Nationwide Insurance Review 2021

Although it’s probably best known for car insurance, Nationwide offers many types of insurance and financial products. If you prefer to bundle insurance products with a financially strong company, Nationwide might be a good fit.

Nationwide auto insurance

Nationwide auto insurance earned 4.0 stars out of 5 for overall performance. NerdWallet’s ratings are determined by our editorial team. The scoring formula takes into account pricing and discounts, ease of filing a claim, website transparency, financial strength, complaint data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners and more.

Nationwide offers all that you would expect from an auto insurer, plus a few additional options and perks:

• Gap insurance pays the difference between the cash value of your car when it was totaled or stolen and the amount of money left on your loan or lease. This insurance may be required by your lender, and you must purchase comprehensive and collision coverage to get it.
• Vanishing Deductible: This optional program allows you to chip away at your deductible by driving safely. For every year you don’t have an accident, your deductible goes down by $100, up to a $500 reduction.
• On Your Side Review: Every year and after a major life event, you can take advantage of a free assessment by one of Nationwide’s agents to help you determine whether your insurance policies are right for you and go over any available discounts.
• Accident forgiveness: This helps you avoid a rate increase after you or someone on your policy causes a crash. It’s not available in every state, and Nationwide will forgive one accident per policy only.
• Total loss deductible waiver: If your car is totaled, this coverage lets you waive your comprehensive or collision deductible.

» MORE: Car insurance comparison tool

Nationwide’s auto insurance discounts include:

• Multipolicy discount.
• Anti-theft discount.
• Accident-free discount.
• Good student discount.
• Safe driver discount.
• Paperless discount.
• Discount if you sign up for automatic payments.
• Affinity member discount for being part of groups like alumni associations or professional organizations.
• Defensive driving discount for those age 55 and older who complete an approved safety course.

SmartRide uses an app or device that plugs into your car’s diagnostic port to monitor your driving behavior. It can track mileage, fast acceleration, hard braking and the time of day you drive. Nationwide uses the data to determine your discount, up to 40%, for safe driving. Drivers can get an initial discount just for signing up.

SmartMiles could save you money if you don’t drive often. This pay-per-mile program charges a base rate, plus a variable premium based on how many miles you drove in the previous month. In addition to savings based on low mileage, you could also get a 10% discount for safe driving.

» MORE: Car insurance quotes: What you need to know

Nationwide homeowners insurance

Nationwide offers homeowners insurance with typical coverage options, plus perks like ordinance or law insurance, which covers the cost of rebuilding your house to current building codes during a claim. The company also offers a few extras you can opt into, including:

• Brand New Belongings: If your belongings are damaged, destroyed or stolen, Nationwide will reimburse you for brand-new items rather than for the value of your old things.
• Better Roof Replacement: If you need to replace your roof and the damage is covered by your policy, Nationwide will reimburse you to have it rebuilt with stronger and safer materials than your old roof.
• Water backup coverage pays if your house is damaged by water backup through sewers or drains, or if your sump pump overflows.
• Valuables Plus offers additional coverage for valuables such as jewelry, antiques and art if they are stolen or damaged.
• Identity theft coverage includes credit monitoring and assistance with recovery if you’re a victim of identity fraud.

Nationwide’s home insurance discounts include:

• Multipolicy discount.
• A discount if you purchased a home within the past 12 months.
• Protective device discount for having burglar or smoke alarms.
• Claim-free discount.
• Discount for home renovations, including electrical or plumbing upgrades.
• Prior insurance discount.
• Gated community discount.
• Discount based on your roof’s age and surface type.

» MORE: Home insurance quotes: What you need to know

Nationwide complaints and customer satisfaction

Nationwide had fewer than the expected number of complaints to state regulators for home and auto insurance relative to its size, according to three years’ worth of data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.

Nationwide ranks better than average for auto insurance customer satisfaction but gets mixed reviews for home insurance, according to J.D. Power studies.

More about Nationwide

Website: Nationwide’s website has a portal where you can pay bills, file and track claims, manage policies and view documents. The site also has tools for planning your retirement.

Mobile apps: You can manage your policy, start a claim, call for roadside assistance and get auto insurance ID cards on the Nationwide mobile app, available for iOS and Android. The company has a separate app for its SmartRide program, which tracks your driving behavior and offers discounts for safe habits.

Nationwide life insurance

Nationwide offers term, whole, universal and variable life insurance policies. To learn more, see our Nationwide life insurance review.

Nationwide also partners with third parties to sell classic car insurance, wedding insurance and special liability insurance.

Recap: Nationwide pros and cons

Auto insurance ratings methodology

NerdWallet’s auto insurance ratings reward companies for customer-first features and practices. Ratings are based on weighted averages of scores in several categories, including financial strength, consumer complaints, website transparency and affordability. Using our editorial discretion, we also consider customer satisfaction surveys. These ratings are a guide, but we encourage you to shop around and compare several insurance quotes to find the best rate for you. NerdWallet does not receive compensation for any reviews. Read our editorial guidelines.

Methodology: Insurer complaints

NerdWallet examined complaints received by state insurance regulators and reported to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners in 2016-2018. To assess how insurers compare to one another, the NAIC calculates a complaint index each year for each subsidiary, measuring its share of total complaints relative to its size, or share of total premiums in the industry. To evaluate a company’s complaint history, NerdWallet calculated a similar index for each insurer, weighted by market shares of each subsidiary, over the three-year period. Ratios are determined separately for auto, home (including renters and condo) and life insurance.