Travel Insurance Reviews for Nationwide

We were very disappointed in Nationwide Insurance and this product. Our Summer 2020 European trip was cancelled in April 2020 due to the global pandemic. We contacted Nationwide immediately and they recommended that we pursue reimbursement from the travel providers then file a claim for any unrecoverable funds. We trusted that they were guiding us properly and followed their advice. We did indeed have unrecoverable funds and filed for reimbursement immediately after our last refund in Dec 2020. Nationwide denied our claim stating that the global pandemic was not a covered peril. Why was my policy not cancelled and my premium refunded when my trip was cancelled? Why did the Nationwide representative lead me on to believe that we were covered when I contacted them in April? If a global pandemic with travel shutdown all over the world is not covered, why buy insurance? At this point, I would not recommend using Nationwide and I'm not sure about purchasing travel insurance anymore. It looks like there is a very narrow window for reimbursement and obviously the insurer's intent is to deny most of the claims. My experience has been that the travel providers have been focused on taking care of their customers and the insurance company is finding ways to say no. Why buy insurance?

Nationwide is not on your side. I booked multiple trips and purchased multiple insurance plans with Nationwide. They failed every time. They acted poorly right out of the gate - starting with not returning calls to not paying a very small claim. I worked hard to minimize any losses even though I had insurance (or so I thought). My insurance cost $218 and my claim was a mere $283. I even emailed the CEO and never heard back. Apparently their poor way of treating people starts at the top. I was shocked at how devious and cheap they were. I have used other companies that charged more but settled claims quickly, fairly and honestly. Do yourself a favor and shop elsewhere. I do like InsureMyTrip - they did try to act on my behalf.

Claim: 59572

My plan was purchased in 10/27/2019, months before COVID. This company looks hard to find an excuse to not honor trip cancellation, despite claims of "standard in the industry" or that they "regret" not fulfilling their moral obligations to honor the contract. It is my strong opinion that they have small print used to deny payments for legitimate claims, that this company does not deserve your trust or business. Nationwide certainly will never have my business.

The natural disaster is COVID. Travel to Europe from the U.S. is not allowed, as the entire U.S. is being quarantined from the EU. The hotel accommodations in Italy are not habitable by any U.S. citizen.

Additionally, I am a hospital worker potentially exposed to COVID patients daily. I must quarantine 14 days before allowing myself come in close contact to unsuspecting travelers, because it is morally correct. It is not possible to actually travel.

I do not think that I would be allowed to stay at my hotel if I were possibly contagious, if I were allowed to travel to Europe! Regardless,

I was reimbursed for most of my travel (airfare) by the airlines, so I was not even expecting to be reimbursed for the entire amount of my coverage, only a portion of the coverage for which I paid. Unlike other reputable businesses, this company does not warrant your business, in my opinion.

We booked a trip to London on at the end of January for travel in mid-June. We purchased this policy on January 31, when covid-19 had yet to be named or determined to be a pandemic . Due to the UK's continued shutdown through the spring and the UK's 14 day mandatory quarantine policy, Delta cancelled our flight in late May. We filed a claim with Delta, who fully refunded our air travel. We filed a claim with Nationwide to recover our non-fundable deposit on the London flat that we made in January. The claim was denied since covid-19 was not a named peril in the policy (well it was January 2020 with less than a handful of cases in the US) and the policy supposedly did not cover cancellation by the airline. If we couldn't fly to London, how were we going to get there!? We had a Travelex travel insurance policy 10 years ago that completely reimbursed us for a cruise that we were unable to get to because Delta cancelled our flight due to a massive east coast Christmas snow storm. I don't believe a snow storm was a peril listed in the policy. I will never buy another Nationwide travel insurance policy and would not recommend to others. They are definitely NOT on you side.

We purchased the Luxury Policy through Nationwide for our retirement trip of a lifetime. We were to be gone 2.5 months. It included a 21 day cruise and then island hopping around French Polynesia, then flying to Australia to go to the Great Barrier Reef. Our cruise began in Sydney Australia on 2/28/20, we were supposed to disembark in Tahiti on 3/20/20. Due to COVID-19, our cruise was interrupted and we were sent home from Hawaii. We had 4 flights included in the covered cost of our policy: the flight to Sydney, island hopping flights around French Polynesia, the flight from Tahiti to Cairns, the flight from Cairns back to our home in California. We were fortunate and obtained refunds on two of the flights we did not utilize (thank you Air Tahiti and Expedia). The third, the flight from Tahiti to Cairns was not refunded and was denied by coverage by Nationwide. They said they do not cover pre-purchased flights that you are not able to utilize after a trip interruption. They would only be covered in the event of a trip cancellation. The total we are out is $1,246. I have to say, I'm not impressed! When you insure the value of a trip, including all of the costs that are non-cancellable and non-refundable, the coverage should reimburse for the insured costs that a traveler is out of pocket. They refuse to do so. I also acknowledge that some policies do not cover the expenses due to a pandemic, that is not the case with our policy because we purchased it in October, 2019, long before we had heard of COVID-19. Buyer, be careful to determine what is covered and what is not. I have purchased 5 or 6 Nationwide Luxury Cruise policies in the past and not had any issues. This is a first, but after paying $814 in premium to cover a 2.5 month trip and coming home after 1 month, and finding out that they will not reimburse me for this flight, I'm very disappointed in the Nationwide Luxury Cruise policy coverage.

After looking at many travel insurance providers, we chose Nationwide. Unfortunately, my wife got sick and had to go to the medical center on the Carnival Breeze. We filed with our primary insurance and with Nationwide. My primary applied the entire amount to our deductible. Nationwide paid the entire amount. Yes you have to provide ALL the documents needed and it does take a while. Our cruise was in January and we got the check the 1st week of April. It took longer for my primary to process the claim. Once they received the necessary documents, Nationwide paid in about 15 or so days. We’re very happy with the process. Thank you Nationwide

Nationwide does not consider the quarantine of an entire country due COVID-19 a valid claim. W were half into our trip when Norway closed all borders to entry to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Now Nationwide wants proof I was denied entry. Do I need a picture of me trying to cross the border? Forget appealing the ruling unless you in a select 12 few states where you can appeal to the Insurance commission. In the other 38 states it seems Nationwide is judge and jury. I certainly do not understand the great reviews of this terrible coverage.

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.

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!

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)