In business since 1926, Nationwide focuses on providing the best possible service for its customers. Nationwide travel insurance plans offer a range of innovative benefits for a variety of travel needs.
My claim was denied during the COVID-19 global pandemic during the height of government lock downs and a time that was literally impossible to travel.
I filed a claim on April 22, 2020 for our honeymoon travel to the U.K. between May 9th- May 23. I took nearly a month to get back to me May 21st (which is some what reasonable because I am sure they have been swamped with claims). I booked the travel myself which made it a pain to file the claim.
In the end I was denied because the policy didn't mention "pandemic" specifically but it does mention natural disasters and quarantines. In their review they stated that a travel embargo is not a quarantine but that seems like lawyer speak to me. To be honest, I would not have even known to look for specific pandemic text when I planned the trip last September.
I feel like my claim got "lawyer-ed" which I guess is what happens in the insurance world but I will never use any service of Nationwide's again and I would not recommend their service to any one.
Edwin B. would not
recommend this plan to a friend or relative.
2 of
3 people found this review helpful
Coverage
Value
Satisfaction
Claims
Note: This review is for an earlier version of the plan.
We purchased trip insurance that included trip cancellation. What a total waste of time and an obvious twisting of words by Nationwide to avoid paying a claim. This type of result is what gives insurance companies a bad name. I reviewed our policy in detail before filing our claim. Our cruise was cancelled by Holland America back in April due to Covid-19. This is the reply we received from Nationwide.
"Because the Coronavirus/COVID-19 is not one of the named perils listed in the plan, we are unable to consider this to be a covered claim. Regrettably, your claim does not qualify for reimbursement based on this reason"
Following the above statement, Nationwide lists what they do cover.... see below...
The policy you purchased provides the following benefits:
"Quarantine means Your strict isolation imposed by a Government authority or Physician to prevent the spread of disease. An embargo preventing You from entering a country is not a Quarantine"
Do you see the problem here? They are picking and choosing (spinning) what they will cover. The Govt prevented cruising due to the spread of disease, but because their verbiage doesn't specifically say Covid-19, it doesn't qualify.
What a crock of BS! I will be filing a complaint with the department of insurance. I will NEVER purchase travel insurance from Nationwide again. In my opinion, they stole money from me in selling me a policy that was worthless!
Cory R. would not
recommend this plan to a friend or relative.
5 of
6 people found this review helpful
Coverage
Value
Satisfaction
Claims
Note: This review is for an earlier version of the plan.
I waited until I submitted my claim on trip interruption part to see how it went. They came through and I received the amount claimed, after filing the proper information. I will also say I needed to contact them at least twice to make sure I understood what was needed for my claim and the agents I emailed and/called on phone were very helpful in aiding me to file properly. I appreciate all that was done, as I have never had to submit any claims on my many past trip coverages. Naturally I would recommend them after this proven positive experience.
Oh by the way, I needed to file this claim after I returned home around March 9-12 2020. Note that date - around the time the worldwide coved 19 just started to become an issue!!
So I was a bit stressed as I had returned home immediately after all this corona panademic began unfolding in the US.
NOTE: ALWAYS KEEP all records and receipts from the moment you plan an insure your trip until you arrive home, as you will need such records to submit along with your claim. Without proof you cannot expect reimbursement (obviously)
Ralph M. would
recommend this plan to a friend or relative.
1 of
2 people found this review helpful
Coverage
Value
Satisfaction
Claims
Note: This review is for an earlier version of the plan.
Due to my father's death we had to cancel a trip to Sweden and Denmark. Once we submitted all the paperwork (electronically), the claim was processed quickly and the payment sent. The amount we requested and substantiated was sent. We did take the time to provide a lot of documentation which probably helped make our claim an easy one to process. I would use Nationwide again for trip insurance.
Cynthia J. would
recommend this plan to a friend or relative.
1 of
3 people found this review helpful
Coverage
Value
Satisfaction
Claims
Note: This review is for an earlier version of the plan.
