Nationwide Car Insurance [2025]: Happy Customers, Good for Seniors

Nationwide is a national car insurance company that stands out for its high customer satisfaction ratings and extensive coverage options. Its rates are mostly just fine, and it lacks some discounts, but certain drivers may enjoy better premiums with Nationwide than with other large insurers. I would most recommend the company to seniors, especially those who qualify for defensive-driving discounts, but I've seen much better rates for liability-only and full-coverage car insurance for people with imperfect and perfect driving records. 

I'd also recommend Nationwide for usage-based programs as it offers a very attractive potential discount for its safe driving program, SmartRide, and a solid pay-per-mile program, SmartMiles. Here's what you need to know about Nationwide car insurance, including what it costs, what it covers, and what might make it the right (or wrong) option for you.

Nationwide pros and cons

How much does Nationwide cost?

You're always going to pay less for liability-only car insurance than you would for full-coverage, no matter what an insurer might find in your driving history, but Nationwide is interesting for having wider price gaps between the two than you might typically see. This makes its prices more competitive for liability-only coverage.

Nationwide's premiums are higher than many of its competitors but far from the highest I've seen.

Compared to the national average rates, provided below, Nationwide's costs are lower for all coverage for many drivers. However, they're close to the average for some. Teens and people with clean driving records, for example, aren't likely to save a lot by choosing Nationwide, but the rates are good for seniors looking to save on car insurance.

Is Nationwide car insurance good?

Company ratings:

• AM Best: A
• J.D. Power claims satisfaction: 728/1,000
• BBB: A+
• NAIC complaints: 0.39

Nationwide is, by all accounts, a good, trustworthy company for car insurance.

Nationwide is the 10th largest car insurance provider by market share in the U.S., according to the NAIC Market Share Report, which is important to keep in mind when looking at data. The bigger the company, the more customers it has, so a very high satisfaction rating means more because it comes from more people. The flip side is also true.

For Nationwide to have an NAIC complaint index of just 0.39, the lowest I've seen for an auto insurance company, means that Nationwide customers are filing complaints with their state insurance departments far less than other customers … nationwide. The J.D. Power 2024 U.S. Auto Claims Satisfaction Study further confirms this. At 728, Nationwide received the fourth-best score in the analysis, putting it just behind Erie Insurance and just above Liberty Mutual. This study, which found 697 to be the average, measured brand trust from the perspective of how long claims take to process, how comfortable consumers are using digital tools to file, and how satisfied they are with communication.

I would personally like to see a higher AM Best grade for an insurance company I'm considering (the scale goes up to A++), but A still indicates financial stability. You shouldn't have cause for concern.

Discounts

Nationwide is missing some discounts that have become all but commonplace among popular insurers, including student-away-from-home discounts and discounts for some safety features. It has fewer discounts than Progressive, which is a bit light on them among the biggest insurers.

Put another way, if you're looking for ways to save money on car insurance with Nationwide, you won't be able to rely on a massive range of discounts. Some of the discounts it does offer, however, are quite competitive (like its SmartRide and SmartMiles programs).

SmartRide and SmartMiles

Telematics or usage-based programs are a good option for lowering your car insurance rates if your driving habits put you at a lower risk of accidents and incidents. Nationwide's SmartRide program is a telematics program that measures how safely you drive. It can shave up to 40% off your premium, which is staggeringly high compared to other companies, which will typically cut rates by up to around 20%, maybe 25%, for the safest drivers.

SmartMiles is a usage-based program built on pay-per-mile coverage. You'll pay a base rate each month, plus a per-mile rate that depends on how much you drive. Rates vary, but this may help you cut costs if you have a short or infrequent commute. I wouldn't recommend this type of policy to people who drive a lot, but I'd consider it myself as someone who drives once or twice a week and doesn't put more than around 10 miles on my car each time.

Coverage

While Nationwide's discounts and rates fall a bit flat, its coverage is another story. The company provides more options for car insurance policies than many others, with unique insurance add-ons I don't often see. A few types of coverage that stand out are GAP insurance, a vanishing deductible (not terribly uncommon but a great option for accident-avoidant drivers), and a total loss deductible waiver.

The vanishing deductible allows for trimming $100 off your deductible every year you're claim-free, up to $500 total, which is pretty standard. The total loss deductible waiver would lead to having your physical damage deductible waived if your car is entirely totaled and you had comprehensive or collision coverage.

Nationwide provides the following types of coverage:

• Bodily injury liability
• Property damage liability
• Personal injury protection (PIP)
• Uninsured/underinsured motorist protection
• Medical payments
• Collision coverage
• Comprehensive coverage
• Towing and labor
• Rental car expense
• GAP coverage
• New car replacement
• Vehicle value upgrade
• Accident forgiveness
• Vanishing deductible
• Roadside assistance
• Total loss deductible waiver

Nationwide vs. competitors

Nationwide falls somewhere in the low-middle of the pack when you compare its car insurance rates to those from the top car insurance companies.

I want to take a closer look at how Nationwide compares to State Farm, the country's largest insurer; Progressive, a close competitor in terms of pricing; and Travelers, an insurer that's similar in size.

Nationwide vs. State Farm

Average car insurance premiums aren't close between Nationwide and State Farm, as State Farm beats Nationwide pretty handily on rates. State Farm is not only known for providing more discounts than most companies but also for having lower base rates than many insurers, although Nationwide scores better for trustworthiness if you're looking at BBB grades, the J.D. Power claims satisfaction study, and NAIC complaints. State Farm, however, wins for national availability, being offered in every state.

Nationwide vs. Progressive

If you want to compare Nationwide to Progressive, take a close look at the difference in premiums between liability-only and full-coverage because that's where things get interesting. For liability coverage, you could be offered better rates with Nationwide than with Progressive. But for full-coverage car insurance, Progressive's premiums are mostly lower.

Progressive also has more independent agents than Nationwide (over 38,000 for Progressive compared to 11,000 for Nationwide). But Nationwide's network isn't too shabby, especially considering State Farm, the nation's top car insurer, has about 19,000.

Nationwide vs. Travelers

Travelers is a little larger than Nationwide by market share, and the two offer pretty comparable car insurance rates and coverage overall. Travelers takes the lead over Nationwide for being available in all 50 states and offering more discounts, but it receives a lot more complaints.

If I were between the two myself, I would consider Travelers only if I lived in a state where Nationwide wasn't available or specifically wanted a discount or type of policy not offered by Nationwide.

FAQs

Bottom line

Nationwide car insurance might be right for you if you want to pick from multiple standard and specialty policies, and I would most strongly recommend it to seniors and people interested in saving on their insurance with usage-based policies. Nationwide customers are more satisfied with their claims than most, and that's an important consideration when you're looking for any type of insurance.

As you search for auto insurance, I recommend including Nationwide in the mix of quotes you compare, although you may find better car insurance rates with one of its competitors.

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