Nationwide SmartRide® Reviews

by Dinozambowski

My wife signed us up for full coverage insurance with Nationwide and we downloaded NationwideSmartRide to be have our driving tracked and graded for the next several months. Started out paying close to $700 for six months. Using NationwideSmartRide we would hope to receive a discount after several months of monitoring. I asked her to reach out to a few other insurance companies to compare rates. The very first reputable company she reached out to gave us a quote for $350 for six months for comprehensive for our two vehicles. I asked “is this some kind of joke? We are to have our driving scrutinized for several mos to only hope we get some sort of discount??” Needless to say, we dropped Nationwide like a hot potato and went with the other company with a better deductible and half the price. Nationwide is a joke and so is this big brotheresque App. Adios Nationwide.

by HL23721

NationwideSmartRide doesn’t know IF YOU ARE A PASSENGER in someone else’s car. Like how ridiculous is that? In order to “make NationwideSmartRide know this” you have to toggle it EVERY TIME you get in someone else’s car. Then when I called Nationwide and and said just send me a plug-in transponder they weren’t going to do it because “NationwideSmartRide works on my phone.” That’s not the point! I basically argued with the customer service lady and had to threaten to pull my insurance, which I have no problem doing since I will probably get a lower rate somewhere else, if they didn’t. I have been a loyal Nationwide customer for decades. Since I was 16. I’m now 43 years old. I also have my pet insurance through them with two dogs on it. I pay an arm & a leg for it. Honestly very disappointing. They did end up sending me one but should not have to argue to get it.

by Nicky406

NationwideSmartRide punishes you and lowers your discount if you drive your vehicle but also if you don’t. My discount went from 31% to 21% so I stopped driving as much and my discount got even lower to 12%. They don’t make it very clear how your discount is calculated. If you don’t drive, your discount goes down. If you drive your discount goes down. And I’m pretty sure my “idle time” is being counted as me sitting in a parking lot in my car. NationwideSmartRide does not reward your safe driving.

by FlameWorth

My wife and I had it installed and working and we drove for 5 months. I monitored it occasionally with my discount always floating between 28-30%. 30 days before renewal I see my discount drop to 14%. Guess what? My wife’s app somehow lost the permission to always use location data (maybe some security update reset that months ago), and her discount was 0%, averaging down my 28% to 14%. No warning or notification in 4 months … Congratulations Nationwide, nice job losing a customer!

by TheNorthStarCoach@

For safety when merging onto the expressway one necessarily is required to accelerate in order to match the flow of traffic. But when you speed up in such a scenario you’re penalized by NationwideSmartRide . Likewise, when taking off from a green traffic light with the organic flow of traffic, you are dinged by NationwideSmartRide . To avoid negative app admonishments, you’re basically forced to drive contrary to driving norms by unnaturally and dangerously going slow on entering the expressway as well as a ambling through intersections on green to the chagrin of fellow motorists. With the uncertainty of violent reactive road rage due to annoying other drivers, I wonder if the small discount offered is potentially worth the loss of my life?

by New-towner

I am a newcomer to Texas. I depend on the phone up to find my way. I write directions previous to my trip but sometimes the place I go requires me to go to an alternative location on the fly and it is inconvenient to try using my phone’s app since the phone is locked by the Nationwide’s app.

I wonder if there is a way to include the two apps to allow me to have a peaceful errand without the anxiety of trying to find my way.

by Cgerrells

This of course, tracks your driving to get a discount on your insurance. The major issue is since it uses your phone, it’s tracking you even when it’s not you driving. This totally screws up your real usage of your car. Unless you want to leave your phone at home when not driving yourself NationwideSmartRide thinks your the person doing the transport. So, if the person driving is an asshat coworker you get tagged by their poor driving. There needs to be a button to turn off NationwideSmartRide or edit when it was you or someone else driving.

by JT0272

App is ok. Can’t register when certain games are playing in background. Also, a LOT of manual adjusting for times when I’m a passenger or driving company truck so miles, hard braking, and phone use don’t count. Also, no way to distinguish when a passenger is using the phone for directions. Can’t break a trip in half for driving/passenger when switching cars, either. Probably doing what it’s intended to do, but registers a lot of things incorrectly also if you don’t figure out how to manually fix it.

