In the top 10 auto insurer providers in the United States, Nationwide’s rates tend to be slightly higher than its competitors. In addition, customer satisfaction tends to be lower than average in select regions like California and the Southeastern United States.
However, the company offers a wide variety of car insurance coverage types and plenty of discounts. Nationwide also provides homeowners insurance and other opportunities to bundle your coverage.
If you’re considering Nationwide auto insurance, here’s what you need to know.
Nationwide advertises itself as a full coverage insurer. With the different coverage options available, you can choose the policies that provide optimal coverage based on your driving habits, risk tolerance, and protection preferences.
Nationwide offers a range of common car insurance coverage, including some required and others optional like:
In addition to cars, you can insure other types of vehicles, including ATVs, snowmobiles, motorcycles, boats, motor homes, and golf carts.
Insurance customers can also add-on coverage like:
Nationwide offers many types of insurance beyond auto coverage, allowing you to bundle car insurance with other types of insurance to get a discount. This isn’t an option with providers focused only on car insurance. Nationwide offers homeowners insurance, pet insurance, life insurance, and other ways to protect your assets.
With Nationwide car insurance, you also have access to a range of discount programs like:
Nationwide also offers an accident forgiveness program that helps you avoid a rate increase after one at-fault accident or minor violation. This is especially useful for families where one person having an accident could affect rates for the entire household. It could also be helpful for teenagers or new drivers who could benefit from a free pass where insurance rates aren’t affected by one fender-bender.
Always remember to contact the company directly with any discount-related questions and shop competitors like GEICO, State Farm, USAA, and others so you can find the best policy and discounts that work for you and your budget.
According to The Zebra, the average monthly cost is $90 for a Nationwide insurance policy. However, you might get a different quote based on your age, gender, and average annual miles. Other factors, including your geographic location, driving record, and credit history, also affect rates. Let’s take a closer look.
Living in a small town with low crime and accident rates will affect your car insurance rates differently than residing in a large city with higher crime and accident rates. Also, living in an area prone to hurricanes impacts how insurers build your insurance quote.
According to The Zebra, Nationwide ranks among the top three cheapest car insurers in Ohio and West Virginia.
Does your driving record include a DUI? If so, your car insurance rates will be higher than someone with a clean record.
According to The Zebra, the average insured person with Nationwide pays $1,347 annually, compared with $3,092 for those with DUIs. In the same data, Nationwide customers with DUIs pay much more than other insurers like Progressive or State Farm.
Collisions or other accidents with your vehicle can impact your car insurance rate, often for several years. It may take as many as five years for your car insurance to go back to normal following an accident. However, the average penalty is three years. How high depends on various factors, including whether or not you caused the accident.
Rate increases depend on your car insurance company and whether it’s your first at-fault accident or not. Nationwide offers accident forgiveness for a driver’s first accident caused by them.
The Zebra has compiled data on average post-accident rates charged by companies across the country. According to that data, you can expect your Nationwide premium to increase from $1,347 annually before any accident to $2,174 on average in the first year. This rate goes up to $3,000 for year two and $3,827 at year three.
Good and poor credit scores can impact your car insurance premiums. According to The Zebra, poor scores will affect your rates by as much as 115% in all but four states. California, Massachusetts, Hawaii, and Michigan passed laws banning car insurance companies from considering people’s credit scores for quotes.
J.D. Power’s 2021 U.S. Auto Claims Satisfaction Study ranked Nationwide at 876, slightly below the industry average of 880. The study looked at 7,345 auto insurance customers settling claims.
In another study, the J.D. Power 2021 U.S. Auto Insurance Study of nearly 40,000 people evaluating customer satisfaction, Nationwide received below-average customer satisfaction in five regions. Another six regions did not include Nationwide in the rankings. The study looked at criteria like auto insurance claims, policy offerings, billing process and policy information, customer interactions, and price.
Nationwide Customer Satisfaction is Below Average in:
Customer satisfaction of Nationwide auto insurance was not reported for New England, Florida, New York, the Southwest, Texas, the Northeast, and the Northwest.
According to S&P Global Market Intelligence, Nationwide is the eighth largest auto insurer, with strong credit ratings and good financial strength. These criteria are important for those looking to purchase auto insurance because you want to make sure the insurance company you choose can pay your claims. For example, if an insurance company gets a poor credit rating, an event such as a devastating tornado, hurricane, or the recent California wildfires could destabilize the company. That could mean you would face delays and problems getting reimbursed for things like a new car or medical claims after an accident.
Nationwide has received an A+ rating from S&P. That’s below the top-tier AA or AAA ratings. However, the company still has a solid capacity to meet its financial commitments. Nationwide received an A1 rating from Moody’s, a report from August 2021 says.
Nationwide, based in Ohio, is nearly a century old. That’s about the same age as State Farm. Nationwide began as Farm Bureau Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, which catered specifically to insurance for farmers. Farmers had fewer accidents than urban drivers at that time, but they were paying the same rates. Over the years, Nationwide evolved to support all types of consumers across the nation.
