★ Member-Owned Mutual · Est. 1926
How Nationwide Works in Arkansas
Nationwide is a mutual company — owned by its policyholders, not shareholders — that started in 1926 fixing unfair auto rates for farmers. Here's what that structure actually changes for you, the personal lines we place, the commercial appointment behind them, and how we'll tell you when Nationwide isn't the answer.
Short Answer
Cribb Insurance Group is an independent Nationwide agency in Bentonville. Nationwide is a policyholder-owned mutual that has been at this since 1926, and its personal lines run entirely through independent agents like us — there is no cheaper captive channel to buy around. We place eight Nationwide personal lines and hold a separate commercial appointment, and we quote all of it against 40+ other carriers. AM Best affirmed the Nationwide Property and Casualty Group — the companies that actually write your policy — at A (Excellent), stable, on November 7, 2025.
Owned by the people it insures.
Nationwide began in 1926 as the Farm Bureau Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, created by the Ohio Farm Bureau for a specific, unglamorous reason: farmers were paying city rates on cars they crashed less often, and no existing insurer would price the difference. So the members built their own. It took the Nationwide name in 1955, and in 2026 it is marking a hundred years of it.
It is still a mutual. That means it is owned by its policyholders rather than by public shareholders. There is no quarterly share price to defend, which is the kind of thing that sounds like marketing until you notice how much of the insurance industry is organized the other way. It lets a mutual take a longer view on underwriting and pricing.
The honest boundary on that: mutuality is a structure, not a discount. It doesn't guarantee you a lower premium or a dividend in any given year, and we won't pretend it does. What it changes is who the company answers to — and that is worth knowing when you're deciding where your account should live.
Answers to shareholders
Most large insurers are stock companies, owned by investors and accountable to a share price every quarter. That is a perfectly normal way to run an insurer, and plenty of excellent carriers are built this way. It just means there is a second constituency in the room besides policyholders.
Answers to policyholders
A mutual has one constituency: the people it insures, who are also its owners. No outside shareholders, no quarterly share price. It is the structure Nationwide was founded on in 1926 and still runs on today. Again — a structure, not a promise about price.
Where a Nationwide policy earns its keep.
The coverage grid on a Nationwide home or auto policy looks like everyone else's. The difference — same as any carrier — is in the programs bolted onto it. Three worth naming here; the line pages go deep on each.
The On Your Side® Review
Nationwide's name for the annual sit-down where an agent reads your coverage against your actual life and catches the gaps. We'd do this regardless of what it's branded — it's the whole reason to buy through an agency instead of a checkout page — but Nationwide formalizes it, and we use it.
SmartRide® and SmartMiles® — and an honest word on telematics
Nationwide runs two usage-based auto programs: SmartRide scores how you drive; SmartMiles prices by the mile for people who don't drive much. Here's the part that matters: SmartRide is generally built as a discount, not a bet. In most cases the worst outcome is that you keep your enrollment discount rather than earn the full one — not that a rough month surcharges you.
The home endorsements people forget they have
On the home side Nationwide is known for building things into the policy that other carriers charge extra for — Brand New Belongings® (replacement cost on contents), Better Roof Replacement®, and a Vanishing Deductible that chips your deductible down for claim-free years. Whether they're on your policy, and at what limits, is exactly the kind of thing an On Your Side Review exists to check. The home page has the details.
Eight personal lines. Plus commercial.
Not everything Nationwide writes nationally — what we place for Northwest Arkansas. The eight below are our personal lines. Commercial runs on a separate appointment.
Home & auto
- Auto
- Homeowners
- Personal umbrella
- Landlord / rental dwelling
On the road & water
- Motorcycle
- Motorhome / RV
- Boat
- ATV / off-road
Commercial appointment
- Commercial auto
- Business owners policy (BOP)
- Commercial umbrella
A note on the farm heritage — and what we do and don't place
Nationwide is one of the largest farm and agribusiness insurers in the country, and it isn't an accident — it's literally the business the company was born in. That heritage is why the recreational, landowner, and small-commercial appetite tends to be broad. Farm and agribusiness, life, and pet are things Nationwide writes that are not on our placement list here, so we've left them off rather than imply we place them. If your need is agricultural, tell us — we'll either route it appropriately or place it with one of our other markets.
The toys don't ride on the home policy
This is the one that sits between pages, so it's easy to miss. A motorcycle, a boat, a camper, a side-by-side — the things parked in the garage or on a trailer in the driveway — generally need their own policy, not a line item on your homeowners form. A homeowner's contents sublimit is not toy insurance, and it isn't built to pay a real loss on a machine that leaves the property under its own power.
