The WA Cares Fund led to significant increases in Nationwide’s application volumes and caused delays in underwriting and policy issuance. Particularly challenging were the significant number of paper applications received that required manual processing. This compelled Nationwide to temporarily suspend sales in Washington. Nationwide is pleased to announce that they are resuming Nationwide CareMatters® II sales beginning Feb. 4, 2022. Please note that backdating is not available for this product.
Nationwide has eliminated their backlog of pending CareMatters applications from Washington and are operating within their expected timelines. The digital processes they use for their CareMatters business provide a quicker and more streamlined experience, one that is separate from their traditional life insurance pending business. For this reason, Nationwide is now able to accept new applications for CareMatters II only.
This update applies to only the Nationwide CareMatters II product.
What about Nationwide’s other products?
While they are not accepting other life insurance applications in Washington at this time, they are continually evaluating their capacity so that they can re-enter in a deliberate and purposeful fashion.
Nationwide will provide further guidance in the near future for when they will begin to accept additional product types in Washington.
Use their digital resources for faster turnaround.
- Use electronic applications whenever possible.
- Encourage your clients to use the Online Interview. Watch this video to learn more.
- You can check on the status of applications and submit outstanding requirements using their Life Pending Business Tracker. Watch this video to learn how to use the Life Pending Business Tracker.
NOTE: When selling through an intermediary, identifying them in the electronic application will help expedite processing.
