The short answer
Often, but for Class 4 shingles alone each Arkansas insurer sets its own discount, so ask your agent for the dollar amount. A FORTIFIED roof is different: Arkansas law requires a discount for one where the insurer's data justifies it, and Oklahoma's insurance department lists filed discounts of 3 to 42 percent off the wind and hail premium.
What does Class 4 mean on a shingle?
Class 4 is the top rating in UL 2218, the lab test shingle makers use to rate impact resistance. Asphalt Magazine's look at roof impact testing describes it: a steel ball between 1.25 and 2 inches across is dropped from 12 to 20 feet onto shingles nailed to a test deck, with the bigger ball and higher drop for the higher class. The shingles are then bent over a rod so any crack on the back shows. No cracks means a pass for that class.
There are four classes. Class 4 means the shingle passed with the largest ball from the highest drop. Class 3 is one step down. A shingle with no rating hasn't passed any of them.
Two things the rating is not. It isn't a hail warranty, and it isn't a promise about real storms. TAMKO's own page for insurance agents says the UL 2218 test uses a dropped steel ball that may not match what happens on a real roof. Very large hail can still damage a Class 4 roof. What the rating does tell you is that the shingle holds up better than one without it, and that's what insurers price.
Do insurers give a discount for Class 4 shingles in Arkansas?
Many do, but for Class 4 shingles on their own it's each company's call. A 1-800-INSURANCE guide to Arkansas home insurance from October 2025 says many carriers give discounts for impact-resistant materials and that the discounts vary by carrier. A roof with a FORTIFIED designation, the standard explained in the next section, is treated differently. Arkansas's Act 427 of 2025 requires an insurer that writes wind or hail coverage on a home certified to the FORTIFIED standard to give a premium discount or rate reduction when its rate data justifies one, on policies issued or renewed on or after July 1, 2026. The same law set up the Strengthen Arkansas Homes grant program, but Smart Home America's Arkansas page said in October 2026 that its applications weren't open yet. For a plain Class 4 roof, no state rule sets the size of the discount, so two neighbors with the same new roof can get very different credits.
That makes the call to your agent the most important step. Ask these before you pick a shingle:
- Do you give a discount for a Class 4 roof, and is there one for Class 3?
- How much is it in dollars per year, not just as a percent?
- Does it come off the whole premium or only the wind and hail part?
- What proof do you need: the shingle's product name on the invoice, a manufacturer certificate, photos of the wrapper?
- Does my policy have a cosmetic damage exclusion for wind and hail, and does the roof type change that?
- Does a new roof change my wind and hail deductible, or how my roof is paid out after a storm?
Write the answers down with the agent's name and the date. If the discount is real money, it goes into the math in the next sections.
Class 4 roof discounts and the FORTIFIED grant in Oklahoma
Oklahoma's program is further along. The Oklahoma Insurance Department publishes a sheet of insurer discounts for homes with a FORTIFIED Home High Wind and Hail roof designation, a standard from the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety. The discounts come off the wind and hail premium and are based on insurers' 2018 rate filings with the department:
| Insurer | Filed discount |
|---|---|
| National Security Fire and Casualty | 42% |
| State Farm | 30% |
| Union Mutual | 25% |
| Goodville Mutual | 20% |
| IDS Property Casualty | 20% |
| Armed Forces Insurance Exchange | 15% |
| Employers Mutual Casualty | 15% |
| Shelter Insurance | 14% |
| Foremost | 10% |
| Nationwide Mutual Fire | 6% |
| QBE Insurance | 3% |
Source: Oklahoma Insurance Department, OKReady discount sheet. The department says discounts vary by carrier and location and may change.
The state also runs the Strengthen Oklahoma Homes grant, which pays up to $10,000 toward a FORTIFIED roof and is open to every Oklahoma ZIP code. The department's page lists the rules: the house must be your primary residence with a homestead exemption and wind coverage; you pay the FORTIFIED evaluator yourself; you must use a contractor from the department's approved list; and you need the award letter before any work starts. Starting early makes you ineligible.
How much more do Class 4 shingles cost?
