What Does the Arkansas Insurance Department Say About Roof Depreciation Schedules for Partial Damage Claims?
Less than most people assume — and that gap is where Arkansas homeowners lose money. Here is what the Department actually regulates, what it deliberately leaves to your insurance company, and what that means when only part of your roof is damaged.
Short Answer
The Arkansas Insurance Department does not publish a roof depreciation schedule, and it has never issued a rule or bulletin that treats partial roof damage differently from total roof damage.
What the Department did do, in Bulletin 17-2023, was permit insurers to attach a mandatory actual cash value (ACV) loss settlement endorsement to a replacement cost homeowners policy for wind- or hail-damaged roofs beginning at roof age seven — provided the insurer files the endorsement and a policyholder notice for Department approval. The same bulletin lifted Arkansas’s prior prohibition on a separate wind and hail deductible.
The depreciation percentages themselves are written by your insurance company and approved as a form filing. Whether a partial loss is repaired or the roof is replaced is decided by the cause of loss, the adjuster’s scope of damage, and your policy’s loss settlement provisions — not by a state schedule.
The question assumes something that isn’t true
Search “Arkansas roof depreciation schedule” and you will find pages describing a state-imposed table of percentages by roof age. That table does not exist. No Arkansas statute, rule, or bulletin sets a depreciation percentage for any roof at any age.
What Arkansas regulates is permission: what an insurer is allowed to put into a policy, how early that limitation may take effect, and how clearly the homeowner must be told about it. Everything downstream of that permission — the percentages, the material categories, whether hail bruising counts as functional damage, how many slopes get replaced — is a private contract between you and your carrier.
That distinction matters most on partial damage claims, because a partial claim is exactly where the contract language, not the regulator, decides what you get paid.
What AID controls, and what it doesn’t
The Department does
- Approve the policy forms and roof settlement endorsements a carrier may use in Arkansas
- Require insurers to submit the policyholder notice describing the change, and ensure the change is prominently disclosed rather than buried
- Set the earliest roof age at which a mandatory ACV endorsement may attach
- Enforce minimum claim-handling standards under Rule and Regulation 43
- Accept and investigate consumer complaints about claim practices
The Department does not
- Publish or mandate a roof depreciation schedule
- Set the percentage paid at any given roof age or material
- Distinguish partial roof damage from total roof damage in any rule or bulletin
- Decide whether your specific roof should be repaired or replaced
- Require insurers to match undamaged shingles or slopes
The practical consequence
Two carriers can write the same house on the same street, both fully compliant with Arkansas law, and pay two very different amounts on the same hailstorm. Neither one is breaking a rule. The difference lives in the endorsement — which is why comparing roof settlement language matters as much as comparing premium.
What Bulletin 17-2023 actually changed
In late 2023, following a year in which storm-related claims pushed Arkansas insurers into severe underwriting losses and drove several carriers into receivership, the Department issued Bulletin 17-2023. Insurers had pointed out that certain deductible and claim-settlement restrictions existed in Arkansas but not in surrounding states. The Department confirmed this and adjusted two things.
| Provision | Before Bulletin 17-2023 | After Bulletin 17-2023 |
|---|---|---|
| Optional ACV roof endorsement (the “roof schedule”) |
Allowed on replacement cost policies for roofs over 10 years old | Superseded by the mandatory endorsement rules below |
| Mandatory ACV roof endorsement | Allowed only for roofs over 15 years old | Allowed for wind/hail damaged roofs at age 7, with Department-approved notice |
| Separate wind/hail deductible | Prohibited in Arkansas | Permitted |
| Notice to policyholders | — | Insurer must submit the notice for approval; the Department requires the change to be boldly noted, not lost in the paperwork |
A precision point most articles get wrong
Age seven is the earliest a mandatory ACV endorsement may attach — not a state guarantee that every Arkansas roof receives replacement cost treatment in years zero through six. A carrier is free to write a policy with no such endorsement at all, or to apply one only at a later age. What Arkansas prohibits is attaching a mandatory ACV roof endorsement earlier than age seven. If a page tells you “Arkansas requires replacement cost for seven years,” it has the logic backward.
