National Interstate reviews

4.1

76% would recommend to a friend

(215 total reviews)
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Tony Mercurio

87% approve of CEO

69% positive business outlook

National Interstate has an employee rating of 4.1 out of 5 stars, based on 215 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have an excellent working experience there. The National Interstate employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Insurance industry (3.6 stars).

Reviews by job title

215 reviews
3.0
Apr 29, 2022
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

When I was recruited, I always heard people talk about what a great place to work NATL was. And after starting, you would see people in the office (when we were in the office that is) from other departments who looked happy, and it always seemed like maybe they were experiencing something vastly different than me and my coworkers in claims. I think there's something to be said about NATL as a company, that they pay pretty well for industry standards (for new people that is - see more about that on cons), and that some people clearly are content there. But my department was just a bad one I think. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. The company is stable and profits increase year over year. There are 3 different bonuses throughout the year, some of which are dependent on company performance/profit, but they have never missed giving all 3 bonuses since the early 2000s I believe.

Cons

In my department there was a lot of work and not enough people to do it. We would constantly hear from the managers that they were hiring new folks, but they were never hiring as fast as people were quitting, and it always seemed like they were hiring at the wrong level. For example, hiring a bunch of claims specialists, but then when the annual graduate development program came around, there were 0 new grads hired into the claims department. Why? We need more people to take on smaller claims, so hire new people to be trained! Bring in new talent that way! That seemed like an obvious miss to me. Additionally, I voiced several ideas for how to alleviate some pain points for the average joe in the department (not hiring related), and was brushed off by upper management and the claims training team. That leaves a bad taste in your mouth, when every monthly staff meeting all you hear is "if you have an idea, if you need something, tell us! We want to listen to you, we VALUE you!". It was all very two-faced. Additionally, a lot of people were quitting around the time I did. I was one of the last to leave at that time (that I know of -- I'm not sure who may have left after me). Of those people who were leaving, some of them had been there for quite a while before I was hired in. And several of them disclosed that they were leaving for pay issues. The pay I was receiving after being hired in with no experience was already equal or greater to their pay as someone who had been working in this department with the company for 5-7 years. They had not received any pay adjustments to correct this, and were choosing to continue their claims careers at companies that would value them more and compensate them accordingly. Additionally, many people in the department told me that if I didn't like doing claims I needed to get out while I still could. If you begin down the road of a claims career, it soon becomes your only marketable skill. Management told employees over and over again that if we were not happy, we should let them know-- they wanted us to find another place in the NATL family rather than quit. I did what I was told, I followed the advice from management, and multiple times I spoke to management and voiced my concerns that I didn't feel claims was the right fit and wanted to apply for other internal positions. I was blocked from those positions, treated poorly by a certain claims executive, and was made to stay in claims. Once NATL has you in claims, they will do all they can to keep you there, and will not let you move on unless you quit. I was naïve and I found that out the hard way.

1.0
Jan 29, 2021

Stay far away...

Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Exposure to commercial insurance, which can open doors at far superior, reputable insurance companies in the area.

Cons

**Disclaimer: I am writing this review because I have seen several claims job postings online for this company recently and I want to save somebody from making the horrid mistake of working here.** Basically everything about working here is a con. Do not let the flashy new building or the parties fool you. I put in several years of blood, sweat, and tears working here with the hope that “things would get better”, but that never happened—if anything, things only got worse with time. I was one of the most tenured employees in the department after working there for 3 years...that alone should say enough. Upper management is absolutely atrocious and are all out to stab each other in the back so they can advance. Morale amongst individual contributors is insanely low and most everyone is miserable. The pay compared to other commercial insurance positions in the area is horrendously low. The yearly “bonus” program is a joke. The health benefits are terrible. There is no room for advancement here unless you are in the boys’ club. Transparency is nonexistent. Turnover is an understatement and most people do not last here very long (I can think of several occasions where employees jumped ship within less than a year of employment). Lastly, there is absolutely ZERO diversity here so if you fall within a monitory group—forget it! Leaving this company was the absolute best career move I have ever made. Unless you want to use this company to gain some experience and then leave, please do not waste your time or energy with this company—you will absolutely regret it, I promise you. I hope this review helps somebody who is considering applying here.

5.0
Jan 5, 2021
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

- Benefits are great. Pay and PTO are above market compared to other companies. I started with 19 days of PTO per year and a higher salary than my counterparts at other companies. - Covid caused work from home. I am working from home full time and it is so nice. I can wear comfortable clothes, don't have to commute, and I'm saving money too. - I haven't felt like I've been asked to do anything that I don't know how to do. There are no unreasonable expectations and management seems pretty nice too! - Promotions are happening like crazy. My team's problem is they can't keep any underwriters around because they keep getting promoted.

Cons

- 401(k) is below market value. We only get a 4.5% match while I have friends getting a 6% match. - National Interstate is a relatively small company and is owned by Great American Insurance Group. I feel like Great American is the big brother and Natl has a bad connotation. - Insurance work can get boring. Pretty quick.

Viewing 22 - 24 of 215 Reviews

Glassdoor has 224 National Interstate reviews submitted anonymously by National Interstate employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if National Interstate is right for you.