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Completely customizable homeowners policies with plenty of perks, but a hands-off approach to weather coverage
When you own a house, there are a few things you need to be absolutely sure of. Topping that list are the safety of everyone in your home, the protection of your belongings, and the coverage you have in case of a disaster. While some folks might think of home security and their homeowners insurance as two separate things, the fact of the matter is home insurance is home security. It protects your biggest investment against all kinds of perils.
With that in mind, we’re going to look at the offerings, rates, and specific details about one of the biggest names in the insurance industry — Nationwide. Before we get into it, though, let’s take a quick look at their primary protections.
Nationwide’s online quote generator is an easy way to draft your home policy in minutes.
Nationwide does a pretty good job of simplifying its policies, but there were definitely times I wasn’t sure if the coverage I was considering was standard or extra. This breakdown should help if you find yourself scratching your head before you reach out for a quote.
Don’t forget bundling will likely save you a lot. It knocked over $40 off my quote when I reviewed State Farm’s home insurance plans. Check out Nationwide’s homeowners and auto insurance bundles below.
Basic | Optional |
---|---|
Dwelling (including other structures) | Replacement cost plus |
Contents (actual cash value) | Brand New Belongings |
Personal liability | Better Roof Replacement |
Medical payments to others | Valuables Plus |
Loss of use | Weather (wind and hail) |
Inflation protection | Water backup |
Credit card coverage | Earthquake damage |
Flood insurance |
Pro Tip: A Closer Look at Inflation Protection”]When I crunched the numbers in my Nationwide home insurance review, I insured a house for $250,000, which was fine for a rebuild in 2022. But what if I rebuild in 2023? Inflation will have driven construction costs up. How much? According to the latest report from the Associated General Contractors of America, costs jumped 13% from 2020 to 2021 alone.1
Homeowner’s Tip: Slate roofs are expensive ($600 to $1,500 per square) compared to asphalt ($70 to $150), but slate shingles are energy efficient and can last a century or more. The only downside? Slate is heavy, so you’ll need extra sturdy rafters to support your roof.
The least expensive Nationwide policy might not be the safest option for your household.
Generalizing home insurance quotes is impossible, but I can give you a pretty good idea of how the average U.S. home — valued at $250,000 and built in 1985 — looks to a Nationwide insurance calculator (see above). I can also show you how tweaking a few values can give you a lighter (or heavier) monthly bill. Just remember, lighter doesn’t always mean safer, as we’ll see below.
Pro Tip: Protecting your identity is just as important as protecting your home. If you’re looking to keep yourself safe from scams and hackers, check out our guide to identity theft protections.
But first, a quick look at how Nationwide’s rates stack up against national averages and the rest of the competition.
Here’s how my Nationwide quote looks against the national average. Not bad at all.
Nationwide monthly premium | Nationwide yearly premium | Average monthly premium in the U.S. | Average yearly premium in the U.S. |
---|---|---|---|
$87 to $173 | $1,053 to $2,085 | $104 | $1,249 |
Nationwide holds its own against our other top homeowners insurance picks of the year too. Now back to that quote.
Average Monthly Cost – Nationwide
The factors that affect premiums the most are the property’s condition, age, value, and location.
Here’s a quick example: The basic quote we looked at a few paragraphs ago was for a home in an Ohio suburb, which has low rates because it’s considered safe — very few natural disasters, low crime, etc. I also stripped out replacement cost value coverage for my possessions and extra roof replacement coverage to arrive at that ultra-light premium — two choices I may regret down the line.
If I take a house with about the same price tag and homeowners profile and try to get it insured in Omaha, Nebraska, a state at high risk for tornadoes? My base insurance has just jumped almost threefold!
Nationwide plans in Nebraska are nearly three times the cost of plans in Ohio.
Location is one factor. Everyone’s needs are different too. To bring this point home, let’s see what happens when I add some extra weather coverage to my Nebraska policy. Remember, tornadoes are filed under “wind damage” and that’s an extra deductible with Nationwide.
Homeowner’s Tip: Is no weather coverage a dealbreaker? With Progressive homeowners policies, weather damage is included.
A higher Nationwide deductible means a lower monthly bill.
Bullseye! A $5,000 deductible (about 2.8 percent of my coverage) drops my premium by $85 a month. Of course, you may be willing to pay more up front for a lower annual bill, but you get the idea.
