Nationwide expands access to online commercial insurance to 30 types of small businesses

Small business owners can quickly purchase insurance through insurer's all-digital experience

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Apr 02, 2019, 10:33 ET

COLUMBUS, Ohio, April 2, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- For small business owners, every second counts. Every minute they're not spending on managing and growing their business is a wasted opportunity.

That's why Nationwide has expanded 24-hour access to Commercial Digital Direct, online commercial insurance, to owners across 30 business types. As a reflection of its commitment to innovation, Nationwide can now sell and service its commercial insurance products and services through an entirely digital experience in a fast, easy and efficient manner across the entire insurance life cycle. In fact, business owners can get a quote in less than 10 minutes.

"Small business owners wear so many hats that they may run out of time during their workday to look into insurance for the business," said Tony Fenton, vice president of Nationwide's Underwriting, Product & New Product Development. "The kind of innovation Commercial Digital Direct brings saves business owners time and money and empowers them to control their experience even off-hours for greater confidence in their decision-making process."

The innovative digital experience is customized to 30 types of office, service and retail businesses, including business consultants, legal practices, beauty/barber salons, photographers, coffee shops and clothing stores. Commercial Digital Direct is now available to business owners in Illinois, Arkansas, Connecticut and Indiana, and Nationwide will expand the service to businesses in additional states throughout 2019.

Many of the businesses owners with whom Nationwide has engaged expect low-cost customization when purchasing commercial insurance direct versus tailored coverage and services while working with a trusted agent.

"Understanding the unique needs of small business owners is critical to providing customer value. Nationwide is not only a top national provider of commercial insurance and financial services, we are also knowledgeable about the wide range of business types that we serve," Fenton said. "We serve over 1 million small businesses, and we're No. 1 in customer satisfaction with small commercial insurance¹.

"So, we are a proven and trusted partner when it comes to providing for the needs and wants of owners of diverse business types," Fenton added.

Speed and self-service are also important to small and micro business owners, according the Nationwide study. Other self-service features of Commercial Digital Direct include:

Completion of an online commercial policy purchase within minutes using prefill data and automated underwriting
Easy bill-payment options designed for commercial clients that integrate into business software
Policy information lookup
Policy document lookup
Certificate of insurance (COI) request.

The Commercial Digital Direct experience is fast, simple and efficient, but it is also personalized to each business segment through either mobile or desktop access.

"Most carriers can quote, bind and service personal lines products like auto and homeowners online, but Nationwide built a completely digital service customized to the business owner looking for commercial insurance," said Tammy Craig, chief information officer for Nationwide's commercial lines. "Many business owners might not even know what they need, so this intuitive tool is a reflection of our goal of creating innovative solutions that delight our members in ways they never imagined."

Coupled with Nationwide's Business Solutions Center, Commercial Digital Direct provides 24-access to a variety of resources to business owners. For more information, visit Nationwide Commercial Digital Direct and watch this video.

About Nationwide

Nationwide, a Fortune 100 company based in Columbus, Ohio, is one of the largest and strongest diversified insurance and financial services organizations in the United States. Nationwide is rated A+ by both A.M. Best and Standard & Poor's. An industry leader in driving customer-focused innovation, Nationwide provides a full range of insurance and financial services products including auto, business, homeowners, farm and life insurance; public and private sector retirement plans, annuities and mutual funds; excess & surplus, specialty and surety; pet, motorcycle and boat insurance. For more information, visit www.nationwide.com. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

Contact:
Adam Fell
714-706-5520
[email protected]

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¹ Nationwide received the highest score in the J.D. Power 2018 Small Commercial Insurance Study of customers' satisfaction with their insurance provider. Visit jdpower.com/awards.

SOURCE Nationwide