This travel insurance thing is a pretty good scam. If you look at all of the glowing reviews you see comments like “I didn’t need to use the plan” “...but it gave me piece of mind.” LOL. Seriously? How can you give glowing reviews to something you never used? Folks wake up and look at the ratings for people who DID TRY to use the plan. We purchased this plan months before the Coronavirus even existed. Our vacation to Jamaica had to be canceled because they were quarantining arrivals for 14 days. Fortunately our flight was with airline miles that were given back to us. We got a travel bank credit for tax money that was extended well beyond the normal time frame. The resort also offered a full credit for use until the end of 2021 AND a resort credit of $200 for goodwill even though none of this was their fault. And then we have Nationwide Travel Insurance. We asked for a refund of this unused policy due to a once in a lifetime event so that we could repurchase a plan when we rescheduled our trip. We got “you are outside the 10 day review and cancel window”. Really? Almost every other business in America is bending over backwards to help out customers. Nationwide? Not happening at Nationwide. If you ever need to file a claim with Nationwide, we wish you luck. We will have a hard time EVER purchasing another plan from Nationwide. We look forward to another legalese response just like all of the other ones provided when someone posts a less than stellar review.
James J. would not
recommend this plan to a friend or relative.
1 of
2 people found this review helpful
Coverage
Value
Satisfaction
Claims not filed
Note: This review is for an earlier version of the plan.
Purchased a plan on 3/5/2020 for a dream trip to Norway. We put together an itinerary including Flights to UK, cruise to Norway from Southhampton and then Cruise to New York on Queen Mary 2. Today was the date on which we had to make the final payment on the cruises. Since the cruise was not until August We thought we might be able to rely on the travel insurance in case one of the cruise lines or the airline cancelled part of the trip. Just to be sure, I called Nationwide customer service to make sure we would be covered. Imagine my surprise to find out that if any of the cancellations were due to coronavirus it would not be covered because it was not a listed peril on the policy. The customer service representative explained that unless the reason for trip cancellation or delay was due to a listed peril in the policy then it was not covered.
An example: The policy states "The company will reimburse you if your miss your connection due to inclement weather" they will reimburse you for expenses and pre-paid nonrefundable trip payments fr the unused portion of your trip. However if the flight is cancelled due to mechanical problems you are up the creek, because that is not a listed peril.
So this is not really insurance, it is a guessing game to see if your crystal ball works well enough to figure out what could possibly go wrong months in advance of your trip and then find a policy from some company that covers all of the stuff you came up with. Good luck with that.
Basically unless you are injured or fall ill or heaven forbid die, due to an unforeseen incident and not related to any of the page full of exclusions, you are covered. If your flight is delayed or canceled due to weather you are covered. Anything else - tough luck.
So it looks like we will get a cruise credit for the cruise portion of the trip and the airlines are also offering free changes for most flights. Nationwide has "voucher program" which MAY offer partial credit to transfer some or all of the cost of your unused travel policy to a future trip. I must say I'm not expecting much after speaking to their "customer service" people.
I'm sure glad automobile and life insurance is better than travel insurance. I think it should be called something else.
Don E. would not
recommend this plan to a friend or relative.
5 of
6 people found this review helpful
Coverage
Value
Satisfaction
Claims not filed
Note: This review is for an earlier version of the plan.
I will use Insure my Trip/Nationwide Insurance from now on! I paid for an expensive trip to Thailand in February. I already had some reservations due to the corona virus but decided to push through anyway. The day before I was to leave, my daughter injured herself. I promptly canceled trip and contacted Nationwide. The customer service rep was a little “snarly” with me but They emailed me the paperwork. It was easy to read and fill out by the doctor and myself. I promptly submitted and they promptly paid the claim.
Anitra M. would
recommend this plan to a friend or relative.
2 of
3 people found this review helpful
Coverage
Value
Satisfaction
Claims
Note: This review is for an earlier version of the plan.
