Nationwide vs Progressive | Bankrate (2024)

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Updated May 03, 2024

Progressive and Nationwide both have good financial strength ratings and slightly below-average customer satisfaction ratings, but knowing the ins and outs of each will help you make an informed decision.

Originally founded in the 1920s to provide affordable auto insurance for Ohio farmers, Nationwide Insurance has expanded to become the 10th-largest car insurance provider in the U.S., with 1.71 percent of the total market share. In addition to auto insurance, Nationwide offers a wide range of insurance products, including home, renters, life, pet and business insurance.

With its national headquarters in Mayfield Village, Progressive Insurance also has roots in Ohio, dating back to its founding in 1937. As it’s grown to become the second-largest auto insurer in the country with 15.24 percent of the total market share, Progressive has developed three major business segments: personal lines insurance, including auto, RV and boat insurance; commercial auto and professional liability insurance. While Progressive offers homeowners insurance, its property insurance products are underwritten by third parties.

Is Nationwide cheaper than Progressive?

Both Nationwide and Progressive offer average rates lower than the national average cost of car insurance — but your own rates will vary based on the risk rating factors on your individual profile. To show general trends, Bankrate’s insurance editorial team analyzed the latest rate data available for Nationwide and Progressive from Quadrant Information Services based on a range of driver profiles.

Nationwide vs Progressive: discounts

Nationwide and Progressive both offer a list of impressive car insurance discounts. However, each provider has different savings opportunities. Bankrate’s insurance editorial team reviewed the advertised discounts from each carrier to find out which company’s offers may hold advantages for certain drivers.

Discounts available from both carriers

• Multi-policy discounts: Both Nationwide and Progressive offer discounted rates to drivers who bundle their auto policy with a home, renters or other policy from the same company.
• Multi-vehicle discounts: Both carriers have discount policies that cover multiple vehicles.
• Safe driver discounts: Nationwide customers who avoid at-fault accidents and major violations for five years may qualify for a discounted rate, while Progressive offers lower rates for drivers who stay accident- and violation-free for just three years.
• Good student discounts: If you have a full-time student on your policy with a B average or better, you might be eligible for a discount from either provider.
• Automatic payment discounts: Nationwide and Progressive both give discounts to drivers who set up automatic payments, although Nationwide specifies that this is a one-time discount.
• Paperless billing discounts: Drivers who opt for paperless billing and policy management could score a recurring discount from Nationwide or Progressive.
• Safe driving telematics: Nationwide’s SmartRide and Progressive’s Snapshot both offer automatic signup discounts along with potential discounts for safe driving, but Snapshot could also raise your rates.
• Accident forgiveness: Both companies offer accident forgiveness to drivers who remain accident-free for a certain period of time.

Nationwide

• SmartMiles: In addition to safe driving telematics, Nationwide offers a pay-per-mile auto insurance program with low rates for low-mileage drivers based on how much you actually drive.
• Defensive driving discount: In some states, drivers may be eligible for a discount after taking an approved defensive driving course. You may need to be 55 years or older to qualify.
• Anti-theft discount: You could qualify for a discount if you have certain anti-theft devices installed in your vehicle. Be ready to show proof of installation in order to get the discount.

Progressive

• Teen driver discount: Progressive’s teen driver discount may help keep your rate from increasing significantly after adding a newly licensed driver to your policy.
• Distant student discount: Families with a college student attending school at least 100 miles from home without a car could have their rate adjusted to reflect the time when the student isn’t driving the insured vehicle.
• Homeowner discount: All homeowners — even those who have home insurance through a different carrier — could be eligible for a lower auto rate from Progressive.
• Continuous insurance discount: If you switch to Progressive from a different company, your time continuously insured with the previous company could earn you a discount.
• Pay in full discount: You may be able to earn a discount from Progressive if you pay your annual premium upfront and in full rather than in monthly installments.
• Deductible savings bank: With Progressive’s deductible savings bank, you may be able to lower your comprehensive or collision insurance deductible by $50 for each policy period where you have no claims.
• Sign online and online quote: Getting your Progressive quote and signing your documents online could make you eligible for a combined discount of up to 16 percent.

