Two pages decide what happens after the worst day.
Your declarations page is the summary at the front of your policy — limits, deductibles, who's covered, what's covered. Most people have never read past the premium at the bottom. Here's how to read the whole thing, what the Arkansas-specific lines mean, and — the part almost every guide skips — what your dec page doesn't tell you.
The short answer
Your declarations page is the summary sheet at the front of your policy packet — usually the first page or two. It lists who and what is covered, which coverages you bought, the limit on each, your deductibles, the policy period and the premium. It is the most useful document you own about your own insurance. It is also not the policy: it doesn't contain the insuring agreement, the exclusions, or the endorsement wording — and any of those can change what a limit printed on it actually does.
Getting hold of it, and what to ask for.
A new declarations page arrives every time the policy renews, so the most recent one is usually sitting in the packet your carrier mailed or emailed. Failing that, it's on your carrier's website or app, generally filed under policy documents.
If you still can't find it, call your carrier or your current agent and ask them to send you one. It's your document, you're entitled to it, and asking doesn't signal that you're shopping or start any process at all. People hesitate over this far more than they need to.
Ask for the endorsements too, not just the dec page.
The declarations page tells you what limits you bought. The endorsements tell you what those limits actually do.
If you're comparing policies seriously — or if you're about to switch — ask for the full policy including the endorsement forms. Two declarations pages showing identical limits can sit on top of very different policies, and the difference lives in a stack of forms nobody reads.
What every dec page has on it.
The layout varies by carrier. The contents don't vary much at all.
| What you'll see | What it means | What's worth checking |
|---|---|---|
| Named insured | Who the policy actually covers | Everyone who should be on it is on it — a spouse, a partner, a teen who started driving |
| Policy period | The dates coverage runs between | When it renews, and whether it's a six-month or twelve-month term |
| Insured property | The address, or the vehicles by year, make and VIN | Anything sold, bought or moved since the last renewal |
| Coverages and limits | What you bought and the most it will pay | Whether limits set years ago still resemble what things cost now |
| Deductibles | What you pay before coverage responds | Whether there's more than one — this matters a lot in Arkansas |
| Mortgagee or lienholder | Who else has a financial interest | That it's current, especially after a refinance or a payoff |
| Discounts applied | Credits reducing the premium | Whether ones you qualify for are missing |
| Endorsement list | Form numbers for everything attached | The most overlooked line on the page — this is the table of contents for the rest |
| Premium | What you pay | The only line most people read, and the least informative one |
Three numbers, a slash, and a lot of confusion.
Liability limits are written across the industry as three numbers separated by slashes — 25/50/25 is the notation you'll see most often on an Arkansas dec page, and it's three separate promises rather than one pot of money.
Those particular numbers are the Arkansas minimum.
The Arkansas Insurance Department states that every automobile owner must carry liability coverage, and that the minimum required is twenty-five thousand per person for bodily injury, fifty thousand per accident, and twenty-five thousand for property damage to the property of others. Almost all insurers offer higher limits.
The Department also states that when you apply for liability coverage, you must be offered the opportunity to purchase uninsured motorist bodily injury and property damage coverage, underinsured motorist coverage for bodily injury, and personal injury protection.
So the useful question on your own dec page is whether those coverages are listed at all, and at what limits. Uninsured motorist responds when the at-fault driver has no coverage; underinsured motorist responds when they have some but not enough. Whether you carry them is your decision — but it should be a decision you made rather than one you discover after a crash. How that election is recorded is a question for the Department or your carrier, and we're not going to characterize it here.
One more thing the three numbers don't do: none of them repairs your own vehicle. That's collision and comprehensive, listed separately, each with its own deductible.
Four letters, and the two lines Arkansas changed.
Homeowners coverages are lettered rather than named, because that's how the standard forms are built. Coverage A is the dwelling — the structure itself. Coverage B is other structures, meaning detached things like a garage, shed or fence. Coverage C is personal property, your belongings. Coverage D is loss of use, which pays additional living costs if the house becomes uninhabitable after a covered loss.