Did You Know: In 2021, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration recorded 1,254 tornadoes in the U.S. But the twisters that wrought the most financial havoc all came in April, pummeling Kentucky and other states in the South for a grand total of over $8.5 billion in insured losses.2
Nationwide’s insurance menu is extensive. It offers everything from travel and wedding insurance to dental and life insurance. The company will even insure your golf cart! Here are three of Nationwide’s most popular plans, any of which you should be able to bundle with your homeowners policy.
I don’t think you’ll be able to spring a leak in a Nationwide auto insurance policy. It covers just about every scenario, for whatever vehicle you’re driving. You’ll also find gap insurance (think Brand New Belongings coverage, but for your car) and my personal favorite: accident forgiveness, which locks your rate against future accidents.
Nationwide writes wallet-friendly term life policies and permanent options with more flexibility but higher premiums. If you like a little more risk in your life (insurance), then you can also enroll in a variable plan, in which part of your policy’s cash value is invested in stocks.
Homeowner’s Tip: Think you’re too young for life insurance? You may be, but the longer you wait, the higher your premium will be.
Pets are living longer these days, which means more bills for their owners. The average yearly tab for man’s best friend runs between $580 and $875,3 and an unexpected illness can carve a chunk out of anyone’s savings. Nationwide’s pet policies are a few dollars less than most of the competition we’ve reviewed — a pretty good incentive to consider bundling.
Bundling your Nationwide auto and home insurance could save you as much as 20 percent.
Bundling policies cuts down on paperwork, even if it’s digital. But if you opt to package your Nationwide policies together, it’s likely because you want to save. Nationwide’s biggest saver is its auto and home bundle. You could trim as much as 20 percent off your bill that way.
Nationwide also has an auto bundle for renters, which is no accident. In the last census (2019), renters were 36% of the U.S. housing market.4
A third option is a life, home, and auto bundle. That may be a lot of insurance to see in one sentence, but it could be a very attractive option for households already juggling three monthly bills.
FYI: Nationwide isn’t the only top home insurance provider to advertise money-saving bundles. If you’re looking to save — and who isn’t? — then you may want to check out State Farm home and auto insurance bundles, the cheapest we’ve seen this year.
Nationwide delivers standard savings for claims-free customers, new homeowners, and homeowners who have recently renovated. But it also offers a few stand-out discounts. Let’s start with my favorite: Nationwide’s smart home program.
Homeowner’s Tip: Nationwide offers a bunch of homeowners discounts, but that’s only scratching the surface. Get a complete picture of the kinds of discounts the industry is offering this year in our Homeowners Insurance Buyer’s Guide.
Nationwide’s monthly premiums of $88 to $173 give you a fair idea of how difficult it is to pin down a universal homeowners rate. Even the National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ official U.S. average rate ($104 per month) doesn’t really mean anything if you live in Omaha, where the risk of extreme weather means unusually high monthly insurance bills.
Nationwide takes some of the uncertainty out of the process by giving you a bare-bones plan you can build from the ground up. That way you can see just how much your choices influence your bottom line, coverage by coverage.
But Nationwide isn’t all bare bones. Its policies offer a few very nice perks, such as credit card protection, incentives to go smart, and some assistance when it’s time for a new roof. If no weather coverage is a sticking point, remember that à la carte weather coverage means you have more control over your deductible.
Yes, it does. Nationwide’s online quote generator is fast and exceptionally thorough. You’ll have a solid draft quote in minutes.
Nationwide’s rates are about average, but policies in high-risk states can be significantly more expensive.
Nationwide is a triple threat. You can bundle home, auto, and life insurance and save.
If you opt for the more expensive Brand New Belongings coverage, it’s a two-step process. First, Nationwide will reimburse you for the depreciated value of your things. Once you buy your new stuff and send in the receipts, you’ll get the rest.
No, flood insurance is an extra deductible with Nationwide. This is standard for the industry.
Associated General Contractors of America. (2021). CONSTRUCTION INFLATION ALERT.
https://www.agc.org/sites/default/files/AGC%202021%20Inflation%20Alert%20-%20Ver1.1.pdf
Insurance Information Institute. (2021). Facts + Statistics: Tornadoes and thunderstorms.
https://www.iii.org/fact-statistic/facts-statistics-tornadoes-and-thunderstorms
Grandstaff, M. (2016, August 24). This is how much it really costs to own a dog per year. USA Today.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/2016/08/24/how-much-costs-own-dog-per-year/88449800/
Desilver, D. (2021, August 2). As national eviction ban expires, a look at who rents and who owns in the U.S. Pew Research Center.
https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/08/02/as-national-eviction-ban-expires-a-look-at-who-rents-and-who-owns-in-the-u-s/