In today's world, securing your loved ones' financial future is a top priority. Nationwide Life Insurance is a leading provider offering a variety of life insurance products to suit different needs and budgets. Whether you're seeking term life insurance for temporary coverage or whole life insurance for lifelong protection with a cash value component, Nationwide boasts a comprehensive portfolio to explore. This review will delve deep into Nationwide Life Insurance, analyzing its plans, features, customer service, and financial strength to help you decide if it's the right fit for your life insurance needs.
Introduction of Nationwide
Nationwide is an all-around terrific firm that tops our list of the best life insurance companies for a variety of reasons, including large no-cost benefits, excellent customer service, a strong financial foundation, and a simple no-exam application procedure for coverage up to $5 million. Coverage is offered nationally, and the firm has one of the most extensive portfolios of life insurance policies we've encountered. You generally won't go wrong with Nationwide for your life insurance needs.
Pros
- Outstanding customer satisfaction.
- A variety of policy categories.
- Most insurance offer three living benefits.
- No medical exam coverage for up to $5 million.
- Accepts credit card payments.
Cons
- No live chat
- Simplified whole-life policies Not available to everyone.
Company Overview
Nationwide was founded in 1926 and is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. It is the country's 14th largest insurance firm. It began as a modest, mutually owned vehicle insurance firm and today provides a wide range of insurance products, including life, auto, home, pet, and travel. As the name implies, plans are accessible across the country, as well as in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
Nationwide offers term life insurance both online and through agents; however, other plans must be acquired through agents.
Specifications
| AM Best Rating | NAIC Score (avg.) | Years In Business | Policy Types | Accepts Credit Cards |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A+ | N/A | 97 Years | Final Expense, Indexed Universal (IUL), Term, Universal (UL), Variable Universal (VUL), Whole | Indeed |
Pros Explained
Outstanding customer satisfaction
One of the main reasons we selected Nationwide the best life insurance company in 2022 is their ability to gratify clients. Nationwide rated second in customer satisfaction among the 21 businesses assessed for J.D. Power's 2021 U.S. Individual Life Insurance Study. The following year, Nationwide slid to sixth place, but it still scored significantly higher than the industry average. It also had much fewer consumer complaints than expected for a company of its size, ranking in the top 25% of the 91 companies we evaluated.
A variety of policy types:
It could be true that Nationwide has a policy type for everyone. We looked into the availability of six typical policy types: term, whole life, universal life (UL), indexed UL, variable UL, and final expense, and Nationwide offers them all. This is significant because if you like the firm but are unsure what type of coverage you require, you will have a variety of options.
Most insurance contain these three living benefits
One of the primary reasons we selected Nationwide on our list of the best life insurance companies for 2023 is its great living benefits package. Most Nationwide policies automatically include riders with chronic, critical, and terminal illnesses at no additional cost. If you have one of the aforementioned conditions, these riders allow you to access your death benefit early. In instance, only ten of the 91 firms we studied provide all three living benefits at no cost on certain policies. Nationwide is our top-rated company for including all three on most plans.
Nationwide offers a very high death benefit on policies that do not require a medical exam.
While you must be in good health to qualify for no-medical-exam life insurance, many companies cap the highest attainable death benefit at less than $1 million.
Allows credit card payments
Many insurers do not allow you to pay your premium with a credit card, however Nationwide does. Because your policy may lapse if you miss one or more payments, this feature is especially important if your income fluctuates.
Cons Explained
No Live Chat
Nationwide's website does not include a live chat facility, so if you have a query, you will need to phone or email. While this is a disadvantage for the organization, live chat is not yet a standard feature on life insurance websites.
Simplified whole life insurance are not available to everyone.
They are only available to current policyholders. To qualify for Nationwide's easy issue whole life insurance, you must first have an auto or homes policy with them. This sort of coverage is best suited for applicants who have health difficulties, require a death benefit of less than $50,000, and prefer to answer only a few health questions without taking a medical test.
Complaint Index.
