Nationwide Insurance for Car & Home

Although having insured homes for many years along side their mortgage products, the Nationwide Building Society insurance family has grown to include car, travel and life insurances. Currently Nationwide's house insurance comes with a guarantee quite different from other home insurers in that they promise to try and beat your last year's insuring costs rather than your renewal quote. A difficult task because generally people will have obtained many discounts when signing up the previous year which they would not see on their renewal quote. Undeterred, Nationwide insurance offers quotes for insuring your household that if not less then you previous year's cover will qualify for up to £100 more off the premium to get it there. Throw this in with their other offers such as money off buildings or contents cover and more money off if you combine Nationwide's buildings and contents insurance if buy them online and there are definitely great savings to be had with the added benefit of a strong brand behind you.

Cover is extensive with all the usual suspects such as garden contents cover, replacement locks and keys if yours are stolen and personal possession protection with increased cover for birthdays, weddings and christmas. Some pleasant extras include cover for your child if they are away at college or university in other accommodation nation wide. Certainly if it is good cover you are looking for rather than just to cheaply insure your home then you might find on a comparison basis that Nationwide insurance services can offer you what you want, but be mindful that the following year you will probably not have those discounts. There are several options you can add to your policy to make it more comprehensive such as home emergency cover which gives you 24-hour assistance if a home emergency occurs like electrical failures, problems with your heating or plumbing. You can also add legal assistance which gives you access to a legal helpline for advice on personal and legal matters. Also, the all important accidental damage cover which always pays for itself especially if you have kids.

The product range is always expanding with life and travel insurance also available with more information found on their website. Always best to check an insurer's website directly, even if purchasing through a comparison site or a broker, for the most up to date offers and information. Quick note, though, make sure you hit Nationwide.co.uk and not Nationwide.com as the latter is a US company but offering similar services. †

02/10/2008 Nationwide offers a 5% discount on their life insurance policies if you buy online. They call their product "level term assurance", a phrase I hadn't heard before, but it's a standard life insurance policy which pays out if you die. Their cover is actually provided through Legal and General. Their basic quotation form is very short. The quote they gave me was £79.95 annually for £100,000 of cover over 25 years, which is reasonable. The policy includes terminal illness cover at no extra charge. Whether I'd be cheaper going to Legal and General direct I'll find out tomorrow.

02/06/2008 Gives a summary of the travel insurance plans on the very first page which saves the bother of going any further with the quote if what you want isn't covered. It also makes it really clear what all the excesses are on the different parts of the insurance and these are actually pretty low in comparison to some of the other sites I looked on. You can also look at the more detailed info before you go ahead with the quote as well. Main problem is that the site only offers annual and single trip so it's no good if you're looking for backpacker insurance. Also wouldn't let you insure for more than two people aged between 18 and 64, so no good for families with older kids.