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Program · Broker, not a carrier

Obie doesn't write your policy. One of four carriers does.

Obie is a licensed agency and a technology platform. It takes no risk, so it has no rating — and when a claim comes, Obie isn't the company that owes you money. Four carriers write Obie business in Arkansas, and as of August 1, 2026 one of them has a new name. Here they are, here's what each one is rated, and here's why two of them matter for your mortgage.

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Short Answer

Obie is a broker, not an insurer. Cribb Insurance Group places Obie for Northwest Arkansas rental property owners, and the policy is written by one of four carriers: Accelerant Specialty (AM Best A-), Southlake (A-), American National (A), or Markel (A). Southlake replaced Hadron Specialty on August 1, 2026 — same rates, same coverages, new name, and existing Hadron policies convert at renewal. All four carriers currently clear the A- rating floor Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and HUD require. Two of them clear it by exactly zero. We place rental property, landlord, SFR, multifamily, condo rentals and small apartments — not apartment complexes.

The panel

The four carriers behind Obie.

Most pages about a platform like Obie never tell you this. It's the single most useful fact about the product: the name on your declarations page is the company that owes you money. Not the app you quoted it in.

Accelerant Specialty

A- AM Best · Excellent At lender floor

Southlake

A- AM Best · Excellent New on the panel · replaced Hadron Aug 2026 At lender floor

American National

A AM Best · Excellent One notch clear

Markel

A AM Best · Excellent One notch clear
Carrier update · August 2026

Hadron Specialty is now Southlake

Obie has moved this capacity from Hadron Specialty Insurance Company to Southlake Insurance Company. Obie's guidance to agencies is that rates and coverages are unchanged — the carrier name is the only thing that's different. Southlake's rated insurance subsidiaries, Southlake Specialty Insurance Company and Westlake Specialty Insurance Company, have held an AM Best Financial Strength Rating of A- (Excellent) since 2021, and moved up to Financial Size Category VIII in 2024.

  • July 31, 2026 — last day Hadron accepted new business through Obie.
  • August 1, 2026 — Southlake takes all new business. Anything quoted or bound from this date forward is Southlake paper.
  • Through December 1, 2026 — existing Hadron policies non-renew at their expiration date and are re-offered as Southlake policies. Obie expects the conversion to be finished by that date.
  • Nothing to do on your end — beyond keeping payment current and signed paperwork up to date. Obie's reinstatement rule is unchanged: payment has to be made, or postmarked, by the renewal date to stay eligible.
The part worth flagging: the conversion runs through a non-renewal. A Hadron policy sits in pending non-renewal while the Southlake offer is issued against it, so a notice can land in your mailbox that reads like a decision about your property when it isn't one. If you get one and you're not certain what you're looking at, call us before a lender's insurance-tracking service reads it as a lapse. We'll also push updated evidence of insurance to your lender and escrow once the new name is on the policy.

Why "A-" is the number that matters on a rental

Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and HUD accept property insurance from carriers rated A- or better by AM Best. That's the floor. It's why your lender cares who writes the policy at all.

All four carriers on Obie's panel clear it today. But Accelerant and Southlake sit exactly on it — no margin. If either were downgraded a single notch to B++, policies on that paper could stop satisfying your lender's requirement. The lender's remedy is force-placed coverage: they buy it, you pay for it, it costs multiples of what you had, and it protects them rather than you.

To be clear about what this is and isn't: A- is Excellent. Neither carrier is in trouble, and nothing here predicts a downgrade. But "meets the floor exactly" and "comfortably above it" are different positions, and you're entitled to know which one your mortgage is resting on. Ask which carrier you're on. If you're on Obie today through anyone, that answer is on your declarations page.

What a rating tells you, and what it doesn't

AM Best states plainly that a Financial Strength Rating "does not address… an insurer's claims-payment policies or procedures; the ability of the insurer to dispute or deny claims payment" and is not a recommendation to buy or keep any policy.

So these grades tell you the carriers can pay, and they tell your lender the paper qualifies. They don't tell you the claim will go smoothly. Different question, different sources — and anyone handing you a letter as the answer to all of it is handing you a logo.

What we place

What goes through our Obie contract.

Not everything Obie writes nationally — what Cribb Insurance Group can actually place for you in Northwest Arkansas.

Rental property

  • Rental property, generally
  • Landlord coverage
  • Single-family rentals (SFR)
  • Condo rentals

Multi-unit

  • Multifamily
  • Small apartments

Where this stops

Apartment complexes are not on this contract. Small apartments, yes. A complex is a different risk and a different market — and we'd rather say so here than take your details and go quiet. If that's your property, start a commercial quote and we'll put it where it belongs.

We hold 40+ markets. If Obie isn't the right home for your property, that's a sentence we can afford to say — and it's the reason to call an independent agency rather than a platform.
Meet Cribby

Obie Cribby reads the declarations page.

Cribby the Chameleon is our guide to reading a policy in plain English.