B, C and D are commonly set as a percentage of A rather than chosen independently, which is why raising the dwelling limit usually lifts the others with it. Coverage A deserves the most attention, because it's meant to reflect what rebuilding would cost — not what you paid, and not what the house would sell for. Construction pricing has moved a long way and a great many dwelling limits didn't move with it.
Line one: how your roof would settle.
Look for a loss settlement provision on the dec page, and then look at the endorsement list. A policy written on a replacement cost basis can still carry an endorsement that settles the roof differently — usually named something like a roof surfacing payment schedule, or an actual cash value loss settlement endorsement for windstorm or hail.
Arkansas Insurance Department Bulletin 17-2023 broadened when such an endorsement may be applied. Before: optional for roofs over ten years old, mandatory for roofs over fifteen. Now: a mandatory endorsement is permitted, with approved notice, at roof age seven.
The practical difference is the gap between what a new roof costs and what a depreciated one is worth. On an older roof, that gap is not small.
Line two: you may have more than one deductible.
The same bulletin lifted the prohibition on charging a separate deductible for wind and hail damage, and many Arkansas policies now carry one.
Here's what catches people. A separate wind and hail deductible is frequently written as a percentage of your dwelling limit rather than as a flat amount. So the deductible you have in your head — the all-perils one — can be a long way from what you'd actually pay after a hailstorm. In a part of the state where hail is the most frequent cause of a major claim, that's not academic.
On the dec page, check whether the deductible line shows one number or two, and whether either is expressed as a percentage. We're not publishing an example, because the only figure worth anything is the one calculated from your own dwelling limit.
The reasonable assumptions that turn out wrong.
"That's what my house is worth"
It isn't market value and it isn't the purchase price. It's meant to be rebuild cost — materials and labor to put the same house back up, on a lot you already own.
"My deductible is one number"
It may be two. All-perils and a separate wind and hail figure behave completely differently, and the second one is often a percentage rather than a flat amount.
"I have full coverage"
Not a coverage, and not printed on any dec page. It's shorthand people use for carrying collision and comprehensive — it says nothing about your liability limits or whether uninsured motorist is there.
"Those are just form numbers"
They're the table of contents for everything the summary doesn't show. An endorsement can add a coverage that isn't listed, or narrow one that looks complete.
"My belongings are covered"
Up to Coverage C, but certain categories carry their own much lower caps — jewelry, firearms, silverware, collectibles. Those caps sit in the policy, not on the dec page.
"This is my policy"
It's the summary. The insuring agreement, the exclusions and the conditions decide claims, and none of them are printed here.
What your declarations page can't tell you.
A guide that implies the dec page is the whole story is worse than no guide.
What was bought
- ✓Which coverages are on the policy.
- ✓The limit for each one.
- ✓The deductibles, and how many there are.
- ✓Who and what is named.
- ✓A list of form numbers for everything attached.
What actually decides a claim
- ×The insuring agreement — what the policy promises to do.
- ×The exclusions — what it won't do, and this list is long.
- ×The conditions — what you have to do, including how and when to report a loss.
- ×The endorsement wording — which modifies all of the above.
- ×The special limits on particular categories of property.
So read the dec page first, then ask about what it doesn't show.
That's not a reason to skip it. The declarations page is where you find out what questions to ask, and going in with the form numbers in hand puts you in a completely different conversation than going in with "I think I have full coverage."
If you'd rather not do the reading yourself, Coverage Compare reads a personal auto or home dec page for you and hands back a plain-English breakdown. If you just have a question about a line on the page, ask Cribby. Neither is required and both are free.
What should you look at first?
Select what you see, or don't see, on your own dec page. This flags what's worth asking about — it does not quote a price, recommend a limit, or determine coverage. Educational only.
What do you see on the page in front of you?
Worth asking about
Would you rather something else read it?
Upload to Coverage CompareDeclarations page questions.
What is a declarations page?
