Nationwide | Pet Insurance Review

We received a pet insurance premium increase letter in May 2024 that doubled the premium for our two bunnies. Naturally, that's a deal breaker for anyone and we went to cancel online, since that's a feature they offer. We canceled about a week or two before the renewal date. However, apparently you CAN'T CANCEL ONLINE, despite them having that function, as we still got charged. You have to CALL to cancel, apparently, and now we have to pay a pro-rated amount for insurance we never intended to use, because we got no confirmation or notice of our cancellation request being denied or not even going through. We only found out after the fact and when we reviewed our finances to find they snuck in that charge. You can't even delete your payment information online to prevent that from happening. Utterly abusive consumer experience and I'll NEVER use Nationwide again.

I have had problems with Nationwide ever since I first signed up five years ago. My Pom had to have a surgery first year on her vulva and they would not pay a dime. I should have changed then. Now four years later I submitted a claim, then paid deductible which was most of the claim. The vet wanted me to come back in a month for a checkup and I submitted claim and they charged me with deductible all over again! WHAT????? WHAT A SCAM!!!!!!

As many reviewers mentioned, Nationwide discontinued the Whole Pet plan that I’ve had for 7 years, since my dog was a puppy. I’ve paid thousands of dollars only for my insurance to be cancelled with no option to join a different plan without all prior treatment being considered pre-existing. Once you sign up for pet insurance, you’re at the mercy of the company because if you leave for another company, everything previously treated is pre-existing and not covered. I paid the $300+ monthly premium assuming I was investing in my pets long term care. Now I (and 100,000+ other pet owners) are scrambling to figure out how we can continue to afford our pets medical care. Stay away from Nationwide!!! They could cancel other plans in the future and prioritize corporate greed, not pet care.

Aside from dropping policies, their current available plans are absolute garbage. High premiums for minimal coverage. Read the policy and really see what each plan for every company you’re considering covers. Nationwide is on an allowance basis, they’ll cover up to what they think a procedure should cost (for example, they’ll max out at about $1,800 annually for a TPLO when that surgery is on average $5,000 anymore, etc). In some states, they’ll only reimburse up to $5,000 worth of covered charges a year. Look elsewhere, most any other company is leaps and bounds better than this.

Buyer Beware: Nationwide Pet is non-renewing 100K of their premium policies starting this year and rolling into next year. These are pets that have been with them years - many older with pre-existing conditions that cannot be covered through other insurers. They are not offering to even transfer to lower policies as has always been an option at renewal. The displaced pets have to go through underwriting again. Most are being refused new policies at all and any accepted are having any condition covered under their prior policy excluded as pre-existing. In addition, many additional states are being given conditional renewals at only 50% coverage (at the same price) or are receiving 2-3x premium increases. If you are looking for a safety net for when your pet gets older or develops medical problems, this is not the place to get it.