Nationwide Insurance
Carrier website links, underwriting access points, mapped product lines, and appetite notes in one place.
This appetite summary is only a guide. Confirm eligibility, submission requirements, restrictions, and binding authority directly with the carrier or underwriter before relying on it.
Carrier appetite summary
Nationwide’s current official agent-facing guidance points to segmented appetite pages for Small Commercial, Middle Market, and Farm & Ranch. Small Commercial is positioned around localized, industry-focused BOP/package, commercial auto, workers’ compensation, umbrella/add-on, cyber and EPL solutions. Core small-commercial thresholds commonly shown across target classes include BOP up to $20M building and business personal property, commercial auto generally fewer than 20 power units, and workers’ compensation generally fewer than 50 employees with payroll caps that vary by class. Cyber Liability and Employment Practices Liability are automatically offered on eligible BOP quotes for many classes, with limits up to $1M. New ventures may be considered in multiple segments. Nationwide states appetite does not replace state-specific eligibility rules. Preferred small commercial classes published include professional and financial services, auto services, personal services, pet care services, contractors, retail, health care services, food services and other industry groupings within the appetite guide. Practical examples of target business include knowledge-based professional firms, small/medium private passenger auto service operations, routine personal service businesses, veterinary/pet care operations centered on household animals, artisan contractors focused on maintenance/remodeling for residential and light commercial work, brick-and-mortar retailers, and office-based health care providers. Published restrictions/declinations are class-specific rather than a single master decline list. Examples specifically shown by Nationwide include: professional/financial services avoid banks and financial institutions, surveying/mapping, testing labs, and research/development; auto services avoid car washes, brake repair shops, and tire dealers, and also require no work on racing/high-performance vehicles, truck engines, motorcycles/ATVs, motor homes or watercraft, no contract towing, no rental/loaner autos, no impound yards, no tire recapping or split-rim work, and UL-approved paint booths for body shops; personal services avoid reupholstery/furniture repair, associations/clubs including homeowners associations, day spas offering higher-hazard services, and medical spas; pet care avoids pet breeding, animal shelters, vets involved in racing animals, exotic/high-value livestock or 24-hour emergency surgery, and WC on large non-household animals; contractors avoid general/paper contractors, handypersons, excavation/grading, and roofing, with subcontractor risk transfer/additional insured expectations; retail avoids tire dealers, convenience stores, grocery stores, and liquor stores, and higher-theft occupancies need central-station alarms; health care services avoid mental health/substance abuse centers, surgery centers, pathology labs, and ophthalmologists, and professional liability is not available there. Middle Market guidance highlights preferred industries including construction, human services, nonprofit, senior living, manufacturing & distribution, real estate, restaurants, retail, finance & insurance, and technical firms. Typical middle-market fit is more than $100,000 total premium and/or at least $20M property values, with emphasis on risk-management-focused insureds and all-lines solutions. Published submission expectations include 5-year loss runs in multiple segments; human services also requires abuse-prevention policies and line-specific plus supplemental applications; senior living requires 5-year loss history, recent financial statements, and submitted-line/new-business supplementals. A dedicated real estate industry page adds that Nationwide writes commercial insurance in 46 states plus DC and notes it is not writing in Oklahoma, Louisiana, Alaska, or Hawaii for that program, with other CAT/exposure limitations possible. Real estate submission requirements specifically include completed ACORD, Nationwide real estate supplementals or equivalent underwriting information, rent rolls/SOV details, executed contracts/leases, and 5-year prior carrier/currently valued loss runs. Farm & Ranch/Agribusiness guidance is organized around CountryChoice, AgriChoice, and AgriChoice Plus. Nationwide presents these as customizable farm property/liability solutions with optional commercial endorsements and additional liability for agricultural products sold or processed for others, agricultural services for others, agritourism, and farm auto/commercial auto/nonowned-hired auto exposures. This supports farm and agribusiness placements where a package/farmowners-style structure is needed rather than standard small commercial. The public farm appetite page is more product-oriented and does not publish a robust decline list on-page; state-specific underwriting review still applies. Broker/producer notes: the agent portal emphasizes use of appetite guides for quote confidence, but says appetite does not replace company eligibility criteria and may vary by state. Appointed agents seeking additional lines or licenses are instructed to contact their sales manager. Nationwide also promotes appointment/application resources through Agent Center. Overall operational takeaway: route small BOP/package opportunities that fit clear class rules and modest size limits to Small Commercial; move larger, multi-line, loss-control-oriented accounts to Middle Market; use Agribusiness/Farm & Ranch for farm, ranch, agritourism and agriculture-related package needs. For this carrier, submission quality matters most on middle-market placements—expect ACORDs, supplementals, loss runs, financials where requested, contracts/leases for real estate, and evidence of formal risk controls.