Nationwide and Progressive telematics programs

Car insurance companies are increasingly offering usage-based telematics insurance programs. These programs use real data about how you drive to provide you with potential discounts and tips. Progressive and Nationwide both offer telematics programs that reward safe driving, and Nationwide has an additional telematics program for pay-per-mile insurance that rewards low-mileage drivers with a low base rate. To help drivers interested in telematics make a choice, we broke down the differences between the two companies’ safe driving telematics products.

Nationwide vs Progressive: customer experience comparison

Overall, Nationwide and Progressive have highly rated online and mobile experiences. Both companies have an online quote tool, helpful resources and an easy-to-use interface with simple navigation. Both companies scored below the average for customer experience on the 2023 J.D. Power Auto Insurance Claims Satisfaction report, with Nationwide scoring slightly higher than Progressive.

Customer ratings for both carriers’ apps indicate that most Nationwide and Progressive policyholders have positive impressions of the companies’ mobile experiences.

Customer complaints

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) tracks the number of customer complaints received each year by every insurance company. That number is compared to the company’s market share to generate a complaint index score, which indicates how many complaints a carrier receives relative to the industry average for its size. The baseline index is 1.00; higher scores correlate to a higher rate of complaints, while scores below 1.00 suggest that a company’s customers are more satisfied than the average.

Nationwide auto insurance customer complaints

Methodology

Bankrate utilizes Quadrant Information Services to analyze May 2024 rates for all ZIP codes and carriers in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. Rates are weighted based on the population density in each geographic region. Quoted rates are based on a single, 40-year-old male and female driver with a clean driving record, good credit and the following full coverage limits:

• $100,000 bodily injury liability per person
• $300,000 bodily injury liability per accident
• $50,000 property damage liability per accident
• $100,000 uninsured motorist bodily injury per person
• $300,000 uninsured motorist bodily injury per accident
• $500 collision deductible
• $500 comprehensive deductible

To determine minimum coverage limits, Bankrate used minimum coverage that meets each state’s requirements. Our base profile drivers own a 2022 Toyota Camry, commute five days a week and drive 12,000 miles annually.

These are sample rates and should only be used for comparative purposes.

Credit-based insurance scores: Rates were calculated based on the following insurance credit tiers assigned to our drivers: “poor, average, good (base) and excellent.” Insurance credit tiers factor in your official credit scores but are not dependent on that variable alone. Four states prohibit or limit the use of credit as a rating factor in determining auto insurance rates: California, Hawaii, Massachusetts and Michigan.

Incidents: Rates were calculated by evaluating our base profile with the following incidents applied: clean record (base), at-fault accident, single speeding ticket, single DUI conviction and lapse in coverage.

Age: Rates were calculated by evaluating our base profile with the ages 25 and 70 (base: 40 years) applied. Depending on age, drivers may be a renter or homeowner. Age is not a contributing rating factor in Hawaii and Massachusetts due to state regulations.

Bankrate Scores

Our 2024 Bankrate Score considers variables our insurance editorial team determined impacts policyholders’ experiences with an insurance company. These rating factors include a robust assessment of each company’s product availability, financial strength ratings, online capabilities and customer and claims support accessibility. Each factor was added to a category, and these categories were weighted in a tiered approach to analyze how companies perform in key customer-impacting categories.

Each category was assigned a metric to determine performance, and the weighted sum adds up to a company’s total Bankrate Score — out of 5 points. Our scoring model provides a comprehensive view, indicating when companies excel across several key areas and highlighting where they fall short.

• Cost & ratings50%

• Coverage & savings30%

• Support20%

• Tier 1 (Cost & ratings): To determine how well auto and home insurance companies satisfy these priorities, average quoted premiums from Quadrant Information Services (if available), as well as any of the latest third-party agency ratings from J.D. Power, AM Best, Demotech and the NAIC, were analyzed.
• Tier 2 (Coverage & savings): We assessed companies’ coverage options and availability to help policyholders find a provider that balances cost with coverage. Additionally, we evaluated each company’s discount options listed on its website.
• Tier 3 (Support): To encompass the many ways an auto insurance company can support policyholders, we analyzed avenues of customer accessibility along with community support. This analysis incorporated additional financial strength ratings from and Moody’s and factored a company’s corporate sustainability efforts.