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) uses consumer complaints against insurance companies to provide a useful indicator known as the NAIC complaint index. This index shows how many complaints a company has received compared to the number predicted for a company of its size.
The complaint index starts at 1: if a company's index is less than that, it received fewer complaints than predicted. If it is larger than 1.0, the company has received more complaints than anticipated. For example, an index of 2.0 indicates that the company received twice the expected number of complaints.
Nationwide's 2022 NAIC complaint index was only 0.1. This implies it received considerably fewer complaints than is typical for a company of its size.
Third-Party Ratings
To determine a company's financial stability, we used AM Best's Financial Strength Ratings. AM Best is an impartial credit rating service that assesses over 16,000 insurance businesses globally to determine their ability to satisfy ongoing insurance commitments. AM Best has a rating scale ranging from A++ to D.
Because an insurance policy is a long-term and frequently high-value contract between you and an insurance company, you must ensure that the firm can keep its commitment to pay your beneficiaries in the event of your death. Nationwide's AM Best rating is A+.
AM Best. "AM Best Affirms Credit Ratings of Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company and Its Key Operating Subsidiaries."
This is AM Best's second-highest grade, indicating that Nationwide has a "superior" ability to perform its ongoing insurance responsibilities (pay claims).
Nationwide also performed admirably in a J.D. Power survey of customer satisfaction rates. In the 2021 J.D. Power Individual Life Insurance Study, it ranked second out of 21 firms, scoring 813 points on a 1,000-point scale, far higher than the average company score of 776.
Nationwide fell to sixth place out of 22 firms examined by J.D. Power in 2022, but it still scored higher than the 774 industry average (791).
Competition
| Insurance Company | Coverage Options | 2022 Dividends | Online Application | Financial Strength Rating | Term Policy Affordability | Customer Complaint Index | Industry Ranking |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nationwide | Term, whole life, UL, IUL, VUL, final expense | Not applicable | Available | A+ | Average | 0.083 | 6 |
| Pacific Life | Term, whole life, UL, IUL, VUL | Not applicable | Not Available | A+ | Excellent | 0.023 | 5 |
| MassMutual | Term, whole life, UL, VUL | Nearly $1.85 billion | Available | A++ | Better than average | 0.043 | 9 |
Policies available.
Except for simplified whole life, all of the policies listed below include free chronic, critical, and terminal illness coverage. All products listed below, with the exception of simplified whole life, are eligible for Nationwide's Intelligent Underwriting procedure, which makes up to $5 million in coverage available without an exam to healthy applicants up to the age of 50. Healthy candidates up to the age of 60 may be eligible for coverage of up to $1 million without having to take an exam.
Term Life Insurance
time life insurance ensures that the insured's beneficiaries receive a set death benefit if the insured dies during a specified time, such as 20 years. Term policies, as opposed to permanent life insurance policies, often have no savings component and only the death payment.
Guaranteed Level Term
This is how Nationwide refers to its term life policies. "Level term" simply indicates that the premium will not change during the policy's term, which is a basic characteristic of most term plans, along with a guaranteed death benefit.
Nationwide offers term policies for ten, fifteen, twenty, and thirty years. Policies are convertible, which means you can convert them to permanent coverage until the end of the term or when you turn 65, whichever comes first, without having to requalify for coverage.
This is a generous conversion option, as some other providers limit the conversion period to a set number of years, such as the first ten years of coverage. Nationwide's term policies feature three living benefits at no extra cost for chronic, critical, and terminal conditions.
Whole Life Insurance
Whole life insurance is a sort of permanent coverage (intended to last the remainder of your life after you purchase it) that accrues cash value. Premiums remain the constant throughout the life of the policy, and the policy's cash values (year after year) are predetermined and guaranteed as long as premiums are paid.
Nationwide offers both a typical whole life product and a simplified issue whole life policy, which are discussed further in the "Final Expense or Burial Insurance" part of this study.
Whole Life 100% and 20-Pay Whole Life
Nationwide's traditional whole life insurance offers two premium payment options: a 20-year payment period or a payment until the age of 100. Nationwide's classic whole-life plans are offered to applicants aged 80 and younger, and they contain chronic, critical, and terminal illness riders at no additional cost.
