So you want to know more about Nationwide Insurance and what it could offer you? In this guide, we’ll look at Nationwide Building Society and insurance login details, claims information, reviews and policy details. We’ve done the legwork so you can spend more time on this all-important decision.

We understand that protecting yourself and your family is essential, so read on to see if Nationwide Insurance is right for you…

Nationwide Insurance

Nationwide Insurance is part of Nationwide Building Society. With over 15 million members, it is the world’s largest financial mutual institution. The company has come a long way since its origins in 1846 and diversification and modernisation have been two of its main strengths.

Today, Nationwide offers the following products:

  1. Insurance
  2. Current accounts
  3. Savings and ISAs
  4. Mortgages
  5. Loans
  6. Credit cards
  7. Investments

History of Nationwide Insurance

Nationwide’s origins stem from the Provident Union Building Society. This heritage of being a mutual society originates from its beginnings in the mid 19th century. Since then, modern-day Nationwide has been formed from over 100 mergers and acquisitions.

In recent years, it has focused heavily on technology. It was the first UK bank to launch a retail internet banking service and in 2019 it won a £50m grant to fund investments in new technology and services.

Timeline

  • 1846 - The Provident Union Building Society is founded in Ramsbury, Wiltshire.
  • 1848-1967 - The company goes through multiple mergers and name changes.
  • 1970 - The Co-operative Permanent Building Society changes its name to Nationwide Building Society.
  • 1987 - Nationwide merges with Anglia to become Nationwide Anglia. It launches the FlexAccount (the first full service current account to pay interest).
  • 1991 - It shortens its brand name to Nationwide.
  • 1997 - Nationwide launches the UK’s first retail internet banking service.
  • 2007 - It merges with the Portman Building Society.
  • 2008 - Nationwide merges with Derbyshire and Cheshire Building Societies.
  • 2009 - Nationwide acquires the Dunfermline Building Society.
  • 2012 - Nationwide launches its first mobile banking platform.
  • 2013 - It wins the ‘Your Money Award’ 2013 for best online banking provider.
  • 2014 - Nationwide wins Best Overall Online Provider, Best Online Current Account Provider, Best Online Credit Card Provider in the Your Money Direct Awards 2014.
  • 2018 - It wins the ‘Which? Best Banking Brand of the Year 2018’ award.
  • 2019 - It wins a £50m grant to fund investments in new technology and services.

Nationwide Insurance today

Nationwide Insurance only offers insurance products for members. To be a member you need to have a mortgage, current account or savings account with Nationwide. Read more information below in our section on Nationwide Insurance products, including Nationwide Flexplus Insurance.

Charity and community initiatives

Charity and community initiatives play a large role in Nationwide’s ethos. Nationwide has even founded an independent charity called The Nationwide Foundation. Since 1997 it has made grants of over £32 million to over 3,000 charitable causes.

We’re committed to building society - for the good of our members and the communities in which they live and work. That’s why, when you’re a member of Nationwide, you get a say in the way we’re run and the causes we support. - Nationwide

Here is a summary of the main projects and charities that Nationwide is involved in/with:

  • It runs a community grants programme for housing-related projects driven by local needs that are selected by its members.
  • It works with housing and homelessness charity Shelter.
  • It has a partnership with St Mungo’s to support rough sleepers.
  • Through The Nationwide Foundation, it aims to provide decent, affordable homes for the disadvantaged.

Nationwide FlexPlus Insurance and home insurance products

Selectra logo blue square outline with orange tick in the foreground

The most important thing to note is that Nationwide’s insurance products are only available to members. To qualify, you need a mortgage, current account or savings account with Nationwide.

Customers who hold a FlexPlus current account, automatically receive Nationwide FlexPlus Insurance. The insurance products that are included under the FlexPlus current account include travel insurance, car breakdown insurance, and mobile phone insurance.

These products are not available to purchase separately and you must hold a FlexPlus current account to benefit.