So where do the depreciation percentages come from?
From the carrier. An insurance company drafts a roofing material payment schedule — typically a grid of percentages crossed against roof age and roofing material — and files it with the Department’s Product Compliance division as part of a form filing. The Department reviews the form and the accompanying disclosure. It does not negotiate the numbers.
This is why a composition shingle roof at year twelve might be scheduled at 55% with one carrier and 65% with another, and why slate, metal, concrete tile, clay tile, and wood shake usually carry different curves entirely. For a full breakdown of how these schedules work in practice, see our guide to Replacement Cost vs. Agreed Roof Payment Schedule in Arkansas.
Why “partial damage” is where the confusion lives
Homeowners tend to ask about partial damage because they’ve been told a percentage — 60%, say — and want to know whether that percentage applies to the whole roof or only the damaged section. The Department has no answer to that question, because the answer isn’t regulatory. Four contract-level questions decide it.
1. Is the damage from a covered peril?
Wind and hail are the usual triggers. Wear, deterioration, poor maintenance, and manufacturing defect generally are not. On an older roof, the threshold argument is often about whether the granule loss is storm-caused or age-caused.
2. What is the scope of the loss?
An adjuster prices what was damaged. If two slopes have functional hail damage and two do not, the estimate typically reflects two slopes. Nothing in Arkansas law converts a partial scope into a full replacement.
3. Which settlement basis applies?
Replacement cost, actual cash value, or a scheduled percentage. The endorsement governs. Under a schedule, the percentage is generally applied to the covered repair or replacement cost of the damaged roof surfacing — meaning a partial scope produces a percentage of a smaller number, not a percentage of a new roof.
4. What is the deductible, and is it a percentage?
This is where partial claims quietly die. A $6,000 wind/hail deductible on a $300,000 home consumes most of a depreciated partial-slope claim. Act 471 of 2023 requires insurers to disclose the dollar amount of a percentage-based deductible, precisely because so many homeowners did not realize what they had agreed to.
Matching: Arkansas has not legislated it
The most common partial-damage dispute in Northwest Arkansas is matching — whether an insurer must replace undamaged slopes when the discontinued shingle on the damaged slope can no longer be matched. Arkansas has not adopted a statutory matching mandate. Whether you’re owed a uniform appearance is a policy-language question, resolved through the appraisal provision or, occasionally, the courts.
What the Department does say about how your claim is handled
Arkansas regulates the process of a claim tightly, even while leaving the arithmetic to the contract. Two authorities matter.
Rule and Regulation 43 — Unfair Claims Settlement Practices
Rule 43 defines minimum claim-handling standards that, if violated with enough frequency to indicate a general business practice, constitute an unfair claims settlement practice. Among them:
- A first-party claimant must be advised of acceptance or denial within 15 working days after the insurer receives a properly executed proof of loss.
- The insurer must complete its investigation within 45 calendar days of notification, unless it cannot reasonably do so — in which case it must tell the claimant more time is needed and give the reasons.
- Insurers may not refuse to pay claims without conducting a reasonable investigation based on all available information.
- Insurers must attempt in good faith to effectuate prompt, fair, and equitable settlements where liability has become reasonably clear.
Note what Rule 43 does not do: it does not tell an adjuster how much depreciation is reasonable. It tells the adjuster how fast to move and how honestly to communicate.
Bulletin 10-2017 — Depreciation of labor
Arkansas once prohibited depreciating labor. Bulletin 13B-2013 stated that labor related to repair, rebuild, or replacement of covered property could not be depreciated. Bulletin 10-2017 rescinded that prohibition. An insurer may now apply “expense depreciation,” which can include the cost of goods, materials, labor, and services — but only if it takes specific steps:
- Provide notice, within the policy, that expense depreciation may be deducted
- Include a policy provision defining depreciation to include expense depreciation
- Obtain the Commissioner’s approval of the language
Expense depreciation may not be applied to policies currently in effect. Once the language is approved, it becomes effective at renewal on existing policies and at inception on new ones.