Universal Life Insurance
Universal life insurance is also a type of permanent coverage that accumulates cash value. However, the cash value accumulates at current interest rates, and premiums are adjustable.
Nationwide's UL II insurance offers a no-lapse guarantee, ensuring coverage does not lapse if you pay the stated premium. Unlike a whole life policy, a UL policy's cash value may be credited in various amounts each year, depending on the prevailing interest rate environment. If the cash value does not improve as expected, you may need to raise the premium to cover ongoing insurance expenses. Otherwise, the policy may lapse. A no-lapse feature ensures that the premium you pay will cover the insurance even if cash value gains are insufficient to do so.
Applicants aged 85 and younger are eligible for policies that automatically include chronic, critical, and terminal illness riders. You can also add a long-term care rider (which is not available with the whole-life insurance).
Warning! Some Nationwide policies, like many other permanent life insurance policies, include a surrender term during which you will be charged if you cancel the contract or remove the cash amount. The surrender period may extend up to twenty years.
Variable Life Insurance
Variable life insurance is a type of permanent life insurance that includes sub-accounts, similar to mutual funds, where you can invest the cash value. Because the sub-accounts are invested in equities, you may lose or gain cash value based on their performance. Variable life is regarded as the most risky type of life insurance.
Nationwide provides three VUL products.
VUL Accumulator: This policy is intended for investment-minded individuals aged 35 to 55 who require death benefit protection but wish to use the cash value for tax-advantaged growth and supplemental retirement income.
VUL Protector: Although a VUL product, this policy is more conservative than the Accumulator version and is aimed at those aged 30 to 60. It offers a death benefit assurance while also allowing you to directly participate in market growth.
Advisory VUL: This product is only offered through registered investment advisors (RIAs) and fee-based financial advisors that can manage your investments for you. People aged 40 to 60 are the target demographic, and they are looking for a larger return on financial worth.
Warning! Because a variable universal life insurance policy (VUL) is directly invested in the stock market, its cash value may decline. These are investment products that must be sold with a prospectus and are not warranted.
Indexed Universal Life Insurance
Indexed policies are a sort of universal life insurance that, to a certain extent, participates in stock market gains while avoiding direct market risk. Cash value growth is related to a stock market index, such as the S&P 500, but earnings are subject to floor and ceilings. Though not as hazardous as variable life insurance, these policies are sophisticated and can lose value if market gains are insufficient to balance policy expenses—which might jeopardize the death benefit or possibly force the policy to lapse.
Nationwide provides the following indexed plans, which all employ methods based on the S&P 500, NASDAQ-100, and Dow Jones Industrial Average.
IUL Accumulator II 2020 has a larger potential return on cash value than IUL Protector II 2020. Nationwide's YourLife IUL Accumulator coverage is comparable but only available in New York.
IUL Protector II 2020: Prefers cost-effective death benefit protection with some cash value increase potential (albeit less than IUL Accumulator II 2020). Nationwide's YourLife IUL Protector is a similar coverage sold only in New York.
Survivorship IUL 2020: This is a second-to-die insurance (it pays out on the death of the second insured person, such as a spouse) that provides death benefit protection with the possibility of cash value growth.
Final expenses or burial insurance
A final expense policy (also known as burial or funeral insurance) is a type of permanent life insurance that does not require an exam and has few to no medical questions. These insurance usually offer minimal death benefits and relatively hefty premiums.
Simplified Whole Life
Nationwide's simple whole life insurance provides up to $50,000 in death benefit protection to existing and new Nationwide auto or homeowners policyholders, as well as selected family members. To apply for this coverage, you do not need to take a medical exam and simply answer a few health questions. The death benefit is "graded" for two years; if you die of natural causes during this time, your beneficiaries will get the premiums you paid into the policy plus an additional 7% of those premiums, rather than the death benefit itself.