Nationwide has purpose-built homes for each of these, which is why they're on our list as separate lines. If it has a motor and a title, or a hull and a trailer, ask — that's a two-minute call, and most households who own one have never been told there's a policy for it.
Nationwide Commercial — a separate appointment
Our commercial book with Nationwide is a different contract from the eight personal lines above, and it covers commercial auto, the business owners policy (BOP), and commercial umbrella. Nationwide's small-commercial appetite is genuinely broad — a byproduct of a century spent insuring Main Street and rural businesses — which is why we quote it for Northwest Arkansas contractors, shops, and haulers. Start a commercial quote or call us.
The lines, in detail.
Each of these gets its own page, with the Arkansas specifics and the parts the brochure leaves out. They're publishing one at a time — links go live as each page does.
Nationwide Cribby asks what's in the garage.
Cribby the Chameleon is our guide to reading a policy in plain English.
A chameleon notices what's actually there. On a Nationwide account that's usually the things nobody mentioned — the camper that needs its own policy, the side-by-side nobody scheduled, the deductible quietly vanishing that you forgot you'd earned. That's the On Your Side Review, in chameleon form.
A (Excellent) — and which company that describes.
A rating is a solvency opinion, not a claims opinion
AM Best is explicit that a Financial Strength Rating does not address a carrier's claims-handling practices and is not a recommendation to buy or keep any policy. So an A (Excellent) tells you Nationwide's P&C companies can pay. That's real and worth knowing — it just isn't the same question as how a claim will go. Different questions, different sources. Anyone handing you a letter grade as the answer to all of them is handing you a logo.
What we actually do at a claim
Narrower than some agencies imply, and we'd rather be straight about it. We don't adjust your claim and we can't overrule an adjuster.
What we do: tell you whether a claim is worth filing before you file it, make sure the coverage that should respond gets identified, chase the file when it stalls, and move you to another of our markets if Nationwide stops fitting. That last one is the part a captive agent structurally cannot do.
Planning ranges, not quotes.
Typical ranges for policies placed through Cribb Insurance Group across our markets; the homeowners band reflects a five-year-old $400,000 Northwest Arkansas home. These are not quotes, not carrier-specific, and not a guarantee. Auto depends on vehicles, drivers, limits, deductibles, garaging ZIP, driving history and credit-based insurance score. Home depends on dwelling value, roof age and material, construction, protection class, deductible selections, claims history and credit-based insurance score. Some households fall below these bands and some fall well above them.
Nationwide in Arkansas: common questions.
What does it mean that Nationwide is a mutual company?
Is Nationwide financially strong?
What lines does Cribb Insurance Group place through Nationwide?
Does Nationwide write landlord or rental-property insurance in Arkansas?
Is Nationwide's SmartRide the same kind of program as other telematics — can it raise my rate?
How do I get a Nationwide quote in Bentonville or Rogers?
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Nationwide is one of 40+ carriers we represent.
Which means we can tell you honestly whether Nationwide is the right home for your account — or whether one of our other markets fits better. Send the declarations pages for whatever you're carrying and we'll read them back to you in plain English, including the deductibles. If what you have is already right, we'll tell you that too.
1601 SW Regional Airport Blvd, Bentonville, AR 72713 📞 (479) 286-1066 ✉️ service@cribbinsurance.com 🕘 Mon–Thu 9:00–5:00
Fri 9:00–4:00
Cribb Insurance Group Inc. is an independent insurance agency licensed in Arkansas. We are not Nationwide, and this page is not endorsed, sponsored, reviewed, or approved by Nationwide. "Nationwide," the Nationwide N and Eagle, "Nationwide is on your side," "On Your Side," "SmartRide," "SmartMiles," "Brand New Belongings," and "Better Roof Replacement" are service marks or trademarks of Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company and its affiliates, used here nominatively to identify products we are appointed to place. Nationwide's Arkansas personal and commercial property-casualty policies are issued by Nationwide-affiliated underwriting companies within the Nationwide Property and Casualty Group.
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, discounts, program terms, product availability and eligibility vary by state, by policy, and over time, are set by the carrier, and are subject to underwriting approval and to the terms, conditions, limits, and exclusions of the policy actually issued. Eligibility for any risk is determined by the carrier on the facts of your property, vehicles, or operation; this page makes no representation that any particular property or business qualifies. 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, 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. The A (Excellent) rating referenced applies to the members of the Nationwide Property and Casualty Group and does not apply to Nationwide's separately rated life and annuity companies. Cost figures reflect policies placed through Cribb Insurance Group across our markets and are not a quote, not carrier-specific, and not a guarantee of your rate. Statements about usage-based programs describe general program structure and are subject to state availability and the actual program terms; confirm current terms before enrolling.
Last reviewed July 2026.