Why this compounds on partial claims
On a small partial-slope repair, labor is a disproportionate share of the total cost. Depreciating labor on a partial claim can reduce the net payment far more, proportionally, than the same depreciation applied to a full tear-off. Read your policy’s depreciation definition — not just its schedule.
How to read your own policy in about five minutes
- Pull the declarations page. Note every deductible listed. If one is expressed as a percentage, convert it to dollars.
- Read the endorsement list. The limiting language is almost never on the dec page. Look for roof loss settlement, roofing material payment schedule, windstorm or hail loss to roof surfacing, or actual cash value loss settlement.
- Find the depreciation definition. Does it include labor and services, or only materials?
- Check the roof age on file. Insurers do not always have the date you think they have, and under a schedule that date drives the percentage.
- Look for a cosmetic damage limitation. These are common on metal roofs and increasingly appear on shingle roofs.
- Confirm whether appraisal is available. It’s your primary lever on a scope dispute.
If you believe a partial claim was handled improperly
You have escalation paths, in roughly increasing order of formality:
- Request a reinspection with your roofing contractor present, so scope is documented contemporaneously.
- Submit a supplement documenting each line item where the contractor’s scope differs from the adjuster’s, with photographs.
- Invoke appraisal, if your policy contains an appraisal provision. This resolves disputes about amount of loss, not coverage.
- File a complaint with the Arkansas Insurance Department’s Consumer Services Division at insurance.arkansas.gov.
The Department’s Consumer Services Division investigates complaints about claim practices. It cannot rewrite your policy, but it can and does address conduct that falls below Rule 43’s standards.
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Add Cribb Insurance as a Preferred SourceFrequently Asked Questions
Does the Arkansas Insurance Department publish a roof depreciation schedule?
No. The Department does not publish, mandate, or maintain a roof depreciation schedule. Depreciation schedules are drafted by individual insurance companies and submitted to the Department for form approval. Two carriers writing in the same Arkansas ZIP code can use entirely different percentages for the same roof age and material.
Does Arkansas treat partial roof damage differently than total roof damage for depreciation?
No Arkansas rule, bulletin, or statute distinguishes partial roof damage from total roof damage for purposes of depreciation. Whether a claim is settled as a repair or a full replacement is determined by the cause of loss, the adjuster’s scope of damage, and the loss settlement provisions in your policy — not by a state schedule.
What did Bulletin 17-2023 change?
It lifted Arkansas’s prohibition on a separate wind and hail deductible, and broadened the timeframe in which an actual cash value settlement endorsement could be added to a policy for wind- or hail-damaged roofs. Previously an insurer could offer an optional ACV settlement endorsement on replacement cost policies for roofs over ten years old, and a mandatory endorsement for roofs over fifteen years old. Going forward, Arkansas permits a mandatory endorsement, with approved notice, allowing ACV loss settlement on replacement cost policies for wind- and hail-damaged roofs at age seven.
Does Arkansas require replacement cost coverage on roofs for the first seven years?
Not exactly. Age seven is the earliest point at which a mandatory ACV loss settlement endorsement may attach to a replacement cost policy for wind or hail damage. It is a regulatory limit on when the endorsement can begin, not a state guarantee that every roof receives replacement cost treatment in years zero through six. Your actual coverage depends on the policy form and endorsements your carrier issued.
Who approves the depreciation percentages my insurance company uses?
The insurance company files its endorsement form and the accompanying policyholder notice with the Arkansas Insurance Department for approval. The Department reviews the form and the disclosure. It does not set the percentages, and it does not adjudicate the scope of damage on an individual claim.
Can my insurer depreciate labor on my Arkansas roof claim?
Potentially. Bulletin 10-2017 rescinded the prior Arkansas prohibition on depreciating labor and permits expense depreciation, which may include the cost of goods, materials, labor, and services. To apply it, the insurer must give notice within the policy, define depreciation in the policy to include expense depreciation, and obtain the Commissioner’s approval of the language. It cannot be applied to policies currently in effect — only at renewal, or at inception of a new policy.