Your declarations page is the summary sheet at the front of your policy packet. It is usually the first page or two, and it lists who is covered, what property or vehicles are covered, which coverages you bought, the limit on each one, your deductibles, the policy period, and the premium. Insurance people call it the dec page and it is the single most useful document you own about your own insurance.
It is worth being clear about what it is not, though, because this trips people up constantly. The declarations page is a summary of what was purchased. It is not the policy. It does not contain the insuring agreement, the exclusions, the conditions, or the wording of the endorsements attached to it, and any one of those can change what a limit printed on the dec page actually does when there is a claim. Read the dec page first, then ask about the parts it does not show you.
Where do I get my declarations page?
It arrives with your policy documents each time the policy renews, so the most recent one is usually in the packet your carrier mailed or emailed you. If you cannot find it, log in to your carrier's website or app, where it is generally filed under policy documents. If that fails, call your carrier or your current agent and ask them to send you a copy of your declarations page. You are entitled to it, it is your document, and asking for it does not signal that you are shopping or start any process.
A point worth adding here. If you are comparing policies, ask for the full policy including the endorsement forms rather than just the dec page. The dec page tells you what limits you bought. The endorsements tell you what those limits actually do, and that is where most of the meaningful differences between two policies are hiding.
What does 25/50/25 mean on my auto policy?
That notation is how liability limits are written throughout the industry, and it is three separate numbers rather than one. The first is the most the policy will pay for bodily injury to any one person in an accident you caused. The second is the most it will pay in total for bodily injury across everyone hurt in that accident. The third is the most it will pay for damage to other people's property. Those particular figures are the Arkansas minimum. The Arkansas Insurance Department states that every automobile owner must carry liability coverage, and that the minimum is twenty-five thousand per person for bodily injury, fifty thousand per accident, and twenty-five thousand for property damage to the property of others. Almost all insurers offer higher limits.
Two things worth understanding about the notation. The numbers are usually printed in thousands, so a dec page reading one hundred over three hundred over one hundred means exactly what it sounds like at ten times the state minimum. And none of those three numbers has anything to do with repairing your own vehicle, which is what collision and comprehensive coverage are for.
What are Coverage A, B, C and D on a home policy?
They are the four main property coverages on a homeowners declarations page, and they are lettered rather than named because that is how the standard forms are laid out. Coverage A is the dwelling, meaning the structure of the house itself. Coverage B is other structures, which covers detached things on the property such as a garage, a fence or a shed. Coverage C is personal property, meaning your belongings. Coverage D is loss of use, which pays additional living costs if the house becomes uninhabitable after a covered loss.
Coverages B, C and D are commonly set as a percentage of Coverage A rather than chosen independently, which is why raising the dwelling limit usually raises the others with it. The number that deserves the most attention is Coverage A, because it is supposed to reflect what rebuilding the house would actually cost rather than what you paid for it or what it would sell for. Construction costs have moved a long way in recent years and a great many dwelling limits did not move with them.
How do I tell if my roof settles at replacement cost or actual cash value?
Look for a loss settlement provision on the declarations page, and look at the list of attached endorsement forms. A policy written on a replacement cost basis can still carry an endorsement that settles the roof differently, and where one is attached it is normally named something like a roof surfacing payment schedule or an actual cash value loss settlement endorsement for windstorm or hail.
This matters more in Arkansas than it used to. Arkansas Insurance Department Bulletin 17-2023 broadened when an actual cash value settlement endorsement may be applied to a replacement cost policy for wind and hail damaged roofs. Previously an optional endorsement was allowed for roofs over ten years old and a mandatory one for roofs over fifteen. Now a mandatory endorsement is permitted, with approved notice, at roof age seven. The practical difference is the gap between what a new roof costs and what a depreciated one is worth, and on an older roof that gap is not small. If you cannot tell from the dec page which way yours reads, that is a reasonable thing to ask about rather than assume.
Is my declarations page the whole policy?
