It’s something Martha Stewart has been “hinting” about since late July—a destination for homeowners that combines maintenance and warranty protection reminders, and maybe insurance information, all in one place to help prevent problems before they happen.
Executive Summary
Sarah Griffin, senior vice president, personal lines product and underwriting at Nationwide, recently fielded a lot of questions from her son when he bought his first home and wanted to know what to do when bad things happen. The answer was often maintenance and other preventative steps rather than insurance—a message that the 100-year-old insurer delivers to policyholders with practical tips and checklists, as well as free IoT devices that monitor risks to be avoided.Next up, Nationwide is rolling out home warranties—another offering that will build customer trust by demonstrating tangible value and help to dissuade a customer focus on lowest-cost insurance coverage.
“While the home is the largest financial asset for most people, it is often managed reactively, through unexpected costs and fragmented decisions, rather than with foresight and strategy,” said a media statement for Hint, a platform co-founded by Stewart that offers personalized proactive home care guidance via an app.
Related article: It’s a Good Thing? Martha Stewart to Get Into Home Insurance With Hint
A 100-year-old mutual insurance company was well ahead of Stewart in thinking about proactive steps to help homeowners avoid surprise costs, some of which might not be ultimately about insurance. While insurance is the product most often tied to the Nationwide brand in the minds of consumers, offering tips designed to help homeowners steer clear of damage from weather events and smart home technology to alert them to risky conditions inside their homes have been part of Nationwide’s business strategy for a number of years.