What deadlines does Arkansas impose on a roof claim?
Under Rule and Regulation 43, an insurer must advise a first-party claimant of acceptance or denial within fifteen working days after receipt of a properly executed proof of loss. The insurer must complete its investigation within forty-five calendar days after notification of the claim unless the investigation cannot reasonably be completed in that time, in which case the claimant must be notified that additional time is required and told why.
Does Arkansas require insurers to match undamaged shingles?
Arkansas has not adopted a statutory matching mandate for roofing materials. Whether an insurer must replace undamaged slopes to achieve a reasonably uniform appearance is governed by the policy language and, where disputed, by the appraisal provision or the courts.
Does a percentage wind and hail deductible have to be disclosed in dollars?
Yes. Act 471 of 2023 requires insurers to notify customers of the monetary amount of a deductible that is based on a percentage of the home’s insured value. On a home insured for $300,000 with a two percent wind and hail deductible, that is $6,000 out of pocket before the insurer pays anything on a wind or hail claim.
How do I find out which roof settlement method my policy uses?
Read the declarations page and the attached endorsements. Look for the terms roof loss settlement, roofing material payment schedule, actual cash value, or windstorm or hail loss to roof surfacing. The declarations page alone often does not tell the whole story, because the limiting language usually lives in an endorsement.
Can I dispute a depreciation amount on a partial roof claim in Arkansas?
Yes. Options include requesting a reinspection with your contractor present, submitting a documented supplement where the adjuster’s scope differs from the contractor’s, invoking the appraisal provision if your policy contains one, and filing a complaint with the Arkansas Insurance Department’s Consumer Services Division.
Can an independent agent help me compare roof settlement provisions?
Yes. Because depreciation schedules and roof settlement endorsements are carrier-specific rather than state-set, they vary meaningfully from company to company. Cribb Insurance Group represents more than 40 carriers and reviews roof settlement provisions, deductibles, and endorsements alongside price.
Know what your endorsement says before the next hailstorm
Arkansas gives your insurance company a wide lane on roof depreciation. What it gives you is the right to read the language before you sign — and the right to shop it. With 40+ carriers and 25+ years of Arkansas insurance experience, our licensed advisors in Bentonville review roof settlement provisions, deductibles, and endorsements alongside price for homeowners across Northwest Arkansas.
Related reading
- Replacement Cost vs. Agreed Roof Payment Schedule in Arkansas
- Arkansas Homeowners Insurance
- Bentonville Insurance · Rogers Insurance · Fayetteville Insurance
Primary sources
- Arkansas Insurance Department, Bulletin 17-2023 (separate wind/hail deductible; ACV roof settlement endorsement timeframe), as described in the Department’s report to the Arkansas Legislative Council on the Arkansas insurance market.
- Arkansas Insurance Department, Bulletin 10-2017 (expense depreciation; rescinding Bulletin 13B-2013).
- Arkansas Insurance Department, Rule and Regulation 43 — Unfair Claims Settlement Practices.
- Ark. Code Ann. § 23-66-206(13) — definition of unfair claims settlement practices.
- Act 471 of 2023 — disclosure of the monetary amount of a percentage-based deductible.
- Arkansas Insurance Department, Consumer Services Division — complaint filing.
Disclaimer: This article is provided for general educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice, an interpretation of any insurance policy, or a guarantee of coverage. Bulletins, rules, and statutes may be amended, superseded, or rescinded; verify current authority directly with the Arkansas Insurance Department at insurance.arkansas.gov. Coverage, exclusions, endorsements, deductibles, and loss settlement provisions vary by insurance company and policy, and every claim is evaluated on its own facts under the terms and conditions of the applicable policy. Nothing here modifies your policy. Cribb Insurance Group Inc is a licensed independent insurance agency located at 1601 SW Regional Airport Blvd, Bentonville, AR 72713. Call (479) 286-1066 or email service@cribbinsurance.com.