Nationwide Brand Back in N.J. Market

Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. last month began selling its Nationwide-branded auto insurance in New Jersey for the first time since 1981.

Amy Shore, senior vice president of field operations at Nationwide, said on Aug. 26 that the businesses are being written fairly equally across the channels that the company distributes through.

“Customers can buy through our website, they can call our call center, or they can visit a local agent in a border state,” she said. “The business is equally spread across those three entry points so far.”

Nationwide left New Jersey in 1981 but for the past two years, the company has been serving the state’s market through its Harleysville Insurance and Harleysville Preferred Insurance Co. of Pennsylvania, which merged with Nationwide in 2012.

Harleysville units have more than 1,700 personal auto policies and 11,800 homeowners policies in force in New Jersey.

Additionally, Nationwide Financial Services and Nationwide Agribusiness products have been available in New Jersey for years. And Scottsdale, Nationwide’s excess and surplus and specialty insurance company, has been serving the New Jersey market for over 30 years.

Shore said it’s the company’s intention in the longer term to insure more than just autos under the Nationwide brand.

“Right now, from a Nationwide-brand perspective, we are really focused on getting our auto product up and running and growing, and then we will look at insuring other vehicles with wheels,” she said.