Nationwide Insurance

Nationwide Insurance is both an insurance company and a financial services company. They currently have $157 billion in assets, which makes them one of the largest of these types of companies in the world. Nationwide sells all types of insurance to customers across the U.S., in Latin America, and in Europe.

One of the main products offered by Nationwide Insurance is their auto insurance plans. Nationwide Insurance wants their customers to be prepared for “life’s little surprises” by having adequate coverage. They also offer coverage for personal property and individual or business assets through their business and property insurance programs.

Not only does Nationwide offer insurance coverage for assets and property, but the company also offers health insurance. Purchasing a good health insurance plan is one of the most important decisions and investments anyone can make, because people need to have a good insurance company behind them when a medical emergency occurs. Nationwide Insurance offers customers a range of health insurance products, services, and benefits to choose from. Nationwide wants to be able to offer their customers a health insurance plan that will meet their individual needs.

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Another aspect of Nationwide Insurance is their life insurance coverage. While most people do not like to think about the fact that they will die someday, ignoring the possibility does not make it go away. As such, each person needs to have a good life insurance plan in place to cover their loved ones’ expenses when they die. Nationwide Insurance offers a wide variety of life insurance options. Life insurance policies offered by Nationwide are issued through either Nationwide Life Insurance Company or Nationwide Life and Annuity Insurance Company, based in Columbus, Ohio.

Nationwide Insurance and its affiliates are part of a group of insurance companies based in Columbus, Ohio. The insurance company can trace its roots back to December 17, 1925 when the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation incorporated the Farm Bureau Mutual Automobile Insurance Company. The law in Ohio required that the insurance company recruit 100 people as policyholders. The first insurance agents employed by the infant company were able to recruit 1,000 people as policyholders, so when Farm Bureau Mutual started business officially on April 12, 1926, they had 1,000 policyholders.

The Ohio-based company began their business offering only car insurance to Ohio farmers. However, in 1928 the company expanded to offer car insurance to West Virginia farmers. Maryland, Vermont, North Carolina, and Delaware farmers were soon brought into the insurance company as well. Only three years later in 1931, Ohio Farm Bureau Mutual began to offer their insurance product to residents of small towns who were not farmers, and then in 1934 they opened up their products to people in large cities.

1934 brought another important change to the young insurance company. This was the year when they began to offer fire insurance on top of their existing car insurance products. In 1935, the company that would one day become Nationwide Insurance expanded this division of their company by purchasing a small fire insurance company that was not doing well. They quickly needed more room, and in 1936 the company moved to the now-famous 246 Building in Columbus, Ohio. Continued growth through the ‘30s led to the company operating in 12 states by 1943. Eventually even the office space at the 246 Building was not sufficient to house the growing company. In 1951 they opened offices in regional locations across the country.

Since the insurance company was no longer offering insurance primarily to farmers, they changed their name in 1955 from Farm Bureau Mutual to Nationwide Mutual Insurance. This is the name the insurance company carries today. From 1955 to 1965, Nationwide Insurance expanded to the western states by opening offices in Oregon, which made the name applicable. They continued to grow, opening offices in 19 other states, causing them to reach a total of 32 states that offered their insurance products by 1965. They also had regional offices in Washington, D.C.

Finally, by the 1970s the 246 Building could no longer hold the insurance company, and they began to build a skyscraper to be their Ohio headquarters. The skyscraper, known as One Nationwide Plaza, was complete in 1978. It sits on the corner of Nationwide Blvd. and North High Street in downtown Columbus, Ohio.

The city of Columbus was growing too, and in 1997 it was the 15th largest city in the country. Columbus was also the only large city in America without a major professional sports team. They had no professional baseball, football, hockey, or basketball team. The Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company felt that this was a problem for the growing city. The city government tried to bring the Hartford Whalers to Columbus, but voters rejected the tax levy that was required, so this move failed. This was when the Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company decided they would build an arena to bring a hockey team to Columbus. They were successful, and in 2000 the Nationwide Arena welcomed the Columbus Blue Jackets hockey team.