To cancel a Nationwide life insurance policy, send a signed, dated written request naming your policy number and the date you want coverage to end to the company that issued it, either Nationwide Life Insurance Company or Nationwide Life and Annuity Insurance Company, then get written confirmation that the policy has terminated and billing has stopped. Nationwide names both companies in its own disclosure, so use the one printed on your contract and statements. Check the product name on that paperwork first, because some Nationwide life contracts are also paying for long-term care.
Nationwide states that its life and annuity products are issued by Nationwide Life Insurance Company or Nationwide Life and Annuity Insurance Company of Columbus, Ohio, and Nationwide Life Insurance Company was incorporated in 1929 as an Ohio stock legal reserve life insurance company and is a member of the Nationwide group of companies.
Some Nationwide life policies are really long-term care plans
Nationwide builds a good deal of its long-term care coverage on top of life insurance, and that changes what cancelling means. Its CareMatters product covers care expenses for one person, CareMatters Together provides life insurance based care coverage as a shared pool of benefits for a couple, and a long-term care rider can be added to one of its universal life policies. There is also a CareMatters annuity, which is not life insurance at all. So the contract in your file may be a straightforward life policy, a life policy doing double duty as care funding, or an annuity, and those do not end the same way. Start with the product name printed on your contract or annual statement rather than the word Nationwide on the envelope. If care funding is part of what you hold, surrendering the contract ends that benefit along with the death benefit, and the terms you have were set by your age and health on the day you applied. That piece is usually the hardest one to buy back later. None of this means keeping the policy is the right answer. It means knowing which of the three you are cancelling before you write the letter.
How to cancel, step by step
- Find your policy number. It is on the policy itself and on any statement. Work from your own documents rather than from a letter you were not expecting.
- Put the request in writing. Sign and date it, name the policy number, and state the exact date you want coverage to end. A phone call alone leaves you nothing to point at later.
- Say if you are inside the free-look window. If the policy is new, your state may entitle you to a full refund. Make that request explicit rather than assuming it is applied.
- Ask for written confirmation. You want the termination date and, if there is cash value, the amount being released. Keep it.
- Stop the payment last, not first. Only once the insurer has confirmed the policy has ended. Stopping the draft first creates a lapse rather than a cancellation, which is messier and can cost you the cash value.
What to check before you send it
These are the things people most often wish they had looked at first. None of them are reasons not to cancel. They are the difference between a decision and a regret.
- Which Nationwide life contract you actually hold. Nationwide sells term life in ten, twenty and thirty year lengths, along with permanent coverage including whole life, universal life and variable universal life, and life insurance based long-term care coverage. They behave very differently at cancellation. Term generally has no cash value to lose. The permanent policies may have accumulated some, shown on your current statement.
- Whether long-term care coverage is part of it. Nationwide offers its CareMatters and CareMatters Together long-term care coverage on a life insurance chassis, and a long-term care rider that can be added to one of its universal life policies. If what you hold is doing double duty as care funding, cancelling ends that part too, and care benefits are among the hardest things to buy again later if your health has changed.
- The issuing company name printed on your paperwork. Nationwide life products are issued by either Nationwide Life Insurance Company or Nationwide Life and Annuity Insurance Company. Take the company name and policy number from your own contract or a recent statement and use both in the request, rather than addressing it to the Nationwide brand alone.
- The current cash surrender value and any surrender charges. If you hold whole life, universal life or variable universal life, your statement shows a cash surrender value. Surrender charges are common in the early policy years and decline over time. Any amount you receive above the premiums you paid in can be taxable, and the tax treatment differs if the contract is a modified endowment contract, so ask for the taxable gain figure in writing before you decide.
- What a variable policy is worth on the day you decide, not last quarter. Variable universal life cash value moves with the investment options behind it. A surrender value printed on a statement from three months ago is not the amount you will receive. Ask the insurer for a current figure dated close to the day you plan to send the request.
