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Nationwide Home Insurance Review

Author Icon By Brenda Woods Updated 02/26/2024

In This Review: Our Take | Pros and Cons | Cost and Discounts | Coverage | State Availability | Customer Reviews | Conclusion | Comparison | Company Information | FAQ | Methodology

Purchasing a home is a serious investment, and protecting your home goes beyond installing a burglar alarm. What would you do in the event of a fire? Could you afford to pay to repair or rebuild your home, or replace all your personal belongings out of pocket?

Luckily, with a home insurance policy, you don’t have to.

Not all home insurance companies are the same—they can differ in coverage, add-on options, customer service quality, availability, and more. The This Old House Reviews Team has created this in-depth Nationwide home insurance review to help you determine if the company is the best fit for your needs.

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Our Take

Nationwide is one of the largest auto and home insurers in the country, with strong financial backing and extensive home insurance coverage. Not only does its basic policy cover all industry-standard protections, it also offers some perks that are usually considered endorsements, or add-ons, like ordinance protection and inflation protection coverage. The company also offers pet insurance options with a 5% discount for its home insurance policyholders.

Unfortunately, Nationwide neither offers 24/7 customer service nor has an online chat function. We give Nationwide home insurance a score of 92.12 out of 100.

On Nationwide’s Better Business Bureau profile, common complaints cite poor customer service. Reviews range from noting timeliness and professionalism to difficulty pinning down coverage amounts.


Pros and Cons

Compare the advantages and disadvantages of Nationwide homeowners insurance.

Pros Available nationwide Comprehensive coverage, including ordinance protection Strong financial backing
Cons No 24/7 customer service by phone No online chat

How Much Does Nationwide Home Insurance Cost?

The exact cost of Nationwide home insurance depends on a variety of factors, including your property value, size, the materials it was constructed with, where you live, the coverage limits you select, the insurance deductible you choose, and more.

Discounts

Nationwide offers several discounts to help lower the cost of your home insurance.

Nationwide Home Insurance Discounts

DiscountDescription

Multi-policy

Discount for bundling your Nationwide insurance policies

Claims-free

Discount for staying claims-free for a stipulated period time

Protective devices

Discount for devices like fire alarms, burglar alarms, and smoke detectors

Home renovation credit

Discount for renovating plumbing, cooling, heating, and electrical systems

Roof rating

Discount depending on your roof’s age and surface type

Home purchase

Discount for homes purchased within the last year

Gated community

Discount when all car entrances to the community are protected at all times by residence cards, security guards, or key-lock devices

Prior insurance

Discount for new members, based on the number of years you were insured by your previous carrier continuously


Coverage

Nationwide offers all industry-standard coverage in its basic policy plus some protections that are treated as endorsement add-ons by many of its competitors.

Nationwide Home Insurance Coverage

TypeDescription

Dwelling + other structures

Covers your home’s structure (interior and exterior), as well as detached structures like a shed or garage

Personal property

Covers personal property in case of a covered loss, including electronics, furniture appliances, and clothes

Loss of use/Additional living expenses

Covers the costs associated with living outside of your home due to covered damage, including dining and accommodation

Personal liability

Covers legal fees if you are sued for injury or personal property damage to a guest on your property

Medical payments

Covers the medical expenses of a guest who gets injured at your home

Ordinance coverage

Covers the cost to rebuild your home to current building codes after a covered loss

Credit card

Covers up to the selected limit for unauthorized charges to credit card and debit card, plus counterfeit money and forged checks

Nationwide offers a range of endorsements to help you customize your homeowners insurance policy.

Endorsements

TypeDescription

Brand New Belongings

Covers the cost to repair or replace personal belongings, starting with the money for the depreciated value. When you send in a receipt, Nationwide will pay the difference

Better Roof Replacement

Covers the cost for your home to be rebuilt with safer roofing material in the event of a covered loss

Valuables Plus

Provides extra coverage for high-value items like watches, antiques, jewelry, and fine art

Replacement cost plus

Pays up to an additional 20% of property coverage limit if your home needs to be rebuilt post-loss

Identity theft

Helps keep personal data secure from cybercrimes

Earthquake

Provides additional coverage for damage caused by earthquakes

Flood

Protects home from flood damage

Water backup

Covers damage from water backing up from drains or sewers, and sump pump failure


State Availability

Nationwide home insurance is available in all 50 states, so no matter where you live or want to move, you will be eligible for coverage. Click on your state below to see a complete list of the top providers in your area and compare them against Nationwide:

Alabama | Alaska | Arizona | Arkansas | California | Colorado | Connecticut | Delaware | Florida | Georgia | Hawaii | Idaho | Illinois | Indiana | Iowa | Kansas | Kentucky | Louisiana | Maine | Maryland | Massachusetts | Michigan | Minnesota | Mississippi | Missouri | Montana | Nebraska | Nevada | New Hampshire | New Jersey | New Mexico | New York | North Carolina | North Dakota | Ohio | Oklahoma | Oregon | Pennsylvania | Rhode Island | South Carolina | South Dakota | Tennessee | Texas | Utah | Vermont | Virginia | Washington | West Virginia | Wisconsin | Wyoming


Reviews of Nationwide Insurance

Nationwide is accredited by the Better Business Bureau and holds an A+ rating from the organization. See what some customers had to say about their experience with Nationwide.