RoofCalc's impact-resistant shingle guide puts Class 4 shingles at about 10 to 20 percent more than standard 3-tab or architectural shingles. Roof Observations prices a 1,700 square foot architectural shingle roof in Arkansas at $8,925 with tear-off, so 10 to 20 percent on that roof is about $890 to $1,790. Our post on roof replacement costs in Arkansas breaks down the rest of a roof bill.
Whether it pays for itself comes down to one division: the extra cost of the Class 4 shingle, divided by the yearly discount your agent quotes in dollars. As an example with round numbers, a $1,500 upgrade and a $150 a year discount takes ten years to pay back. A bigger discount, or a house you'll keep for twenty years, makes the case stronger.
The discount isn't the only return. A roof that shrugs off a moderate hailstorm can spare you a claim, a deductible and the hassle of a mid-season replacement. Our post on what to do after hail damages your roof shows what a claim involves, and how a wind and hail deductible of 1 or 2 percent of your home's value adds up.
Which shingles are Class 4, and which are Class 3?
Check the rating on the manufacturer's own page, not the sales sheet. Here's what the makers we install say about their lines.
Malarkey
Malarkey's product list shows its Vista, Legacy and Windsor shingles with a Class 4 impact rating and Highlander with a Class 3. You can see the Malarkey shingle we install on our Malarkey Class 4 page.
TAMKO
TAMKO says its Titan XT is classified UL 2218 Class 3, and that shingles with a Class 3 rating may qualify for insurance discounts. Titan XT also carries TAMKO's WindGUARD 160 mph wind warranty, which comes with installation requirements set out in TAMKO's warranty and application instructions. TAMKO's Class 4 shingle is StormFighter FLEX. More on our TAMKO Titan XT page.
If your insurer only discounts Class 4, a Class 3 shingle won't get the credit. Ask before you choose the color.
Are all Class 4 shingles equally tough?
No. UL 2218 is a pass or fail test with a steel ball, so two shingles can both be Class 4 and still handle real hail differently. The Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety (IBHS) runs its own hail impact-resistant shingle ratings for that reason. It says not all impact-resistant asphalt shingles perform the same, so it buys shingles from retail stores, fires simulated hail at them that mimics the way real hail damages a roof, and grades the dents, tears and granule loss.
IBHS's hail damage guide recommends choosing shingles rated Good or Excellent in those ratings when you replace a roof. Its ratings page lets you look up a shingle by product and by year.
Manufacturers quote these results too. Malarkey's impact resistance page says its Vista and Legacy shingles were two of only four shingles in the country to score Excellent or Good in every category of IBHS's hail study. That's the maker's summary, so check the shingle on IBHS's own page before you count on it.
When you compare quotes, ask for the exact shingle name on each one, then look up both its UL class and its IBHS rating. A Class 4 label tells you the shingle passed a test; the IBHS grade tells you how well.
Is a Class 4 roof worth it in Fort Smith and Northwest Arkansas?
It usually makes sense when most of these are true:
- You plan to stay in the house long enough for the discount to cover the extra cost
- Your insurer quotes a real yearly discount in dollars for a Class 4 roof
- You've had hail claims before, or your wind and hail deductible is a percentage of your home's value
- You'd rather not deal with another storm claim in a few years
It makes less sense if you're selling soon, your insurer gives no credit, or the money would stretch further on decking, ventilation or flashing the roof needs anyway.
Metal is the other route for hail country, with its own tradeoffs around dents and cosmetic damage exclusions; our post on metal roof costs in Arkansas covers them. Either way, ask for a standard architectural shingle and a Class 4 shingle to be priced on the same estimate so you can see the gap in dollars. Ramos Roofing Plus gives free estimates across Fort Smith, Bentonville and the rest of Northwest Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma.
About Ramos Roofing Plus
Ramos Roofing Plus is a second-generation, family-owned roofing and siding company in Fort Smith, Arkansas, in business since 2000. We put on shingle, metal and TPO roofs and siding across Northwest Arkansas, the Arkansas River Valley and eastern Oklahoma, and back new roofs with a 5 to 10 year workmanship warranty. More about us.