Money Research Collective’s editorial team solely created this content. Opinions are their own, but compensation and in-depth research determine where and how companies may appear. Many featured companies advertise with us. How we make money.
Nationwide Life Insurance Review
By Samuel Robert MONEY RESEARCH COLLECTIVE
Finding the right life insurance policy and provider for your needs is no walk in the park, particularly for life insurance beginners. You need ample information on what these policies can and cannot provide in order to choose the right one.
Read on if you’re on the fence about whether you should get life insurance, and whether Nationwide might be a good choice for you. We include information about Nationwide’s life insurance policy options, limitations and the company’s reputation.
Nationwide Life Insurance overview
- There are tax-free death benefits
- There are no annual policy fees
- Term policies can be converted to permanent life insurance
- Premiums are consistent
- Not all states and policies have access to riders
- Not all policies allow access to cash value
- Riders can cost you additional fees
- The website is difficult to navigate
Nationwide Life Insurance company started out as an auto insurance and mutual funds company. It has been around since 1925 and is considered one of the better life insurance providers in the country. Today, it provides a full range of financial and insurance services, including pet, homeowners, auto, renters and life insurance.
Nationwide Life Insurance coverage
As with other providers, the coverage from Nationwide Insurance differs from one policy type to another. There are, however, a few things that are common among them.
What a Nationwide Life Insurance policy offers
Nationwide life insurance comes with tax advantages, again in common with other providers’ offerings. These differ between policies, but potentially tax-free payouts are one of the common denominators of life insurance offerings.
With the company’s term policies, as with its competitors, premium payments stay the same for the policy’s life, unless you customize the policy with add-ons. Nationwide doesn’t charge an annual policy fee.
Some policies offer access to a cash value for the policy. This means you would be able to borrow money from your insurance policy. Note, however, that this is subject to tax penalties if taken before the policyholder is 60 years old.
Another interesting feature of life insurance, including Nationwide’s, is that you can put more of your premium payments toward building the cash value. This means there will be a bigger portion of your monthly payment that will go to your cash value instead of going to your death benefits. This is possible only for the whole or universal life policies.
These policies can also be expanded to include riders. These are optional coverage add-ons for specific ailments or benefits for certain situations that may arise during the policy’s life. For example, the company’s accidental death benefit rider pays the beneficiary an additional amount if the policyholder’s death is accidental in nature.
Nationwide offers no-exam life insurance as well. What is no exam life insurance? It’s a type of policy that does not require any medical exams before policy approval. The no-exam policies, however, can come with more limited coverage and higher premiums.
What a Nationwide Life Insurance policy doesn’t offer
Nationwide life insurance has a few limitations, depending on the kind of policy you sign up for. Most of the policies lack flexible premium payments, which are only available with universal life insurance.
Nationwide doesn’t sell some types of policies to its customers directly online. You need to speak with an agent. Since the website doesn’t provide much information, the agent will also be the one to provide you with more details about the policy options you have, such as riders, options and more.
Types of life insurance options available
As mentioned earlier, Nationwide Life Insurance offers these life insurance types: term, whole and universal. Each comes with its own list of advantages and disadvantages.
Term life
Before we discuss what you can get with the term life policy of Nationwide Life Insurance, let’s first tackle the question, “What is term life insurance?” While it is life insurance, there’s no guarantee that it will be in effect when you die. That’s because it has a set term of coverage — usually between 10 and 30 years, depending on the policy.
Nationwide offers its customers four options for term life insurance: policies that run 10, 15, 20 and 30 years. The longer the term, the lower the monthly premiums you have to pay.
Know, however, that the premium you’ll pay for life insurance from any company is determined by additional factors, like your health condition, age and whether or not you use tobacco products. For this type of policy, Nationwide has an online quoting tool.
The main advantage of term life insurance is its relatively low cost and the fact that you can choose how long your term will be. For some insurance companies, term life insurance builds cash value, but for Nationwide Life Insurance, it doesn’t. When your term expires, unless you choose to extend with costlier annual payments or convert to a permanent policy, what you paid will be of no further use to you or your family.
It’s worth mentioning that Nationwide term life insurance policies can only be converted to permanent ones up to age 65.
Whole life
The second type you can get from Nationwide is whole life insurance. As the name implies, this policy covers you for your whole life regardless of how many years that is. Like the other Nationwide life insurance policies you can consider, this one also has consistent premiums that don’t fluctuate or appreciate over time.
The main advantage of this particular policy is it covers the holder for the entirety of their life instead of a set number of years. Another advantage of Nationwide whole life insurance is you can borrow from it. You can take out loans on your policy, with some restrictions and additional charges tacked on.
If you choose this policy, you should know you have two payment choices. The whole life payment options include the 20-pay Whole Life and Whole Life 100. You can choose the one that best suits your financial capabilities.
The first one lets you pay off the entire policy with the same premiums in 20 years and protects your entire (whole) life. The second one lets you pay your insurance policy with fixed premiums until you’re 100 years old, when the payments stop.
