Nationwide Pet Insurance Review 2023 – Pros, Cons, & Verdict

In This Review: Our Review | Pricing & Plans | Coverage | Deductibles & Claims | FAQ | Conclusion

You’re likely familiar with Nationwide Insurance through their many commercials featuring famous music stars singing, “Nationwide is on your side.” Nationwide meets a variety of insurance needs, such as home and car, but did you know they also offer pet insurance? If not, it’s time to learn more about Nationwide’s pet insurance policies—including what they cover, what they don’t, and how much you can expect to pay.

Nationwide Pet Insurance Review

Other Top Rated Pet Insurance Companies

About Nationwide Pet Insurance

With Nationwide Pet Insurance, you can ensure your pet is protected in the case of illness or injury, as the company’s basic policies cover this reasonably well. However, if you want more than just the essential coverage for illness and injury, be prepared to pay a bit more. The plan that’s a step up from their most basic also offers coverage for vaccinations and wellness exams, while their Wellness Plans add-ons provide coverage for preventative care services. And if you’re the proud parent of a bird or exotic pet, you’ll be thrilled to know Nationwide is one of the few companies with policies covering them!

Nationwide Pet Insurance can be a bit pricier than other insurance companies, and they don’t offer customization with their plans, so you’re stuck with the deductibles and reimbursements they’ve decided upon, for the most part. You’ll also find that not all plans are available in all U.S. states, so if yours is a state where Nationwide isn’t available, you’ll have to look elsewhere for pet insurance.

Overall, Nationwide is a fairly middling pet insurance company, offering average coverage for somewhat reasonable prices.

Pricing & Plans (Updated in 2023)

Pet Insurance Cost Comparison

Base Policy

Nationwide’s base policy is their Major Medical policy. This covers only the essentials—accidents, illness, cancer, and certain hereditary conditions. You can also use Nationwide’s 24/7 vet helpline with this policy and choose any vet you want. There are no customizations to this in reimbursement rates or deductibles. Your only option is a $250 annual deductible and annual benefits defined by the condition.

The Major Medical policy doesn’t cover a ton, but if you’re only looking for the basics, it should have you covered. You’ll also have the option to choose one of their add-ons for more coverage.

Customizations

If the Major Medical policy isn’t what you’re looking for, you can choose from two other policies (depending on the type of pet you have)—the Major Medical with Wellness or the Whole Pet. There are also bird and exotic pet policies and add-ons.

Major Medical with Wellness

This policy covers everything the Major Medical policy does with the addition of vaccinations, wellness exams, bloodwork, urinalysis, and heartworm and flea prevention. Like Major Medical, you cannot customize the policy with different deductibles or reimbursement rates; instead, there’s a $250 annual deductible, and benefits are, once again, defined by condition. This plan also costs more than the Major Medical by quite a bit.

Whole Pet

If you’re looking for a more traditional policy you can customize, then this is the plan for you. With Whole Pet, you can choose from either a 50%, 70%, or 90% reimbursement rate. However, there’s still only a $250 annual deductible. There’s also $10,000 in annual benefits.

The Whole Pet policy covers exam fees, illness, injury, surgery, hereditary conditions, cancer, and more.

Birds & Exotic Pets

Nationwide also has a policy that covers animals other than dogs and cats—specifically birds and exotic pets. The policy will cover most birds and pets, such as ferrets, goats, geckos, snakes, hedgehogs, and more. For details on what exactly the plan covers, though, you’ll have to call Nationwide.

Pet Wellness Basic

Then come the add-ons to cover routine care, starting with the Pet Wellness Basic. With this, you can get up to $400 in reimbursements for vaccinations and wellness exams per year.

Pet Wellness Plus

The Pet Wellness Plus policy is the same as the Pet Wellness Basic, except you receive up to $500 a year in reimbursements for routine care.

Avian Supplemental & Routine Care Coverage

And, if you own a bird, you can supplement the basic avian policy with this add-on that allows for up to $181 a year in benefits for routine care.

Nationwide Pet Insurance Price Comparison for Dogs

Below you’ll find price comparisons for different dog breeds, so you can see the average premiums you can expect to pay with Nationwide.