If anyone thinks that "Nationwide is on your side", think again. I bought a travel insurance policy for a cruise in February. It was the Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company Essential plan. There were 5 of us on the policy. We traveled to Montreal International Airport in two cars from Plattsburgh N.Y. There was a terrible accident and one of our cars was caught behind the wreck. My family members helped comfort the victims at the accident scene until the ambulances arrived. They ended up missing the flight. They went back to Plattsburgh and caught a flight the following night to make the cruise. When we returned from the trip I called the company who handles the claims for Nationwide. I explained what happened and right from the start, the agent tried to talk his way out of paying any of the benefits. First he said that I would need a copy of the accident report. I told him that the accident was in Canada and that our party was not involved. After going back and forth with the agent over the phone, he agreed that the flight booked the next day to get to the ship was covered under the plan. I sent him all of the paper work he needed. About three weeks later, I received an e-mail stating that I would need an accident report or an article from a Canadian newspaper. I called and explained again the the accident was in another country and we had no idea where to get one. The agent said that he would try to "Google it" to see if he could find it. On March 24th, I received three $150.00 checks with the notation that the total flight cost exceeds the maximum benefit allowed for a trip delay per person. The policy clearly states that the cost of a flight to get to to the desired location is covered. I have a family member who is a lawyer and is going to assist me in filing a complaint with the New York State Department of Financial Services. He said the policy is ambiguous and misleading. The flight cost was a total of $920.00 for the three passengers. I will continue to provide updates when they happen. With all of the problems that everyone is facing right now, you would think that a company of this size would do the right thing. ATTENTION, I called Insuremytrip to see if their Anytime Advocates program could help me out. Their customer care representative stated that Nationwide is one company that they can not help me because of an agreement with them,.
Scott G. would not
recommend this plan to a friend or relative.
2 of
3 people found this review helpful
Coverage
Value
Satisfaction
Claims
Note: This review is for an earlier version of the plan.
Thank you for your feedback. We are sorry to learn of the difficulties you experienced during the trip.
All travelers that purchase a policy through InsureMyTrip have access to our Anytime Advocates® program. This unique program is designed to save our travelers time and money by contacting the travel insurance provider directly to smooth out any kinks in the claims process. The InsureMyTrip Anytime Advocates® will help any customer with:
Claims assistance
Receive expert advice on how to navigate the claims process and file a claim properly with your travel insurance provider.
Dispute resolution
Anytime Advocates® will check the status of a claim. If a claim is denied, an advocate will work on behalf of the customer to learn why or to help with the appeal process.
Due to Coronavirus, I purchased "Cancel for Any Reason" plan for my honeymoon trip for "just in case".
I canceled a week prior to my trip (to be on the safe side), I submitted my claim with all asked documents the same day I canceled everything. I received a refund check for 75% of whatever cost that was not refunded to me by airline/agency after 3 weeks. Highly recommend this company.
Michelle L. would
recommend this plan to a friend or relative.
2 of
3 people found this review helpful
Coverage
Value
Satisfaction
Claims
Note: This review is for an earlier version of the plan.
Reading the plan at home, we needed better knowledge about whether the plan offered complete return of money if the trip had been cancelled in the beginning or close to the end. MAKE THE POLICY MUCH CLEARER AS TO THE MONEY RETURNED IF TRIP CANCELLED OR CANCELLED NIN THE MIDDLE OF THE TRIP
Charles B. would
recommend this plan to a friend or relative.
1 of
2 people found this review helpful
Coverage
Value
Satisfaction
Claims not filed
Note: This review is for an earlier version of the plan.
Thank you for providing your feedback. At InsureMyTrip, we have representatives licensed in all 50 states who would be happy to review any policy details with you prior to, during, or after your trip. Please give us a call at 800-487-4722 if you have any questions moving forward or would like to discuss future travel policies.
We are happy to hear that Nationwide is able to hold the policy for use on future travel.