces — personal property (your belongings, including in your car and away from home), additional living expense (a hotel, rent and food if a covered loss displaces you), family liability (if you're sued for an injury or for damaging someone's property), and guest medical — plus optional coverages like replacement cost, scheduled valuables and water backup. It's one of the cheapest policies you can own, it's often required by your lease, and it earns a multi-policy discount with your auto. It's Allstate Insurance Group A+ paper, and we run it against our Allstate contract and 40-plus markets.
The building is insured. You aren't.
It's the most common insurance misunderstanding there is: assuming the landlord's policy covers your things. It covers the landlord's things.
not the stuff where the building's policy stops
Your landlord insures the structure and their liability as the property owner. Your furniture, electronics, clothes and your personal liability sit completely outside it — nobody's covering them but you.
A fire rebuilds the apartment. It doesn't replace your life inside it.
If a kitchen fire or a storm guts a rental, the landlord's insurer handles the building and hands you nothing for what was yours. Add up a couch, a bed, a TV, a laptop, a closet of clothes and a kitchen's worth of everything, and "just stuff" becomes a five-figure loss fast.
There's a second half people miss: liability. If a guest trips on your rug, or your dog bites someone, or you leave a tub running and flood the unit below, you can be the one who gets sued — and the landlord's policy won't defend you. A renters policy answers both halves: it replaces your belongings and stands behind you when you're the one on the hook.
Four things it does as standard.
Personal Property
Covers furniture, electronics, clothing and the rest if they're stolen or damaged by a covered loss — including items in your car and away from home.
Additional Living Expense
If a covered loss makes your place uninhabitable, it reimburses reasonable increases in living costs — rent, hotel, food — while you're displaced.
Family Liability
Helps protect you or a family member if you're sued for causing an injury or for damaging someone else's property — including legal defense costs.
Guest Medical
Helps pay necessary medical expenses if a visitor is injured on your property, regardless of fault — the small-claim coverage that keeps a stumble from becoming a lawsuit.
Then tailor it: replacement cost, scheduled valuables, water backup and more.
Optional coverages let you build the policy up: replacement cost (new-for-old on your belongings), open peril for contents (broader protection), scheduled personal property for jewelry, cameras and collections, water backup, identity theft, home systems for owned electronics, and electronic data recovery. We flag the few that fit how you actually live.
Replacement cost vs. actual cash value.
This is the renters detail worth getting right. When your belongings are destroyed, the policy pays one of two ways. Actual cash value (ACV) pays the depreciated value — a five-year-old laptop pays like a five-year-old laptop. Replacement cost (RC) pays to buy a new equivalent of the same quality.
For a few dollars, get replacement cost.
The premium difference between ACV and replacement cost is usually small; the difference at claim time is not. On a total loss, replacement cost is what actually re-buys your life instead of writing you a depreciated check for a decade of accumulated stuff. National General offers replacement cost as an option — we'll confirm which setting your quote uses and price both so you're choosing on purpose. One more: renters policies carry per-item sublimits on jewelry, cameras and the like, so an engagement ring or a camera kit may need to be scheduled to be fully covered.
Lease requirements, students, and storms.
Renters coverage matters here for practical reasons. Northwest Arkansas has a large and growing renter base — university students in Fayetteville, and a workforce filling apartments across Bentonville, Rogers and Springdale — and more and more leases now require a renters policy, usually with a minimum personal-liability limit. If yours does, we'll make sure the policy meets the exact requirement so you can hand the leasing office proof the same day.
The other reason is weather. NWA takes hail, straight-line wind and tornado exposure, and a storm doesn't care whether you own or rent — but the landlord's policy only rebuilds the building. Your belongings are covered only if you carry the policy. Two useful notes on Custom360 renters: it can follow your things off-premises and in your car, and its liability can cover incidents away from home too (car accidents excepted).
And it makes your auto cheaper too.
Renters plus auto, on one bill.
Renters is one of the least expensive policies you can buy, and pairing it with your auto usually earns a multi-policy discount that offsets a good chunk of the renters premium — meaning the coverage can cost far less than the sticker suggests. Because we place both National General auto and renters, and can run them against our Allstate contract and 40-plus other markets, we'll put the bundled number next to the standalone one so you see the real savings.
The pieces we'll talk through.
Usually the best value per dollar you'll buy.
Renters is typically the cheapest policy in the household, and often the highest value per dollar — but the exact number still depends on your choices, so this isn't a quote or a guarantee. What moves it:
Strong balance sheet, honest caveats.
On August 28, 2025, AM Best affirmed the members of Allstate Insurance Group — the companies behind National General's US renters policies — at a Financial Strength Rating of A+ (Superior), stable outlook.
Where National General is strong on renters
- Comprehensive coverage, low cost. The four standard protections plus a full optional menu — replacement cost, scheduled valuables, water backup, identity theft — for a few dollars a month.
- It bundles. Pairs with National General auto for a multi-policy discount that offsets much of the premium.
- A+ (Superior) Allstate-group paper, and coverage that follows your belongings off-premises and in your car.
- Independent-agency distribution, so we run it against our Allstate contract and 40-plus markets instead of guessing.