In addition, Nationwide Insurance has home insurance, income protection benefit and life insurance, which is available to all its qualifying members.

We will focus on Nationwide FlexPlus Insurance products first and then on home insurance details.

Nationwide FlexPlus insurance

As of November 2019, the FlexPlus account is £13 per month. You get several benefits with this account, including the insurance products. There are some exclusions you will need to be aware of for some benefits e.g. over 70’s will need to pay an additional premium for the travel insurance section to be valid.

As we mentioned, the FlexPlus account gives you travel, car breakdown and mobile phone insurance.

Travel insurance

The travel insurance that Nationwide provides as part of its FlexPlus account is for family travel insurance and is worldwide to any country (unless the Foreign & Commonwealth Office advises against travel). Family cover refers to you, your partner/spouse and dependent children who live at the same address.

Here is a summary of the key features you will receive with this travel insurance:

  • Winter sports, golf cover, business cover, wedding cover.
  • Cancellation cover up to £5,000.
  • Medical expenses up to £10m.
  • Travel disruption cover in the event of a natural disaster or airline/travel end supplier failure.
  • Personal belongings cover if items are lost or stolen.

As with every travel insurance policy, each of the above features comes with limits and exclusions. Here are just a few important exclusions and available add-ons to note:

  • If one or more of the insured are aged 70+, they will need to buy an extension to be covered.
  • The policy will not cover any medical conditions automatically. These need to be agreed with Nationwide before you’re covered and an additional premium will probably apply.
  • Trips are covered up to a maximum of 31 days, as standard. If you will be spending longer away on any one trip, you have the option to upgrade and extend this period.

Read our detailed travel insurance guide on Nationwide Insurance for more information (coming soon).

We know that insurance jargon can be confusing. That’s why we created this jargon-busting glossary to help you.

Car breakdown insurance

Also included as part of the FlexPlus account, are UK and European breakdown and recovery assistance. Some of the benefits include:

  • No excess to pay!
  • You’re covered if you breakdown at home or on the road.
  • An unlimited number of call-outs.
  • Cover for anyone driving one UK registered vehicle that is registered to the account holder and is used with their permission.

Mobile phone insurance

While the rise of technology has been swift, insurers have been slow to respond in this arena. While there are plenty of specialist insurers out there for mobile phones and gadgets, many standard policies still won’t cover phones. Others will protect your phone, but only if you pay an additional premium.

With the FlexPlus account, you will receive worldwide cover of up to £1,500 (including VAT) per claim. Don’t forget to read the fine print to make sure the policy has everything you need and you and your loved ones’ beloved phones have adequate protection.

Home insurance

A small green and red house

As we mentioned, Nationwide’s home insurance is only available to members. If you are a member or considering becoming one, there are several benefits you will receive with its home insurance.

While Nationwide has been around for over 130 years, its motto hasn’t changed: to help ordinary people buy their own homes and save for the future.

It has always had a large focus on housing and this is its core area of expertise.

There are two types of Nationwide home insurance policies currently available, classified as either building insurance or contents insurance:

  1. Building insurance - This covers the structure of your home and most things fitted to it or the ground. Some examples are drives, patios, fitted kitchens, garages and laminate flooring. You are insured if these are damaged by an event covered in your policy, such as a flood, fire or storm.
  2. Contents insurance - This covers the contents of your home if they’re lost, stolen or damaged by an event covered in your policy, such as a flood or fire. Standard cover even includes valuables (i.e. jewellery) and contents that your family takes away with them while studying. There are two levels of cover to choose from: up to £50,000 or more than £50,000.

Read our detailed home insurance guide on Nationwide Insurance for more information (coming soon).

Good to know: members who hold and maintain a mortgage, savings or main current account with Nationwide receive a 25% discount off their home insurance year after year!

How do I get a Nationwide Insurance quote?