No, and this is the single most important thing to understand about the document. The declarations page is a summary of what was purchased. The policy is the whole packet, and the parts that decide claims are mostly not on the dec page. The insuring agreement says what the policy promises to do. The exclusions say what it will not do. The conditions say what you have to do, including how and when to report a loss. And the endorsements modify all of it, sometimes substantially.
An endorsement can narrow a coverage that looks complete on the dec page, or add one that does not appear there at all. This is why the endorsement list on your declarations page is worth reading even though it is just a column of form numbers. Those numbers are the table of contents for everything the summary does not tell you. If you are comparing two policies seriously, compare the endorsements, because two dec pages showing identical limits can sit on top of very different policies.
What sits around it.
If this guide was useful, mark Cribb Insurance as a preferred source so more Arkansas families can find plain-English answers about their own coverage.
Or let something else do the reading.
You now know what's on the page and what isn't. If you'd rather not work through it line by line, upload your auto or home declarations page to Coverage Compare and get a written, plain-English read on your limits, your deductible structure, how your roof would settle, and what's missing. Free, no signup, and no obligation to change a thing.
Cribb Insurance Group Inc. is an independent insurance agency licensed in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Texas. This page is general educational information about how insurance declarations pages are laid out. It is not a policy, not an offer of insurance, and not a guarantee of coverage, availability, eligibility or price. It is not legal advice, claims advice or a legal opinion, and it is not a recommendation to purchase, cancel, replace or modify any coverage.
About declarations pages generally. Declarations page layout, terminology and content vary by carrier and by policy form. A declarations page is a summary of the coverage purchased and is not the policy; the insuring agreement, exclusions, conditions and endorsement wording are contained in the policy itself and govern what is covered. Descriptions on this page of what a coverage does, including dwelling, other structures, personal property, loss of use, liability, uninsured and underinsured motorist, collision and comprehensive coverage, are general industry descriptions and are not a statement of what any particular policy provides. The policy actually issued to you controls what is covered in every case. Special limits applicable to particular categories of personal property vary by form and no such limit is published here. No recommended limit, deductible or coverage amount is published on this page.
About the Arkansas provisions described on this page. The statement that every automobile owner must carry liability coverage, the minimum amounts of twenty-five thousand per person for bodily injury, fifty thousand per accident and twenty-five thousand for property damage to the property of others, and the statement that an applicant for liability coverage must be offered the opportunity to purchase uninsured motorist bodily injury and property damage coverage, underinsured motorist coverage for bodily injury and personal injury protection coverage, are general summaries of information published by the Arkansas Insurance Department and are not a determination that any requirement applies to any person or vehicle. No statement is made on this page as to the manner in which any such coverage may be accepted or declined, or as to any writing requirement; those are questions for the Department or your carrier. References to Arkansas Insurance Department Bulletin 17-2023, including the broadening of the circumstances in which an actual cash value settlement endorsement for wind and hail damaged roofs may be applied to a replacement cost policy from an optional endorsement for roofs over ten years of age and a mandatory endorsement for roofs over fifteen, to a mandatory endorsement permitted with approved notice at roof age seven, and the lifting of the prohibition on a separate deductible for wind and hail damage, are likewise general summaries and are not a determination that any endorsement, deductible structure or settlement basis applies to any policy. Requirements and bulletins are amended; confirm current requirements with the Arkansas Insurance Department. Oklahoma, Missouri and Texas regulate these matters under their own separate provisions.
The interactive selector is an educational illustration only. It does not read, evaluate or interpret your policy, does not determine eligibility or coverage, and does not calculate, recommend or suggest a limit of insurance, a deductible, or any coverage amount. No premium figures, rate ranges, cost estimates or carrier underwriting criteria are published on this page, and no carrier is named or recommended. Coverage Compare reviews personal automobile and homeowners policies only and does not review commercial insurance. Automated review can be incomplete or mistaken and is limited to the documents supplied. Do not cancel or replace existing coverage on the basis of this page or of any automated review, and do not allow a policy to lapse before replacement coverage is confirmed in force. Report any incident or potential claim directly to your carrier promptly in accordance with your policy's notice conditions.
Last reviewed August 2026.