[DML] Nationwide Insurance horror story

["King, Bob" <BKing@xxxx>]

Here's a story about me, Nationwide Insurance and my DeLorean. Bottom line,
I cannot recommend Nationwide now to anyone because of the way they handled
my situation.

I had made the decision that I wanted to trade in my car and purchase a
DeLorean, but I wanted to make sure that I could get insurance at a good
rate to cover it. My current car at the time had been covered under
Nationwide for the past 3.5 years, and the car before that for 6. I never
missed a payment, and was satisfied with Nationwide. Two nights before I
went to the dealer, I called Nationwide and told them my situation, and that
I was going to trade in my car in 2 days and buy a DeLorean, and asked if
they would continue to cover me. The agent said that indeed they would, and
gave me a very favorable price quote. She then said that I should drive my
car to the dealer, make the transaction, and then immediately call them to
transfer the policy over to the DeLorean. I was told explicitly to call
from the dealership so that I would not spend a moment behind the wheel of
an uninsured car. Armed with this info, I went to purchase the car (at a
great price) knowing that my insurance company was going to cover me and not
charge an arm and a leg.

I went to the dealer two days later, did all of the paperwork, traded in my
car, handed over the cashier's check and purchased the DeLorean. I called
Nationwide to transfer the insurance, and they told me that they would not
do it. DeLorean was on their list of cars that absolutely would not be
covered. I told them about the phone conversation 2 nights before and what
I had been promised and that it affected my decision to buy the DeLorean.
They didn't seem to care much, offered little apology for their mistake and
told me that I had 30 days before my policy ended. The only reason I got a
30 day extension was because the DeLorean was my only car. If I had owned
another automobile, I would have been left standing in the dealership with a
new car I couldn't drive.

The bank I had borrowed from needed proof of insurance coverage asap to
complete the loan paperwork for the DeLorean. I had told them during the
application process that Nationwide would be covering me, because they said
they would. Now, I didn't have the necessary insurance to fulfill the
requirements of the loan. Seeing how I was covered for the next 30 days, I
called Nationwide to get this in writing so my bank would be appeased at
least until I could find another insurance company, and Nationwide refused
to sign anything saying that they were covering me for 30 days!! So, from
all angles, it was a total screwjob.

All's well that ends well. I went through Eastwood Insurance broker, and
they found me a company called Bristol West, and they set me up quickly with
a policy at a great rate and the necessary loan paperwork.

I have broken ties with Nationwide and don't plan on going back. Not
because they were bad while I was with them, but because of the
unceremonious way in which I was 'dumped' at the dealership.

Bob