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Product Liability in Arkansas

Arkansas's Product Liability Act defines claims broadly and sets a three-year period after the death, injury, or damage occurs. The Arkansas Supreme Court has applied a discovery rule where a claimant could not yet know the product caused the injury, so the date may require claim-specific analysis. 1,2

What Is Product Liability?

Product liability can cover claims that a product you make, import, distribute or sell injured someone or damaged property. If your business handles products, describe every role in the supply chain and ask how the quote treats product damage and recall costs. Read the national Product liability guide.

What to Watch for in Arkansas

  • Track product-cause discovery

    The statute states three years from when death, injury, or damage occurs. In Martin v. Arthur, the Arkansas Supreme Court held that the period does not begin until the claimant knew or reasonably should have discovered the causal connection to the product. Preserve incident, diagnosis, investigation, and product identification dates; ask counsel to assess which date controls. 1,2

  • Keep distribution-chain records

    Arkansas defines a product-liability action to include injury, death, or property damage claims arising from design, manufacturing, warning, marketing, packaging, or labeling. Maintain records showing whether your company designed, imported, assembled, labeled, distributed, or only resold the item so the broker can map named insureds and product activity. 1

  • Separate coverage reporting from filing deadlines

    The court’s discovery rule concerns when a claimant’s suit period starts; it does not determine when your policy requires notice of an occurrence or claim. Report incidents under the policy’s own terms even while causation or injury severity is being investigated. 2

Who Regulates Insurance in Arkansas

Arkansas Insurance Department

The Arkansas Insurance Department licenses resident and nonresident producers and business entities, accepts insurance complaints, and provides links to company and producer license searches. It operates as a division of the Arkansas Department of Commerce. 3,4,8,5

Surplus-lines tax and stamping office

Reported tax rate: 4% when Arkansas is the insured's home state Arkansas's broker filing instructions set a 4% surplus-lines tax. Federal law assigns nonadmitted-insurance regulation and tax to the insured’s home state; for a multistate policy, ask your broker to show the home state and the premium allocation used for the Arkansas filing. Arkansas law requires the contract to disclose that the state's property-and-casualty guaranty protection does not apply. 6,7,9

Providers With Documented State Licenses

These providers publish a national listing for Product liability; the state records document licenses for the entities and roles shown below. Some records rely on company-reported information rather than independent regulator verification. A national listing does not confirm the product is available in Arkansas. Check the regulator’s license lookup and confirm state availability for your business when requesting a quote.

  • VouchVouch Specialty Insurance Services, LLCInsurance producer, Surplus-lines broker · checked 2026-09-28Vouch’s licenses page, effective January 16, 2025, lists producer licenses in all 50 states and DC. Its separate surplus-lines table includes Idaho number 870820, while a footnote says Georgia and Idaho do not issue agency-level surplus-lines licenses. Because those statements conflict for Idaho, this record keeps Idaho producer-only and does not treat the table number as established agency surplus-lines authority. The page is company-reported and does not establish product availability. 16Vouch lists product liability among the core coverages in its technology-company programs.

Questions to Ask Before You Buy in Arkansas

  1. Which entities design, import, manufacture, label, distribute, install, or sell our products in Arkansas?
  2. What product dates, warnings, warranties, and change records should we preserve for claims in Arkansas?
  3. How do the policy’s product wording, reporting terms, and defense provisions apply when a claim involves several product-chain businesses?

Product Liability in Arkansas: FAQ

When does Arkansas’s three-year period start? 1,2

The statute says three years after the death, injury, or damage occurs; the Arkansas Supreme Court applied a discovery rule where the claimant could not yet know the product-injury connection. A court determines the application to a particular claim. 1,2

What did Martin v. Arthur decide about when a product-injury claim accrues? 1,2

The Arkansas Supreme Court applied the discovery rule where the claimant could not yet know the product caused the injury; the statute’s three-year period still requires claim-specific accrual analysis. 1,2