Simplified Whole Life
Nationwide's simple whole life insurance provides up to $50,000 in death benefit protection to existing and new Nationwide auto or homeowners policyholders, as well as selected family members. To apply for this coverage, you do not need to take a medical exam and simply answer a few health questions. The death benefit is "graded" for two years; if you die of natural causes during this time, your beneficiaries will get the premiums you paid into the policy plus an additional 7% of those premiums, rather than the death benefit itself.
Available Riders
Nationwide provides an extensive list of riders. The following are examples of some of the most prevalent, though the list is not exhaustive:
Chronic disease benefits: If you are unable to conduct at least two activities of daily living (ADLs), you may seek up to 20% of your death benefit early.
Critical illness benefit: If you develop a critical illness, such as cancer or a heart attack, you may be eligible to collect a portion of your death benefit early.
Terminal illness benefit: If you are diagnosed with a terminal illness and have 12 months or less to live, you may get a portion of your death benefit early.
"Terminal Illness Benefit." Available nationwide.
The long-term care rider, which is available on Nationwide's UL and VUL products, allows you to utilize a portion of your death benefit to pay for long-term care.
The accidental death benefit rider will pay an additional sum on top of your policy's death benefit if you die as a consequence of an accident.
Children's term insurance rider: This rider, available for children at least 15 days old, provides a death benefit in the event that any of your children (including stepchildren and adoptive children) die before you.
Guaranteed insurability benefit rider: This rider allows you to raise your death benefit if you get married, have a kid, or adopt a child before your 40th birthday.
Premium Rider Waiver: If you become disabled, your premiums will be waived after a six-month waiting period.
Customer Service
To contact Nationwide's Life Insurance Solution Center, call 1-800-321-6064 between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. EST on weekdays. You can also look for a local Nationwide agent to contact or send an email using the company's online form. Online chat with an agent is not available, however the organization does have a chatbot that periodically appears and may be able to help you discover what you're looking for. (Live chat is not yet a standard service for insurance companies.)
Note: Tip: For the most personalized quote experience, contact Nationwide directly at 1-866-207-9160.
Price
Nationwide provides an estimating tool to help you determine your life insurance needs. It also allows you to request a quick quotation online to get an idea of how much life insurance may cost.
We obtained quotations for 30-year $250,000 term plans for men and women in great health aged 25, 40, and 55. Nationwide's term policy premiums were roughly average among all of the companies for which we obtained data. (The corporation does not sell 30-year term plans to guys over 50.)
While not exceptionally good or inexpensively priced, it's worth noting that Nationwide's term policies automatically include chronic, critical, and terminal illness riders for free—something that is not usual in term insurance in general. If these advantages are important to you, Nationwide's average-priced term policies are an excellent deal.
Final Verdict
Nationwide stands out for a variety of reasons, including significant living benefits, high coverage no-exam policy alternatives, a strong track record of customer satisfaction, and a diverse product offering. If you're looking for a permanent or term coverage with chronic, critical, and terminal disease accelerated death benefit riders, look no further. And if customer service is a primary priority, Nationwide should be at the top of the list.
Frequently Asked Questions.
How long does it take Nationwide to pay a claim?
If you are the beneficiary of a Nationwide life insurance policy, our financial service professionals can assist you in selecting the appropriate payment or investment option. Most life insurance claims take between a week and two months to be paid out.
What does Nationwide's life insurance cover?
Life insurance usually covers both natural and accidental causes of death. Depending on the type of Nationwide life insurance you buy, the death benefit might cover a wide range of expenses for your beneficiary, including funeral and burial fees, outstanding debts, and lost income.
Can you borrow against your Nationwide life insurance policy?
Yes, if necessary, you may borrow against the cash value of your Nationwide whole life insurance policy. However, keep in mind that borrowing against the cash value reduces the death benefit payable to your beneficiary.
Term life insurance policies do not have a cash value component, thus you cannot borrow against them.
Do Life Insurance Policies from Nationwide Pay Dividends?
No, unlike many other insurance companies, Nationwide whole life policies do not pay dividends.