Our take

Nationwide is ranked highly for its cheap rates, renewals and claims satisfaction.

Overall, Nationwide auto insurance came in at No. 5 in Insure.com’s ranking of the Best Car Insurance Companies for 2023 with 3.5 stars out of 5.

Nationwide’s rates are consistently lower than most of the companies in our survey – although it isn’t among the best for discounts. But it’s a big company offering many different policy options, making it a good choice for one-stop insurance shopping.

Below is Insure.com’s review of the company. It’s based on third-party metrics and an in-depth survey of insurance customers. Find the full methodology here, including an explanation of our survey scores.

nationwide
Nationwide Ratings
Overall Rating: 3.5
Average Premium: 5.0
NAIC: 0.66
Customer Satisfaction: 4.2
AM Best Rating: A+

Pros and Cons

Pros:
  • Consistently low rates
  • High rating for claims service
  • Best-rated company for digital experience
Cons:
  • Average customer satisfaction and ease of service ranking
  • Doesn’t rate as well as other insurers for discounts
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How much Nationwide costs

Nationwide has low rates compared to other companies in our survey with a national average cost of $1,190 a year, or $120 a month. That makes Nationwide the cheapest car insurance company out of the top 10 insurers in our ranking.

Insurance company Monthly rate/premium
Nationwide $99
State Farm $120
Allstate $174

How Nationwide scores for customer satisfaction

Nationwide wasn’t among the top companies for customer satisfaction. Still, 84% of the Nationwide customers in our survey said they were satisfied or highly satisfied with the company. Another satisfaction metric to consider is J.D. Power. The company doesn’t rate auto insurance companies on a national level for overall satisfaction, so we averaged out the company’s rating across all regions. Nationwide scored 815/1,000, which was just a bit below the category’s average of 834.

Insurance company Percent of customers satisfied with the company overall
Nationwide 84%
Erie 96%
Farmers 78%

How Nationwide scores on ease of service

Eighty-seven percent of customers said they were satisfied or highly satisfied with the ease of getting service from Nationwide. It was in good company – Geico, Progressive and Erie all came in with 87% in this category, which measures ease of accessing policy documents and services.

Insurance company Percent of customers satisfied with the company’s ease of service
Nationwide 87%
Liberty Mutual 92%
Auto-Owners 73%

How Nationwide scores on policy offerings

Eighty-four percent of customers surveyed said they were satisfied with the company’s offerings. Most companies in our survey were in the 80-90 percentile range.

Insurance company Percent of customers satisfied with the company’s policy offerings
Nationwide 84%
Erie 91%
Auto-Owners 73%

Would current customers recommend Nationwide to others?

Customers would overwhelmingly recommend Nationwide to their friends and relatives. In the survey, 95% of current customers said they’d recommend the company to others. That wasn’t the top score in the survey, but still quite high, matching market-share leader State Farm.

Insurance company Percent of customers who would recommend their auto insurance company to others
Nationwide 94%
Travelers 96%
State Farm 94%

How trustworthy is Nationwide?

We asked customers to tell us how they felt about the statement, “I trust my insurance company.” Sixty-five percent of Nationwide customers said they could trust the company, which was among the lower scores in this survey category.

Insurance company Percent of customers who say they trust their auto insurance company
Nationwide 65%
Travelers 81%
Geico 76%

Do Nationwide customers plan to renew?

Nationwide customers do plan to renew with the company. Of the current customers in the survey, 97% said they would re-up with the company – one of the highest scores in the survey.

Insurance company Percent of customers who plan to renew with their auto insurance company
Nationwide 97%
Erie 100%
Auto-Owners 95%

How Nationwide scores on claims handling

Of the top 10 companies in our ranking, Nationwide had the highest rating for claims handling. However, Amica was the winner of J.D. Power’s claims satisfaction survey. Nationwide scored 868/1,000 on that survey, just below the industry average of 873.

Insurance company Rank for claims handling
Nationwide 1
Travelers 2
Allstate 3

How Nationwide scores on digital experience

Nationwide ranked first in our survey for digital experience, which includes the company website and mobile app. However, not all companies in our survey had enough responses in this category for the editors to rank them.

In the Apple store, Nationwide customers rate the app 4.8 stars out of 5. It’s less well-rated in the Google Play store, at 4 stars out of 5.

Insurance company Rank for digital experience
Nationwide 1
Liberty Mutual 2
Geico 3

How Nationwide scores for discounts

Nationwide’s customers didn’t often say it was best for discounts. However, thanks to low base rates, Nationwide may still be a very affordable pick, even without a lot of discounts.

Insurance company Average discount Survey score for discounts
Nationwide 9% 55%
State Farm 15% 77%
Farmers 6% 67%

Nationwide car insurance coverages

  • Car
  • Motorcycle
  • Classic car
  • Snowmobile
  • ATV
  • RV
  • Scooter
  • Golf cart

Nationwide additional insurance policies

  • Homeowners
  • Renters
  • Condo
  • Boat/personal watercraft
  • Life
  • Long-term care
  • Pet
  • Dental
  • Umbrella
  • Identity theft
  • Specialty health
  • Travel
  • Wedding
  • Flood
  • Business

Nationwide car insurance coverage options

  • Bodily injury liability
  • Property damage liability
  • Personal injury protection
  • Uninsured/underinsured motorist
  • Medical payments
  • Collision
  • Comprehensive
  • Rental car
  • Towing and labor
  • Gap coverage

Discounts

  • Multi-policy
  • SmartRide: Discount for joining the UBI program
  • Defensive driving
  • Anti-theft
  • SmartMiles: Drive less and pay less
  • Safe driver
  • Accident-free
  • Good student

States where Nationwide offers coverage

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Company background

nationwide

Nationwide was founded in 1926 and is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. The company has more than 25,000 employees and is in the top hundred of the Fortune 500 list. Nationwide owns many subsidiary companies across the insurance market, offering just about every type of insurance.

Nationwide products are sold directly or through independent insurance agents.