by Brooklynfantini

If you are parked waiting for your kid to get out of school, or just waiting in you car for whatever reason it counts as idle time. It records as if you were stopped in congestion or heavy traffic which then drives down your discount. So turn your car off and then turn it back on. It also tracks your location which seems a bit intrusive to me.

by Beto Honk

NationwideSmartRide works fine but has flaws. If you drive your own vehicle at all times, you will be fine but if you are like me that I am frequently a passenger, NationwideSmartRide does not recognize that. If the driver brakes hard, you use your phone (while being a passenger) it will show on you record. So you better tell the driver to drive carefully and do not use your phone as passenger as NationwideSmartRide will take that as a distraction.

by Shastorm1

Before iOS update was perfect working. After iOS 15 the functionality doesn’t work properly and I tried email support but haven’t hear anything back. That need to fix the issues.

by Kini10

It’s kind of strange having my mileage monitored. I think my driving record should be taken into consideration. I’m still shopping for a cheaper insurance. I haven’t driven 600 miles in the past year. My premium needs to be reduced further. The rates might have a lot to do with paying high commission to an agent. Just another hand in my pocket.

by Leadoffcf

to be a better driver. I touch my phone a lot less to get a better score.

I think it could show more characteristics, such as when and where the hard accelerations or brakings took place or when any speed limits were broken and by how much. There should be some way to designate that the phone was being moved and tapped for navigation purposes, not for texting or other unnecessary reading.

by Drvr 1

NationwideSmartRide is superior to other driving apps as it allows to correctly describe your driving pattern by giving more options to select from. I believe this more accurately qualifies one’s driving performance. Thank you.

by Daddys Priss

I do like the ap. Don’t we all like to know when we’ve done something well. A couple things I don’t understand. It’s regarding the phone and swiping it and looking at it talking on it and texting and driving which I am fully aware is against the law and I do not do that. However if you were driving and your GPS on your car it’s not picking up your directions that you need to be following and it’s necessary to reach for your phone and swipe up to see where you are I would assumed you get dinged for that? My wonder is if I am in a drive-through and I want to pay with something on my mobile app, my car is in the drive-through it is in the drive position am I dinged when I have to swipe up on my phone in order to check out via scan? In other words if the car is in drive and you are stopped does it have the same monitoring as if your car is in drive and you were actually moving? Also is there any documentation or instructions that I have access to in order to fully understand the rules of your monitoring?

by Cbickerscollins

NationwideSmartRide is easy to use and kind of fun. The only problem I had is that a few weeks in my discount went from 40% to 35%-retroactively to the beginning with no incidents or explanation as to why. No one could explain that to me.

Otherwise I recommend it.

by JUSTJAY1982

NationwideSmartRide is very easy to use. At first I had to learn how to use it but after a day or two it was just like 2nd nature to me. App really saves you money on your nationwide car insurance. I’m currently sitting at a 29% discount currently. The highest savings is 30%. So far I can’t complain about NationwideSmartRide at all.

by Steve Kapp

The program makes you aware of how much you travel needlessly and you make hold off on things you don’t need and make a list to get them later. Saves on gas consumption, makes you aware that needless travel can be cut out. Hopefully in the end it will also help get a nice discount on my bill.

by Messh711

What a great app - I’m saving money and learning how to be a better driver! Insanely accurate, very easy to navigate, and the registration process was smooth! I need not hit the brakes so hard but hey it’s a work in progress. I also like that I can go back and review my trips. 5 out of 5 for sure - highly recommend!

by Cleangame

I love your SmartRide program.
I’m always looking for ways to be an be extra careful driver. I also know things do happen and it is a percentage. I always want to raise my percentages as high as I can. No one wins in a accident. I use a lot of my semi truck schooling every day I get behind the wheel of any vehicle. It is my wish that find a ways to remind drivers that not just the driver, but the passengers are at risk also.
One idea is: Observe how drivers use their turn signals incorrectly!
I see 85 to 90%!!!
Many passengers are at risk because of this action.
Teach proper turn signals use. If a vehicle driver would observe, recognize, and use their turn signals like a School Bus Driver, our roads will be much safer.

by Triviator

Records all drives automatically. Also shows bike trips (but doesn’t score that as driving) which is perfect. Easy to understand info and it’s helpful to improve my driving

by Hoggaga

I really like the look and feel of the dashboard. The color coding makes it easy for me to understand how I track in each category. The calendar feature is really nice as well.