Deductibles & Claims

Nationwide works a bit differently than other pet insurance companies in that there’s not a lot of customization you can do with deductibles, coverage amounts, and reimbursement rates for most policies. The Major Medical, Major Medical with Wellness, and Whole Pet policies only offer a $250 deductible, and the only plan where you can choose a reimbursement amount is the Whole Pet plan (with options of 50%, 70%, or 90%). For the most part, how much you end up being reimbursed will depend on your specific schedule of benefits.

Then there are annual coverages. The Whole Pet plan allows for a $10,000 annual coverage, but the rest limit coverage amounts to a per-condition basis. And if you purchase one of the Wellness add-ons, you’re looking at $400–$500 a year in coverage.

When it comes to filing claims with Nationwide, it seems to be a fairly straightforward process. You can submit claims online via phone or computer or via email, fax, or regular mail. And Nationwide states that claims are typically processed within 5 days of being received.

What Does Nationwide Pet Insurance Cover?

What Nationwide covers will depend on which policy and/or add-ons you purchase. Below are a few items the Wellness Plus add-on will cover.

Pre-Existing Conditions

Like the majority of pet insurance companies, Nationwide Pet Insurance won’t cover pre-existing conditions. However, unlike many insurance companies, with Nationwide, some pre-existing conditions aren’t excluded permanently. Rather, if you can prove with medical records that your pet’s pre-existing condition has been cured for the past six months, it may be eligible for coverage under a Nationwide policy.

Waiting Periods

Most pet insurance companies have waiting periods between when you purchase your pet’s policy and when coverage kicks in, and Nationwide is no different.

For their Major Medical and Whole Pet plans, there is a 14-day. However, if you purchase one of the company’s Pet Wellness plans—without also purchasing the medical plan—then coverage starts within 24 hours of the policy being issued. But if you add a Wellness Plan to a medical plan, you still have the 14-day waiting period.

There is also a waiting period of 12 months before any cruciate ligament problems are covered.

Reviews from Customers

Like most companies, Nationwide Pet Insurance reviews are a bit mixed.

There are plenty who love the company, saying Nationwide is professional and fast in resolving claims. Pet parents also raved about customer service reps being extremely helpful and professional with problems they encountered.

But there were also several complaints about claims being denied, particularly as pre-existing conditions (when the condition was not pre-existing). You’ll also find complaints about the monthly premiums being higher than other pet insurance companies, while others lament the lack of customization available for policies.

All in all, it seems that most people do enjoy having pet insurance through the company (especially pet parents of birds and exotic animals since Nationwide is one of the only insurance companies to cover those types of pets!).

FAQ

Do any Nationwide plans cover spaying and neutering?

Unfortunately, none of Nationwide’s plans cover these procedures.

Is there an age limit for enrolling your pet?

Pets older than 10 years cannot be enrolled in a new policy. However, if you already have coverage with Nationwide and your pet turns 10, you won’t lose the policy. You can expect premiums to increase as your pet ages, though.

How can Nationwide’s customer service be contacted?

There are many ways you can contact Nationwide if you have questions or concerns. The best way is likely by calling their toll-free number (listed on their website at the top of the page). This way, you can reach customer service Monday through Friday from 5 AM–7 PM PST. Customer service reps are also available by phone on Saturdays from 7 AM–3:30 PM PST. If you have questions regarding member services or enrollment, though, you’ll need to call different numbers specified for those issues.

You can also contact customer service via regular mail, email, or social media.

What is the 24/7 vet helpline?

With Nationwide’s 24/7 vet helpline, you can reach out to a vet anytime to ask questions about health issues.

Our Verdict

Nationwide Pet Insurance is an insurance company that’s pretty much in the middle of the scale. Though their policies offer little customization, you can get fairly comprehensive coverage for your beloved pet with the right plan (and if you add on a Wellness Plan, you get even more). Plus, if you own a bird or exotic pet, Nationwide will be one of your only options for pet insurance.

Most people seem pleased with Nationwide’s service (especially customer service reps), but there have been complaints about claims being denied for no discernible reason. So, since Nationwide’s prices are just a bit pricier than some other companies, if those complaints concern you, you might want to check around before committing.

Overall, though, Nationwide is a fairly average pet insurance company.