Universal life
Universal life insurance from Nationwide is a mix of its term and whole life insurance policies. It’s also its most flexible life insurance product. Six universal life policies are available from the company: Care Matters, Accumulator, Protector, No-Lapse Guarantee, Variable and Survivorship.
These policies come with lifetime coverage periods, like whole-life policies and customization options with riders. These also come with tax-free death benefits, which can be accessed via loans. The benefits vary by policy, so you must choose which fits your needs best.
Nationwide Life Insurance Accessibility
Aside from the cost and benefits of specific policies, there are a few other factors to consider. These include the ease with which you can contact the company, the kind of help you can get, accidental death benefits and the possibility of making money from the policies.
Contact information
For information on Nationwide life insurance policies, you can call 1-800-848-6331. Its website also has quick links for making a Nationwide payment, filing claims, tracking claims and helping you find an insurance agent near you.
There is a chat function on the ”Contact Us” page, though it won’t connect you to a live person and seems limited in response. For example, a query for the cost of whole life insurance received a definition but no price information or option to chat with a human for a better answer.
Availability
On weekdays, you can contact customer service via email or call them between 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. EST. To get in touch with an agent, you can call them at 1-855-529-2729 between 9:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. EST. For life insurance policies info, you can contact customer service between 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. on weekdays and between 9:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. on Saturdays.
To get a Nationwide life insurance quote for the whole or universal policies, you must call them or fill out a form online for one of their specialists to call you. You can also check out its website to get information on Nationwide term life insurance rates and other insurance policy rates.
Rider options
Nationwide Life Insurance policies can be customized with a few riders, some of which can only be added to specific policy types. These include the following:
- Long-term care
- Chronic illness
- Terminal illness
- Children’s term insurance
- Premium waiver
- Waiver of monthly deductions
- Accidental death benefit
- Extended no-lapse guarantee
- Estate protection
- Guaranteed insurability benefit
- Overloan lapse protection
Dividends
Some life insurance policies allow you to make money by allowing the insurer to invest your funds elsewhere. Nationwide has some plans that let you do that, particularly in its selection of universal life insurance options.
Borrowing from policies
Some insurance policies allow you to borrow money from what you’ve already paid. For Nationwide, you can borrow money from two life insurance types — whole life and universal life. As with a regular loan, you need to pay interest at the current rates when you repay the money borrowed from your policy.
Nationwide Life Insurance customer satisfaction
Another factor you need to know about insurance companies like Nationwide Life Insurance before choosing is how well the company takes care of its customers.
Third-party ratings
Nationwide is one of the insurance companies constantly reviewed by independent reviewers. Most Nationwide life insurance reviews give the company favorable feedback, primarily due to its whole life and universal life insurance policies.
According to AM Best, Nationwide has a Financial Strength Rating (FSR) of A+ and a long-term Issuer Credit Rating (ICR) of AA. The BBB also gives the company an A+ rating.
Customer reviews and complaints
Customer reviews are a mixed bag. Complaints include long wait times on calls, lack of transparency, lack of updates and difficulty communicating with the agents. Those who give the company stellar reviews often do so because of the skill and knowledge of the local agents.
Giving back
Nationwide Life Insurance says it is committed to giving back to communities, which is why it supports a few charities. Some of the charities that benefited from this company include the Nationwide Children’s Hospital, American Red Cross, Feeding America and Beat the Stigma.
Nationwide Life Insurance FAQ
How do you take cash out of your Nationwide Life Insurance?
You can take cash out of your Nationwide Life Insurance if you have a whole life or universal life policy that allows you to take out a loan. You must file a claim if you want to cash out a policy due to the holder's death.
What are the average costs of Nationwide Life Insurance?
The total cost of life insurance is determined by factors like age, health, sex, occupation, lifestyle and length of time for the policy to mature. A $250,000 20-year policy from Nationwide for a non-smoking 35-year-old male in excellent health is approximately $15.75 per month. That amount increases to $29.53 per month for a non-smoking 45-year-old male in excellent health, according to Nationwide.
How we evaluated Nationwide Life Insurance
To evaluate Nationwide Life Insurance, we researched factors such as the suite of life insurance products and the riders that are offered with each. We also checked different reviews online, customer ratings and reviews and the company’s credentials.
Summary of our Nationwide Life Insurance review
Nationwide Life Insurance, or Nationwide Life and Annuity Insurance Company, has a wide range of policies through its universal life option. The term and whole life insurance policies are more limited in coverage options, though the possibility of turning a term life policy into whole life insurance is available.
For business owners, Nationwide Life Insurance also offers commercial insurance.
All policies can come with living benefits if you choose to customize by adding riders to your coverage.
Samuel Robert is an ambitious and enterprising content writer who's constantly looking for new skills. His professional experiences have allowed him to have a broader vision of the different industries in which he has worked. Through many travels around the world, Samuel has also been able to develop adaptability to various environments and challenges. His openness to the world is an asset to his personality and allows him to broaden his sources of inspiration.