Product Liability in Other States

Other Coverage in Arkansas

Sources

  1. Arkansas Code and Constitution, official legislative portal. Arkansas General Assembly; Official Code search resource; Ark. Code § 16-116-103, three-year product-liability filing period. Accessed 2026-09-29.
  2. Arkansas Insurance Department. Arkansas Insurance Department; Official agency homepage. Accessed 2026-09-28.
  3. Licensing. Arkansas Insurance Department; Licensing Division guidance and state-based systems lookup for Arkansas agent and agency licensees. Accessed 2026-09-28.
  4. File A Complaint. Arkansas Insurance Department; Online complaint filing for insurance providers, including agents and companies. Accessed 2026-09-28.
  5. Surplus Lines Brokers Filing. Arkansas Insurance Department; Current broker filing instructions state that 4% broker tax must be remitted. Accessed 2026-09-28.
  6. 23 CAR § 201-104: Endorsement of contract. Arkansas Code of Rules; Required surplus-lines contract disclosure: no Arkansas P&C Guaranty Act protection and 4% tax collected from insured. Accessed 2026-09-28.
  7. 15 U.S.C. § 8202: Regulation of nonadmitted insurance by insured's home State. U.S. House of Representatives, Office of the Law Revision Counsel; § 8202(a): nonadmitted placement is subject solely to insured's home-State requirements, except as otherwise provided; § 8201 addresses exclusive home-State tax authority. Accessed 2026-09-28.
  8. Licenses. At-Bay; Current producer introduction and state table; At-Bay Insurance Services LLC; P&C and surplus-lines identifiers. Accessed 2026-09-21.
  9. Licenses and Carriers. Coalition; Licenses and Carriers, re-read 22 September 2026: Insurance Licenses table for Coalition Insurance Solutions, Inc., national producer number 18419475, with producer and surplus-lines numbers for all 50 states and DC including California 0L76155, Georgia 196479, Texas 2199630 and 2205589, Pennsylvania 815731 and 817452, Colorado 539028 and Wisconsin 3000108852. Insurance Carriers table naming, with NAIC numbers, Allianz Underwriters Insurance Company 36420, Arch Specialty Insurance Company 21199, Ascot Specialty Insurance Company 45055, Ascot Insurance Company 23752, Aspen Specialty Insurance Company 10717, Chaucer Insurance Company DAC, Coalition Insurance Company 29530, Fireman's Fund Indemnity Corporation 11380, Fortegra Specialty Insurance Company 16823, Lloyd's of London, MSIG Specialty Insurance USA Inc. 34886, MS Transverse Specialty Insurance Company 41807, Steadfast Insurance Company 26387, Vantage Risk Specialty Insurance Company 16275 and Zurich American Insurance Company 16535. Accessed 2026-09-22.
  10. Insurance Producer Licenses. Corgi Insurance; Current complete Insurance Producer Licenses table for Corgi Insurance Services, Inc.; 50 rows covering 49 states and DC (DC 3003091619); no New Mexico row; no NPN or as-of date shown. Accessed 2026-09-28.
  11. About Hiscox US Insurance. Hiscox; Hiscox Insurance Company Inc. NAIC 10200 as Chicago, IL domiciled insurer admitted or licensed in all 50 states and D.C.; Hiscox Inc. as general agent and Lloyd’s coverholder for Syndicates 33 and 3624; surplus-lines placements through licensed surplus-lines brokers; A.M. Best rating statement. Accessed 2026-09-16.
  12. Licenses. ERGO NEXT Insurance; Current entity-by-state license table reopened 28 September 2026: 50 rows under Next First Insurance Agency, Inc., including Washington, DC; New York rows instead list Next Insurance Services PC-1423070 and AP Intego BR-1198885. Accessed 2026-09-28.
  13. Insurance Licenses by State. TechInsurance; Current state table; identifies TechInsurance as a division of Specialty Program Group LLC d/b/a SPG Insurance Solutions; lists DC 3000041536 and labels Rhode Island “Individual licenses,” without an agency license number. Accessed 2026-09-28.
  14. Licenses. Vouch; Effective 16 January 2025: Vouch Specialty Insurance Services, LLC, NPN 19926463; P&C table (50 states and DC); surplus-lines table includes Idaho 870820; footnote says Georgia and Idaho do not issue agency-level surplus-lines licenses; Idaho retained as producer-only due to conflict. Accessed 2026-09-15.

Updated .

This guide is informational and does not determine whether a policy is available or meets your needs. Editorial policy. To suggest a correction, contact Spot with a supporting source.

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