A chameleon pays attention to what's actually around it. On a rental, that means the carrier name in the top corner of the dec page — the one nobody reads until there's a claim or a closing. Obie Cribby's here for that conversation: which of the four wrote your policy, what it's rated, and whether your lender is going to be happy about it. Right now that name is changing on a chunk of the book, which makes it a good month to look.

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FAQ

Obie in Arkansas: common questions.

Is Obie an insurance company?
No. Obie is a licensed insurance agency and technology platform, not a risk-bearing insurer. It doesn't write your policy. Four carriers write Obie business in Arkansas: Accelerant Specialty, Southlake, American National and Markel. Which one you land on depends on your property and your risk. Ask us and we'll tell you.
Who actually underwrites my Obie policy?
One of four carriers: Accelerant Specialty, rated A- (Excellent) by AM Best; Southlake, rated A- (Excellent); American National, rated A (Excellent); or Markel, rated A (Excellent). The carrier on your declarations page is the company that owes you money when you have a claim — not Obie. That's the name to know.
I have a Hadron policy. What happens to it?
It becomes a Southlake policy. Obie has moved this capacity from Hadron Specialty Insurance Company to Southlake Insurance Company. Hadron wrote its last new business on July 31, 2026, and Southlake has taken all new business since August 1, 2026. Existing Hadron policies non-renew at their expiration date and are re-offered as Southlake policies, a conversion Obie expects to complete by December 1, 2026. Obie's guidance to agents is that rates and coverages are unchanged and the carrier name is the only difference. You don't need to do anything beyond keeping payment current and signed paperwork up to date — we'll handle getting updated evidence of insurance to your lender.
Why does my Hadron policy say non-renewal?
Because that's the mechanism Obie is using to move the book. A Hadron policy shows as pending non-renewal while the Southlake renewal offer is issued against it, so the paperwork can read like a decision about your property when it isn't one. If a notice like that lands and you aren't sure what you're looking at, call us at (479) 286-1066 before you do anything else — and before a lender's insurance-tracking service reads it as a lapse.
Will my lender accept an Obie policy?
Usually — but the answer depends on which carrier writes it. Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and HUD accept carriers rated A- or better by AM Best. All four carriers on Obie's panel currently clear that floor. Two of them, Accelerant and Southlake, sit exactly at A- with no room to spare. If either were downgraded one notch, policies on that paper could stop satisfying your lender's requirement. Separately, when a carrier name changes — as Hadron's just did — your lender and escrow need fresh evidence of insurance showing the new name. Both are worth handling before a closing, not after.
What does Cribb Insurance Group place through Obie?
Rental property in general, landlord coverage, single-family rentals, multifamily, condo rentals, and small apartments. We don't place apartment complexes through Obie. If your property is larger than that, we have other markets and we'll tell you which one fits.
Is Obie the cheapest landlord insurance in Arkansas?
There's no way to know without running it, and any page that tells you a market is cheapest is guessing. What we can tell you is that we quote Obie against our other landlord markets and show you where it lands, including when it lands badly. Rate depends on the property, the roof, the tenants, the loss history, and which of the four carriers takes the risk.
Why does it matter that Obie is a broker and not a carrier?
Because ratings, claims handling and financial strength belong to the company that issued your policy — not to the platform that sold it. When someone says “Obie is A rated,” that statement has no referent: Obie has no rating, because Obie takes no risk. The four carriers behind it have ratings, and they aren't all the same. That distinction matters most at a claim and at a closing.
How do I get an Obie quote in Bentonville or Rogers?
Start at our quote form or call (479) 286-1066. If you have current declarations pages for the property, send them — reading what you already have is faster than answering questions about it, and it's how we find out which carrier you're on today and whether it still fits.

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Send us the declarations page.

Whatever's on your rentals right now — Obie, Hadron, Southlake or anyone else. We'll tell you which carrier actually wrote it, what that carrier is rated, whether your lender will keep accepting it, and where the coverage stops. Then we'll quote it across Obie's panel and our other landlord markets. If what you have is already right, we'll tell you that too.

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📍 Cribb Insurance Group Inc
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. Obie is a licensed insurance agency and technology platform and is not a risk-bearing insurer; coverage placed through Obie is underwritten by third-party carriers. Obie, Accelerant, Hadron, Southlake, American National and Markel are trademarks of their respective owners, used here nominatively to identify a program and the carriers that write it. This page is authored independently by Cribb Insurance Group and is not written, reviewed, sponsored or endorsed by Obie or by any carrier named. Carrier panel information and financial strength ratings are current as of August 2026 and are subject to change; the transition of Hadron Specialty capacity to Southlake is described as communicated to appointed agencies by Obie and its timing and mechanics are controlled by Obie and the carriers, not by this agency. Which carrier writes a given policy depends on the risk and on carrier underwriting; the issuing carrier is identified on your declarations page. 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 and eligibility are subject to underwriting qualification and state availability. 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. Lender acceptance criteria are set by lenders and by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and HUD and are subject to change — confirm requirements with your lender. Statements about Arkansas law are general information, not legal advice. Only the issued policy determines actual terms and conditions of coverage. Nothing on this page is an offer of insurance or a guarantee of coverage or rate.