What we'll tell you honestly
- Get replacement cost. Actual cash value pays depreciated; for a small premium difference, replacement cost actually re-buys your belongings.
- Schedule the valuables. Sublimits mean a ring or a camera kit may not be fully covered until it's listed individually.
- Flood and earthquake aren't in it. Neither is covered by a standard renters policy — we handle them separately or point you to the right place.
- We don't adjust your claim, and we'll say plainly if our Allstate contract or another market prices your renters better. We run all of them.
The other lines we place — and where they live.
National General renters questions.
Doesn't my landlord's insurance already cover me?
No — and this is the misunderstanding that costs renters the most. Your landlord's policy covers the building, not your belongings, not your liability, and not your cost of living somewhere else if the place becomes uninhabitable.
If a fire or storm destroys everything you own inside a rental, the landlord's insurance rebuilds the walls and does nothing for your furniture, electronics or clothes. A renters policy exists to cover exactly the part the building's policy leaves out — you.
What does National General renters insurance cover?
A Custom360 renters policy has four standard pieces: personal property protection for your belongings (including items in your car and away from home), additional living expense that pays for a hotel, rent and food if a covered loss makes your place uninhabitable, family liability protection if you're sued for an injury or for damaging someone else's property, and guest medical protection if a visitor is hurt.
You then tailor it with optional coverages — replacement cost, open peril for contents, scheduled personal property, water backup, identity theft and more.
What is replacement cost versus actual cash value?
It's the difference between what you get paid for a five-year-old laptop and what a new one costs. Actual cash value pays the depreciated value of your belongings; replacement cost pays to buy new equivalents of the same quality.
National General offers replacement cost as an option worth having — for a small premium difference, a total loss actually re-buys your life instead of writing you a depreciated check. We'll confirm which setting your quote uses and price both.
Can I schedule jewelry, cameras or other valuables?
Yes, and you often should. Renters policies carry per-category sublimits on things like jewelry, furs, cameras and collections, so a standard policy may not fully cover an engagement ring or a camera kit.
Scheduling those items — listing them individually with an agreed value — raises the coverage and usually removes the deductible on them. Tell us what you own that's worth more than a few hundred dollars and we'll flag what should be scheduled.
Does bundling renters with my auto save money?
Usually, yes. Renters is one of the least expensive policies you can buy, and pairing it with your auto typically earns a multi-policy discount that can offset a good chunk of the renters premium.
Because we place both National General auto and renters — and can run them against our Allstate contract and 40-plus other markets — we'll show you the bundled number next to the standalone one so you can see the actual savings.
How do I get a National General renters quote in Bentonville or Rogers?
Start at our personal lines quote form or call (479) 286-1066. Have a rough idea of what your belongings are worth and any liability limit your lease requires.
Renters is quick to quote and cheap to carry, and if you have auto with us or elsewhere, send that declarations page too so we can price the bundle. We'll run National General against our Allstate contract and 40-plus markets and tell you which fits.
If our carrier and coverage guides are helpful, mark Cribb Insurance as a preferred source so more Northwest Arkansas renters find our local, plain-English explanations.
Protect your stuff for a few dollars a month.
Tell us roughly what your belongings are worth and any liability limit your lease requires. We'll build a Custom360 renters policy that actually replaces your things (replacement cost, valuables scheduled), meets your lease to the letter, and bundles with your auto for a discount — then run it against our Allstate contract and 40-plus markets. Quick to quote, cheap to carry, and one of the best-value policies you'll ever own.
Cribb Insurance Group Inc. is an independent insurance agency licensed in Arkansas. We are not National General or Allstate, and this page is authored independently and is not endorsed, sponsored, reviewed, or approved by either. "National General," "Custom360," and "Allstate" are trademarks or service marks of Allstate Insurance Company and its affiliates, used here nominatively to identify products we are appointed to place. National General's Arkansas renters policies are underwritten by member companies of National General, an Allstate company.
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. Standard and optional coverages, limits, sublimits, replacement-cost versus actual-cash-value settlement, scheduling, discounts, eligibility, and availability vary by policy, by state, and over time, are set by the carrier, and are subject to underwriting review and approval and to the terms, conditions, limits, and exclusions of the policy actually issued. Whether a lease requires renters insurance or a particular liability limit is set by your landlord or lease, not by this page. Flood and earthquake are generally excluded from a standard renters policy and, where available, are separate coverage. Any multi-policy or bundling savings depend on the policies, the carrier, and eligibility, and are not guaranteed. If anything on this page conflicts with the issued policy, the policy controls.
Financial strength ratings are opinions of an insurer's ability to meet its ongoing insurance obligations, are subject to change, are not recommendations to purchase, hold or terminate any policy, and do not address an insurer's claims-handling practices; current ratings are at ambest.com. The A+ (Superior) rating referenced applies to the members of Allstate Insurance Group as affirmed by AM Best on August 28, 2025; National General Insurance Ltd. (Bermuda) is a separately rated entity carrying a different rating. If anything here conflicts with the issued policy, the policy controls.
Last reviewed July 2026.