- Whether your term policy carries a conversion option. Nationwide says its Guaranteed Level Term coverage gives you options to renew or convert to a permanent policy. Cancelling closes that door. Whether converting is right for you is a separate question, but it is worth knowing the option is there before you give it up.
When cancelling is the right answer
Cancelling is a sound decision when the coverage no longer matches the life it was bought for: the mortgage it protected is paid off, the children it covered are grown and independent, or you are carrying two policies doing one job. It is also reasonable when the premium has become a genuine strain, provided you have looked at reducing the face amount first. A review that ends with you keeping the policy, because a long-term care benefit or a conversion option turns out to be worth more than the premium, is just as good an outcome.
Common questions
How do I cancel a Nationwide life insurance policy?
Send the issuing company a signed and dated written request that includes your full name, policy number and the date you want coverage to end. Ask for written confirmation that the policy has terminated and that billing has stopped. The issuing company name and the policy service details are printed on your own life insurance documents and statements.
Which Nationwide company do I send the request to?
Nationwide discloses that its life and annuity products are issued by Nationwide Life Insurance Company or Nationwide Life and Annuity Insurance Company, both of Columbus, Ohio. Which one issued your contract depends on the product and when you bought it, so read the company name off your policy or a recent statement and put that name, along with your policy number, on the request.
Will cancelling my life policy affect my Nationwide auto or homeowners insurance?
No. Your life policy is a separate contract from your auto and home coverage, even when one agent arranged all of it. Ending the life policy leaves your property coverage in force. If your household holds several Nationwide policies, ask what your renewal premium looks like without the life policy so the bill you expect matches the one that arrives.
My policy includes long-term care coverage. Does that change anything?
It changes a great deal. Nationwide offers CareMatters and CareMatters Together, which provide long-term care coverage built on life insurance, and a long-term care rider that can be added to one of its universal life policies. Some Nationwide contracts are therefore as much about paying for care as about paying a death benefit. Confirm from your policy documents whether yours is one of them. Care benefits are priced on the age and health you had when you applied and are usually the hardest piece to replace later.
Will I get any money back when I cancel?
It depends on what you hold. Term coverage generally has no cash value, so there is nothing to return beyond any unearned premium. Whole life, universal life and variable universal life may have a cash surrender value, shown on your statement and reduced by any surrender charge still in force. Any amount you receive above the total premiums you paid can be taxable, and the tax treatment differs if the contract is a modified endowment contract.
I have a variable universal life policy. Is surrendering it different?
The mechanics of the request are the same, but the number is not fixed. Variable policies are registered contracts and their cash value follows the investment options you chose, so the surrender value changes with the market and is set when the insurer processes the surrender, not when you mail the letter. Ask for a current figure and read the surrender section of your prospectus before you send the request.
What if I only bought the policy recently?
Every state gives new policyholders a free-look period, commonly ten to thirty days from the day the policy is delivered, and the exact length depends on your state and your contract. Inside that window you can generally cancel and have your premium returned. If that applies to you, say so explicitly in your written request and send it in a way that gives you a dated record.
Will my coverage end the day I ask to cancel?
Not usually. Most life insurers end coverage on the next premium due date or on the date they process a signed request, whichever the contract specifies. That gap matters, because until the policy actually terminates you are still covered. Never treat a phone call as the end of it: confirm the termination date in writing and keep the confirmation.
Should I just stop paying instead of cancelling?
It is simpler than it looks to do this badly. Stopping payment starts the grace period, and if the policy has cash value the insurer may keep it in force by taking loans against that value, which can quietly drain it. A written request creates a clean, dated record of what you asked for and when. Cancelling on purpose is always tidier than lapsing by accident.
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This guide is general information, not legal, tax, or financial advice. Cancellation terms, refunds, and free-look windows depend on your contract and your state. Policy Review Center is a free comparison and referral service, not an insurance agency, insurer, or producer, and it connects you with independent licensed agents. Carrier names are used for reference only and do not imply any endorsement or affiliation.