Erica R. said:

“Our home was hit by a tornado on Memorial Day. Although we had a few hiccups with insurance at first, the adjuster that came out to assess property damage and the adjuster for personal loss have been wonderful! Both have followed up with us numerous times to make sure things are going well and we don’t need anything. Both adjusters have been easy to contact and respond quickly to any questions we have. They have made this difficult situation much easier by their expertise and compassion.”

Brandon T. said:

“They constantly raise rates for no reason. There customer service representatives have lied to me multiple times about the real reason for the rate increases and my agent told me he would get me quotes from other companies instead of dealing with the real issue.”


Our Conclusion

Nationwide offers comprehensive home insurance coverage nationwide through its basic policy. That policy is impressive because it includes some coverage types that are usually considered endorsements, like ordinance protection and credit card coverage. Unfortunately, the company does not offer 24/7 customer service except through Twitter. We give Nationwide home insurance an overall score of 92.12 out of 100. To get a free quote, call 1-360-262-2561.

To ensure you find the right provider for your needs, we recommend getting quotes from multiple home insurance companies that serve your area:

Compare Homeowners Insurance Policies
Answer a few simple questions and we’ll take care of the rest.

Nationwide vs The Competition

See how Nationwide stacks up against some of its top competitors on key metrics.

Comparison

ProviderNationwideLemonadeAmica®

Our score

$92

83.5

96.6

State Availability

$94

27*

48 (not available in AK and HI)

BBB Rating

A+

B+

A+

Years in Business

$138

5

113

24/7 Claims Service by Phone

X

Protective Devices/Safety Features Discount

Ordinance protection included

X

X

Bundling Discount

Mobile App

*Lemonade home insurance is available in AZ, AR, CA, CO, CT, GA, IL, IN, IA, MD, MA, MI, MO, NV, NJ, NM, NY, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, TN, TX, VA, WA, WI


Company Information

  • Company name: Nationwide
  • Company type: Public
  • CEO: Kirt Walker
  • Year founded: 1926
  • Headquarters: One Nationwide Plaza, Columbus, OH 43215
  • State availability: 50
  • BBB rating: A+

Other Homeowners Insurance Resources


Frequently Asked Questions About Nationwide

Is Nationwide good for home insurance?

Nationwide offers comprehensive home insurance coverage in all 50 states through its basic policy, including ordinance protection and credit card coverage, which are usually treated as endorsements by its competitors. The company also offers many discount options.

What does Nationwide home insurance cover?

In its basic policy, Nationwide offers coverage for dwelling and other structures, liability, medical payments to others, personal property, ordinance coverage, and credit card coverage.

Does Nationwide offer discounts?

Nationwide offers discounts ranging from claims-free to gated community and protective devices.

Is Nationwide the biggest home insurance company?

No, Nationwide is not the biggest home insurance company in terms of market share. However, it is one of the largest, with roughly 3% market share.


Our Methodology

The This Old HouseReviews team is committed to providing comprehensive and unbiased reviews to our readers. This means earning your trust through transparency and having the data to back up our ratings and recommendations.

With that in mind, we created an objective rating system to score each home insurance company. Here’s what that review process looked like:

  • We analyze the information on each company’s website. This allows us to determine what products and services are offered by each home insurance provider.
  • We get a sample quote from the companies by either talking to a sales representative or by using the online quote tool. This tells us what a policy looks like and costs.
  • We test customer service by talking to a company representative, finding out their hours of operation, and determining what technological features are available for customers.
  • We update all of this information on a continuous basis, storing it in a proprietary database that allows us to compare dozens of home insurance companies against each other.

With this data, we created a rating methodology to score each home insurance company. Our rating system is a weighted, 100-point scale based on the following factors:

  • Coverage (30): We rated home insurance companies higher if they offered the six main types of homeowner protection—dwelling, other structures, personal property, loss of use, liability, and medical payments to others coverage.
  • State availability (7.5): Companies scored higher if they covered more states than their competitors.
  • Customer service (15): This factor is based on our communications with the company representatives, as well as the companies’ claims and quotes processes, availability throughout the week, and customer service information found on their websites.
  • Technology (12.5): Technology can increase the efficiency of filing and tracking home insurance claims. Companies scored higher if they had technology options like mobile apps and online chat functions.
  • Reputation (20): We gauged trustworthiness based on years of experience and Better Business Bureau (BBB) ratings.
  • Additional benefits (15): Companies that offered optional features, like discounts and endorsements, scored higher than competitors that didn’t.

Our Reviews team has a full-time researcher who collects and regularly updates data points from every company to help us compare them on key factors such as coverage, service, and dependability.

To share feedback or ask a question about this article, send a note to our Reviews Team at reviews@thisoldhousereviews.com.