Nationwide Home Insurance Review 2024

Nationwide offers competitive home insurance rates when compared to other top companies and made Forbes Advisor’s list of best home insurance.

Home insurance company	Annual average cost for $350,000 coverage	Dollar difference lower than national average annual cost of $1,678
Progressive	$729	‘-$949
Nationwide	$1,157	‘-$521
Erie	$1,256	‘-$422
USAA*	$1,270	‘-$408
State Farm	$1,298	‘-$380

Source: Quadrant Information Services.
*USAA home insurance is open only to members of the military, veterans and their families.

See MoreSee Less

Nationwide is the eighth largest home insurance company in the nation. More than 26,000 associates serve Nationwide locations across the country. The company is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio.

Nationwide’s home insurance policies provide the standard coverage you would want:

• Dwelling coverage: Dwelling coverage pays for damage to your home and its attached structures, such as a deck or garage.
• Other structures coverage: This pays for damage to detached structures on your property, like a shed, fence or gazebo.
• Personal property coverage: Personal property coverage pays for damage or theft of your personal belongings, such as your furniture, art, clothes, electronics and valuables.
• Liability insurance: Liability home insurance covers property damage and injuries to others that you accidentally cause. For example, if your child throws a ball through your neighbor’s window. Liability insurance also pays for legal expenses if you are sued because of an incident that’s covered by your policy.
• Medical payments: Medical payments coverage pays for smaller medical bills—typically up to $5,000— of people accidentally hurt on or off your property, not including household members.
• Additional living expenses: Loss-of-use, or additional living expenses coverage, pays for expenses like lodging, meals and services (such as laundry or pet boarding) if you cannot live in your home because of a problem covered by your policy, like a house fire.

In addition to home insurance, Nationwide sells condo insurance and renters insurance. Nationwide also sells umbrella insurance, which gives you greater liability protection beyond the limits of your homeowners and auto policies.

Home insurance policy add-ons available from Nationwide include:

• Better roof replacement coverage pays for a new roof made from more resilient materials if your roof needs to be completely replaced after damage from a problem covered by your policy.
• Earthquake insurance covers home damage caused by earthquakes. You will have to pay a separate deductible for this coverage.
• Flood insurance covers your home and the personal belongings from damages caused by flood waters. You will have to pay a separate deductible for this coverage.
• Identity theft protection helps to keep your personal data safe from thieves.
• Replacement cost plus pays up to two times your dwelling coverage limit if you rebuild your home after it’s damaged by a problem covered by your policy. This is also called extended replacement cost coverage.
• Valuables plus protects high-priced items such as jewelry and fine art.
• Water backup extends coverage if a drain should back up or a sump pump should overflow.

Related: Cheapest Homeowners Insurance Companies Of 2024

Nationwide Private Client offers insurance for homes, vehicles, personal collections and excess liability for high-net worth individuals. Insurance products can be customized and there is a risk solutions program and customer service and claims support.

Nationwide Private Client home insurance has features such as:

• Guaranteed replacement cost to rebuild your home even if the total cost exceeds your policy limits.
• A cash-out option if your house is destroyed and you decide not to rebuild it
• Accidental breakage coverage up to $50,000 for special items such as crystal, statuary and sculptures
• Equipment breakdown coverage for appliances and household systems
• Identity theft assistance benefits to help you safeguard your personal information

Nationwide Private Client offers personal collections insurance for items such as jewelry, fine arts, silverware, wine, furs, cameras, musical instruments, stamp collections and coin collections. Personal collections insurance includes scheduled or blanket coverage for your collection, market value protection for the collection and reduced rates for the safe storage of the collection. Fine arts repairs are also covered.

Wildfire protection is included for Nationwide Private Client homeowners in some states. Nationwide has partnered with Wildfire Defense Systems to provide:

• Monitoring and notification: Get timely notifications if a wildfire is threatening your property so you can arrange mitigation measures.
• Response services: A fire crew may be sent to your home to set up sprinklers, apply fire-blocking gels and clear trees and shrubs to help protect your property if wildfires are imminent.

Nationwide offers multiple home insurance discounts, including:

• Multi-policy discount for bundling your home and auto insurance.
• Protective device discount if you equip your home with fire and burglar alarms.
• Claims-free discount if you haven’t filed a claim on your homeowners insurance.
• Home renovation credit. Make improvements to your home’s electrical, heating and cooling systems and you could get a discount.
• Roof rating discount depending on your roof’s age and surface type.
• Home purchase discount if you purchased your home within the past 12 months.
• Prior insurance discount for new customers depending on how long you were insured with your previous home insurance company.
• Gated community discount if you live in a gated community where all vehicle entrances are protected by key-lock devices, residence cards or security guards.
• Fortified home discount can give lower rates if your policy covers windstorm or hail damage.

Nationwide typically has higher than average home insurance complaints to state departments of insurance. In 2023, Nationwide’s complaint ratio was slightly below the industry average. A company’s complaint level can reflect customer satisfaction.

To find the best home insurance we scored companies based on these factors:

• Home insurance rates (50% of score): Based on average rates for each insurance company for homes with dwelling coverage of $200,000, $350,000, $500,000 and $750,000.
• Complaints (20% weight): Based on complaints about home insurance that were upheld by state insurance departments. Source: National Association of Insurance Commissioners.
• Availability of extended and/or guaranteed replacement cost coverage (20% of score): Extra dwelling coverage is valuable in the event of large disasters, when construction materials and labor costs tend to spike. We gave points to companies that offer either extended or guaranteed replacement cost coverage. Source: Forbes Advisor research.
• Banned dog lists (10% of score): Banned dog breed lists can make homeowners ineligible for coverage. (A company’s banned dog list might not be applicable in all states.) While any homeowners insurance company could potentially ban any dog with a biting history, not all put a ban on specific breeds. Source: Forbes Advisor research.