If you are a Nationwide member then you are eligible for home insurance or the FlexPlus account. As we mentioned, the FlexPlus account is £13 per month and includes travel, car breakdown, and mobile phone insurance.

Home insurance is not provided under the FlexPlus account. If you would like a home insurance quote, you can do this easily online via Nationwide’s home insurance homepage. You will be taken through a series of questions about your circumstances and house and/or contents that you wish to cover. You can also phone up directly for a quote (see our Nationwide contact page, coming soon).

Make a complaint

If you buy a Nationwide Insurance product hopefully everything goes smoothly. However, there is always the possibility that something may not go as expected.

If you do need to make a complaint, Nationwide will let you do it over the phone with an adviser, via an online complaint form or by sending a letter with all the relevant information. You can find more details on how to place a complaint on our Nationwide contact page (coming soon).

Nationwide Insurance claims: what to do

Here, we’ll explain what to do if you need to make any Nationwide Insurance claims. The policy you need to make a claim on will determine which phone number to call (i.e. travel, home, etc). Read our detailed contact page for Nationwide Insurance to decide which number you need (page coming soon).

Nationwide Building Society reviews: insurance products

Let’s take a look at Nationwide Building Society reviews , focussing on insurance products.

On TrustPilot, there are 1,307 reviews and the average rating is two out of five stars. However, this is across all services and not just insurance.

Where the comments are specifically around insurance, some of the negative feedback has been around claims and the fact that customer services are not willing to get involved when customers aren’t happy.

On the Reviews.io site, there are 39 customer reviews for Nationwide Insurance and it has a rating of 4.33/5. Of the respondents, 87% would recommend Nationwide to a friend.

Many positive reviews focus on getting a quote and how simple the process is. Furthermore, the relevant policy paperwork followed quickly.

Across both review sites, other positives are that the documentation is clear and the policy/account is good value for money.

Complaints handling

A company’s complaints data can give you an indication of how it treats customers and how efficient it is. The following data for Nationwide Insurance and pure protection products is for the period 5 October 2018 – 4 April 2019.

Product/ service grouping Number of complaints opened Number of complaints closed Percentage closed within 3 days Percentage closed after 3 days but within 8 weeks Percentage upheld
Insurance & pure protection 28,147 26,809 0.73% 98.27% 37.57%

The main causes of complaints opened were advising, selling and arranging.

How does Nationwide’s complaints data compare to other insurance companies in the market?

It is close to the bottom of the list when it comes to ‘closing claims within three days’. However, when you look across all the claims closed in that period (within three days and between three days and eight weeks) it scores very highly against competitors with 99% closed.

Selectra’s verdict

Nationwide Insurance is part of a company that has been around for more than 130 years and is a British icon. For a company to remain strong after all those years, it has to be doing something right.

Customers like the clear policy documentation and how quickly it is delivered. Less favoured, was the claims process and progressing any issues with customer service.

With a heavy focus on technology, Nationwide Insurance may be for you if you want the option of accessing your details online. You will be able to access your banking details via the Nationwide Building Society login page and your home insurance via the Nationwide Insurance login page.

 
 
Customers feel that it is good value for money. Furthermore, there are discounts year on year for home insurance if you renew. You must be a member to apply for the home insurance and have a FlexPlus account to qualify for the travel, car breakdown and mobile phone insurance. This is not very flexible, and not ideal for someone who has their banking tied up elsewhere already.
Documentation is clear and comes swiftly after purchasing insurance. The claims process has experienced some negative feedback from customers.

Data and information correct as of November 2019.

All material on this page and the selectra.co.uk website is for information purposes only and does not constitute any form of financial advice. Selectra.co.uk is not responsible for any consequences that might arise from your use of the information provided.

Other providers are available and the best deal for you will depend on your individual circumstances. Please do your own research and seek professional advice if necessary (moneyadviceservice.org.uk offers free, independent advice on all financial issues).